Quality spade

[NoDakInMN]

Lots of names are used interchangeably because they are generic in nature. If you need to dig a hole in the dirt and send someone to get you a shovel, everyone pretty much understands you are not wanting an aluminum grain scoop.

"Idiot Stick" is a term that my Dad used to cover a whole range of shovels. Once I had to bury a cable across my gravel driveway. I asked my elderly neighbor if he had a pick ax I could borrow? He did, and he told me to keep it, saying he knew where it was should he ever need it, but otherwise every time he looked at it, it only made him think of hard work.

 

[TerryfromSWIowa]

I have a bucket of sand with used motor oil inside the shop door. I scrap off the dirt and push it in the sand to get a coat of oil on them.

 

[mtf]

In the nursery business King of Spades is the top of the line spade for digging. They are expensive and heavy, as they are all steel construction. The company that makes them is WW manufacturing.

 

[Pumpkin Steve]

I'm in exactly the same boat: Had two spades that were always kept with the fencing stuff had 'England' stamped on them. I don't know what it was about their design that made them so good, but it was exactly what you said: the best shovels to dig deep holes. When I was in high school we put up a fence completely around my father's farm. My father would wake us kids up early every Saturday morning to go dig post holes, and us kids fought for those good shovels. I think part of why they were so good was the angle the handle made with the head; a lot of newer ones have too much of an angle while those English ones were more straight, which you needed when digging deep post holes. The ones with the large angle don't work well past about 2 feet; pushing the handle straight down in the hole forces the head at an angle rather than down into the bottom of the hole, and you need a much wider hole to pull the dirt out.

I have no idea where they went. I've been scouring auctions to try and find more, but thus far no luck. I have a newer Garant Made in Canada one that's also very good, but not as good as those old England ones. I absolutely hate a 'Razorback' one I have. Very good quality steel, but way too much angle on the head - Superb for gardening, but terrible at digging deep holes.

Glad to see someone else had one. Yes, they had the best balance, solid, and always scoured well. I don't know where I originally bought it, possibly at an auction.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Speaking of shovels, do any of you clean and put a coating of light oil on them after using them? Growing up on our farm when ever we finished using them we were expected to clean them and give them a brush of used oil we had sitting in the tool shed. I found out that made a lot of difference how they worked because they were usually slick like when a plow shear is polished. I always hated helping neighbors with fencing, their shovels were rusty and took a lot more effort.

Speaking of shovels, do any of you clean and put a coating of light oil on them after using them?

I've never had a need to do that. Clean them after use and they'll be fine. Any minor surface rust won't cause a problem. Few things anger me as much as a shovel put away dirty.

Spade or shovel? I use both names; we called them 'spades' back in Colorado while in Michigan 'shovel' seems to be more common. I once went into a store in North Carolina and asked if they had any spades. They had no idea what I was talking about. I told the owner I was looking fo a long-handled shovel and she replied, "Well, I guess in this case a spade is NOT a spade!"

 

[ss55]

I used to have the best dirt spade ever, it had a round point and was easy to dig vertically. All I remember about the manufacturer was that it said England on it. It disappeared and I've never found one like it, and I don't care for any of the big box store digging tools. They just seem to be flimsy.
Any recommendations for a high quality shovel?

Fiskars makes some good shovels, expensive at $35 to over $50, but with the sharpened blade and harder metal I can get more done with one:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Fiskars-37-7-in-Poly-D-Handle-Digging-Shovel/5015240899?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-sol-_-ggl-_-CRP_SHP_PLA_SOL_Online_E-F-_-5015240899-_-online-_-0-_-0&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwuMC2BhA7EiwAmJKRrI23NsO4PxS8TwN7v4_z__Iz64EiZqGRT7YqhCa95Bqdh5d90zwFGRoCtnMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I also have a very good long handled round point shovel with a hollow steel handle and a sharpened blade, but I cannot remember the brand, it has green paint, the paper label is long worn off, bought it about 20 to 25 years ago.

 

[Tony in SD]

At my age, any digging I personally do is at the controls of my backhoe. I refuse to take a job away from someone much younger than me. LOL

 

[glennster]

try gemplers, McCann construction supply,, or a supplier for the construction industry.

 

[shaun wallace]

I have seen and have round nose spade, also seen square nose spade, called them sharp shooters and the has stuck for me and I call them all sharp shooters.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I used to have the best dirt spade ever, it had a round point and was easy to dig vertically. All I remember about the manufacturer was that it said England on it. It disappeared and I've never found one like it, and I don't care for any of the big box store digging tools. They just seem to be flimsy.
Any recommendations for a high quality shovel?

I needed a spade to divide aster roots with.
So I took a spade, removed the handle, slipped a pipe over the fiberglass handle and made a small steel fence post driver.
Aster roots are about 3 inches thick and too different for me to use a spade to divide. This power spade works great for a 75 year old man.

The asters in the picture were 3x3x3 inch stars this spring. In a year or two I'll divide them again. You can see the pipe's end is mushroomed a little. That will give you an idea how much force is needed to split aster roots.