My new toy arrived and I set it straight to work. It is amazing. Within twenty minutes I had earthed up the potatoes, cleared a previously dug area of assorted weeds and set to on a rather over grown area.
It is heavier than expected and I am not sure I will be able to move tomorrow. I think I might end up looking like an Olympic swimmer with huge shoulder muscles.
I am starting to clear the paths of grass because in just 12 days it has grown waist high.
Brilliant piece of kit. I can hear the weeds quaking in their boots.
This one? http://www.silverlinetools.com/reviews/GT52
Yes I think so, got mine through Amazon, been trying to avoid them because of the tax avoidance but they are rather convenient.
I agree with the review I keep wishing the handle was a little longer and I am 5ft 6.
Quote from: Digeroo on May 20, 2013, 08:38:46
Yes I think so, got mine through Amazon, been trying to avoid them because of the tax avoidance but they are rather convenient.
At least Amazon supports this site if you order through here.
Oh drat forgot to order through here.
Anyway a big thank you to those who have suggested this tool before.
It's in my top three tools on my plot. :wave:
Is this the one lots were talking about last year & Amazon had a run on them & put the price up?
If so we have one too :icon_cheers:
Yes same one, I missed the boat with the price and it has taken me some time to realize that the price is not going down again. But at the moment I am not displeased with the cost. The weight must make it quite expensive for carriage charges.
I do believe that they had to deliver it twice because they thought they had damaged it and I think the blade had simply ridden up the handle. I saw someone get out of a van with it and got excited but it was unfortunately another two weeks before it finally put in an appearance.
I recently bought another one for the community gardens. I love ours; and mention it regularly.
My one was £8.34. Money well spent. :blob7:
On a practical note, don't forget to check your hair after using it....if you raise your arms above your head to whack it in the soil you will find your hair full of dirt,....as I found out again yesterday after using my azada to dig up some couch....!
Just checked got plenty of hair left. :toothy10:
That's where my hair's been disappearing too, there's me thinking I was going bald. :drunken_smilie:
Unfortunately, the handle snapped on mine quite early on, but I managed to rummage through a box of assorted wooden axe and sledgehammer handles and managed to find one to fit. Its a lot stronger, and therefore heavier, but still probably my most-used tool on the plot.
Great hoe... Every person and farm worker in Africa has one.. they are the best..
I got a range of sizes from Chillington Tools. They supply container loads to Africa, but without the handles. The people there are handy enough to go out and find a suitalbe stick. Chillington alo supply them with macheties,but you can't have them in the UK in case someone uses them for non-approved purposes and generates too much publicity.
I think it would be possible find some inappropriate uses for a digging hoe.
I am still loving it. So easy to clear weeds.
I did have a chillington hoe but I think someone nicked it.
I could do a lot of damage with a thoroughly British billhook. I don't know what I'd do without my digging hoe; it's ideal for getting out things like nettles where it's a case of digging under shallow roots and hacking through the thick stuff.
A quick look on Ebay found this (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-3LB-METAL-PICK-AXLE-HOE-HEAD-GARDEN-TOOL-/130736186665?pt=UK_Home_Garden_GardenEquipment_HandTools_SM&hash=item1e707be529) for £7.99 free P&P...find your own shaft.
Then there's a smaller one... Here (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Metal-Blade-Oval-Handle-Garden-Lawn-Weeding-Hoe-Hand-Tool-14-2-/390595124255?pt=UK_Home_Garden_GardenEquipment_HandTools_SM&hash=item5af1489c1f) with a shorter shaft of 14inchs for £5.81 free p&p and that's from Hong Kong.
I use this hoe. It's great for ridging up the potatoes.
I have had a digging hoe for 20 odd years (noj okes about two handles and 3 heads being replaced)and it is my go to tools for most jobs - I hardly use the spade these days except as a shovel. Funny thing is that you will see them the world over - From Africa to East Europe but there is only one other guy (Jamaican) on my site with one. Lovely tool!
I have been showing off my hoe around the lotties to people with overgrown patches and they are also delighted.
I do find it rather heavy and I am thinking of getting a smaller one for smaller areas.
The one from hong hong is tiny, I would call it a hand hoe. That size used to be available in 99p shop. But unfortunately they now have an aluminium one which is useless. At only 14 inches on the handle it is great but there is a lot of bending. The silverline type one is massive. The handle is 1260mm so the whole thing is about four times the size.
Go on Nick do the old 2 handles and 3 heads gag, my 4th all time favourite scene from fools and horses. :happy7: