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I need to buy a really good hoe for weeds, I would like one that I can get very sharp, any suggestions please.  Ease of use is much more important than cost. XXJeannine

I don't even know HOW to hoe, but I know I need one so will be looking at this with interest.

;D

What is the Wolf push and pull like

Kitchen Garden May mag rates Swoe, Lite-Lift and Joseph Bentley Dutch Hoe and wimmin were particularly keen on the Swoe and Lite Lift.

;D

It's cheaper to buy a file and sharpen your own hoe. Sh!tty as it may be.

So much of gardening is a rip off nowadays.






PS please forgive me. I'm a liverpool fan and we just lost.

I have always recommended the Wolf Push-Pull.

With the long handle. I can clear an area 2sq/m from the same position with very few strokes.

For inter-row hoeing it's great because, if you pull, you can't cut the plants down.

It takes a keen edge.

I mostly pull - far less effort than pushing.

Thanks Tim, It is the one I had almost decided on and appreciate your confirmation,could you also tell me if you suggest any of the other attachments too.

I have been told it sharpens itself??

XX Jeannine

1. I do have the large & small Draw Hoe heads. The small one I use without the handle for inter-plant work.

2. No way!!

Tim, being a simple soul and even simple instructions take time to penetrate the grey cells, does "No Way" mean, "Yes way"  (like the sales blurb says) or "not a chance, you still have to sharpen" ??

::)

Tim, the company ad I read says it sharpens itself which I thought was good as the blades are serrated and I was trying to think how I would sharpen them , so now I am  unsure again. Do you manage to sharpen them, can you share with me how please?  XX Jeannine

If this is the one, Jeannine, the 'serrations' are 'wavy'-  I use an old fashioned 'stone' that I use for my scythe & sickles.

Self-sharpening, KP? I need convincing. If you could make a self-sharpening knife, you could make your fortune?? I still sharpen as often as I sharpen my spade.

Thanks Tim, I am going to go for it, XX Jeannine

DUCK!!!

My bigger Draw Hoe, of course, is mainly for ridging potatoes.

Yes I was going to get that one too.  XX Jeannine

I'd like to interupt this thread if I may and ask Tim for his advice!
When you sharpen a hoe with a stone how do you do it? Do you drag the stone bag and forth over the edge of the hoe? Do you sharpen it as much as a knife??

I've never been much good even sharpening knives either lol, so are we drawing the stone from underneath the cutting surface upwards or doing both sides of the "blade".

The next lesson i need, is how to hoe .... really I have very little idea.  I know "push pull" should give me a clue, but I'd like to have some idea before I get on the plot and look a real ignoramus !   :-[

and Jeannine, what handle are you getting ??

???

Oh, dearie me!!  I'm not the sharpening guru, but I'll try - my way!!

With the serrated edge hoe, I use the 'stone' as shown, aiming for a 39 deg slope - greater than a knife because it's got to cope with stones. Just push it back & forth. I could, equally, use a round metal file - diamond or steel.

With the scythe, sickle or billhook, I use a swishing wrist movement, like tossing something out of the car window (!), still at 30 deg to the edge.

In all cases,I then gently wipe off the 'burr' from the other side.

As to hoeing, I don't know whether I am 'correct' but, with the 'push-pull' thing, I prefer to slide it out to it's full extremity, drop my hand to cive a cutting angle & pull gently in. It's the least tiring way. Yes, there are occasions where you have to 'stab' as well.

I think I'm getting the picture!    :P

I see lot of frantic "push chopping" going on around me. 

And how often does one have to sharpen (I know that is like asking how long is a piece of string in that it would largely depend on how often you used the tool) but ... once a week/month/season (and I KNOW the answer will not be the third option).   :P

Also I see there are two widths of the push pull Wolf.  10cm and 15cm.  How big is yours tim ?  :P I'm thinking a 10cm would be better for my (hopefully will be by the end of the season raised) beds.

I've not got a lot of space so the 15cm would be overkill ?  (good thinking or wide of the mark ?).

;D

Can't answer that - ours is 15cm, which is fine for the wide open spaces & for standard row spacings! Maybe the wee one would suit a small bed better? And you could use it without the handle for intricate work?

The thoughts in my last post were, of course, with bigger areas in mind, & with seedlings  rather than established weeds - they're a different matter - weeding, not hoeing!

How often? once a year? Or when it doesn't cut!

Quote from: tim on May 27, 2007, 07:55:53

How often? once a year? Or when it doesn't cut!

  fair enough !

Thanks so much for letting me bounce my ideas off you tim !

It really helps to find out what everyone else does.  I think the smaller one would suit me OK (smallish beds, smallish plot, smallish me).  Now just to figure out which of the miriad of handles to choose!

;D