Author Topic: 'Different' tools (Read 5311 times)

kenkew · « **on:** March 16, 2004, 11:44:01 »

I bought this here in Belgium last year. Never used one before but I certainly use this quite a lot.

Mrs Ava · « **Reply #1 on:** March 16, 2004, 13:08:17 »

Wow, looks like a tool from a horror movie! We have a 3 pronged rake type jobbee, but never used it! :o What do you use that one for KK?

aquilegia · « **Reply #2 on:** March 16, 2004, 13:29:12 »

I have a spade that looks like that. But that's only thanks to hubby having a fight with a huge concrete slab when we were digging the veg patch last year! Also Gran gave me some very unusual things that look rather like three-pronged grappling hooks, or maybe some kind of instrument for torture. I have yet to use them!

Serious KK - what do you use it for?

tim · « **Reply #3 on:** March 16, 2004, 15:09:19 »

There's a Museum of historic tools in Belgium - whose address I put on the board yonks ago - but now can't trace. = Tim

kenkew · « **Reply #4 on:** March 16, 2004, 15:11:29 »

When I got hold of it for the first time, all sorts of ideas sprang to mind! It's great for digging out dock/dandy roots as it pulls the earth away without breaking the root, it's possible to get really deep. You might say a fork does the same thing, but it doesn't. This tool only pulls away the earth in bits, where a fork tends to pull a clump of earth and tends to snap the root as you lift. You can see the type of action needed to use this, it's a 'chop' motion followed by a pull towards you.
It's also good for furrowing, again breaking the soil and piling it towards you.
Good for breaking up lumps and soil almost to tilth grade. This one is the light duty model!

Mimi · « **Reply #5 on:** March 16, 2004, 19:01:40 »

Ken if this is the 'light duty'one I wouldnt like to see his 'big brother' :D

kenkew · « **Reply #6 on:** March 17, 2004, 10:46:34 »

Stuck for greenhouse space? Use an old ironing board as a potting bench. Folds up afterwards too!

kenkew · « **Reply #7 on:** March 17, 2004, 10:53:10 »

Just now, the ground tends to be a bit claggy and we're forever scrapping mud off the spade. If you make a scraper from a bit of 4" long x 2"x1/2" hardwood and make it with a cross piece on the top so it looks like a letter 'T' it will tuck into the top of your wellie and it's always ready to use.

ScrumpyJack · « **Reply #8 on:** March 17, 2004, 13:15:53 »

We found one of those in our shed. I thought it was just a bent fork. :-[ but reckoned it probably had a potential potatoe usage?

rdak · « **Reply #9 on:** March 17, 2004, 15:11:16 »

is a potato fork worth the extra expense?

kenkew · « **Reply #10 on:** March 17, 2004, 19:17:23 »

A proper potato fork IS worth it. You can lift without loosing between the tangs. Also less risk of spearing the spuds. I also use mine for moving manure and compost.
Just for the benefit of those who don't know; The pic at the start of this topic isn't a potato fork.

Xanadu · « **Reply #11 on:** March 22, 2004, 19:23:48 »

Hello Kenkew,
would just like to thank you for posting the picture of the different tool. Like yourself I bought it on one of my visits in France many moons ago. I had forgotten all about it. To-day I went into the garage to look for something and there staring me in the eye was the exact tool you'd mentioned. I was so pleased to have discovered this gem. Took it to the lottie with me had a smashing time pounding it into the soil.

Garden Manager · « **Reply #12 on:** March 23, 2004, 17:21:00 »

Isnt it a variation on the three pronged 'cultivator' you can use for various things? Like loosening the soil and weeding.

That said it doesnt half look like a badly bent fork. Lol ;D

As for different and improvised tools, i made a spade scraper out of an old turfcutter blade once - fine until the handle i had fitted broke! Still got the blade though. I also have an old hoe blade i am considering turning into a 'hand hoe' by fitting a short handle to it (rather than a long one) for close up weeding and hoeing.

kenkew · « **Reply #13 on:** March 23, 2004, 18:51:01 »

A home-made wooden spade cleaner that tucks down your wellie is ideal while you're using the spade, but at the end of the day I finish off with a paint scraper, (not a pallet knife which is a lot softer.)

kenkew · « **Reply #14 on:** April 13, 2004, 11:29:27 »

Is this the 'claw' that Hel's Bels is on about?

kenkew · « **Reply #15 on:** April 13, 2004, 11:31:59 »

....and here's a rake with a difference. Very heavy, very sharp and makes excellent tilth. No good in wet ground as it clogs up too easy, but on dry (even clay) or sandy soil it's great.

kenkew · « **Reply #16 on:** April 13, 2004, 11:37:15 »

....and this is a home-made hoe from a stainless steel spoon ground to a sharp edge all round.

Mrs Ava · « **Reply #17 on:** April 13, 2004, 12:30:49 »

Yay, thats what we have. Lethal huh!

Columbus · « **Reply #18 on:** April 13, 2004, 16:08:53 »

Hi everyone, :)

I`ve been clearing an overgrown allotment for about
9 months (on and off). I use an inherited "bent fork" tool like this to clear nettle roots after I broke my three-pronged hook tool. Now I`m starting to plant things I use it after digging to rake out anything I missed.

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Author Topic: 'Different' tools (Read 5311 times)

rdak