Quality spade

[Pumpkin Steve]

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?

 

[Farmall m farmer]

I had a razor back it was a great shovel fiberglass handle until I broke it it was my fault I don’t know where we got it if you don’t like big box store shovels go to antique stores and they are usually cheaper

 

[Stan Coryell]

I'm pretty sure my Grandfather had this one years ago. I think my Uncle ended up with it.

I have Razorback and Bully. You can't wrong with either.

Digging Spade (B)

Kinsman Garden Digging Spade. Solid-Socket Forged made with Carbon Steel. Wooden Split-YD handles. Made by Spear and Jackson. Shovel

www.kinsmangarden.com

 

[MJMJ]

If you don’t mind ordering, you can find good quality garden tools online. On Amazon for example, search for “spade shovel” or whatever term you like, then sort by user reviews. This shows the top rated shovels first, which are typically the better quality ones. Of course the better ones cost a bit more than box store tools.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I guess we have a different idea of a spade. When I think of or hear the word spade I think of something with a blade of about 18 inches long so you could be about 2.5-3 feet deep in a couple passes like you would use to dig a tile ditch. Then the rest would be shovels like you would commonly see used by most people to dig a hole with or dig up strawberry plants to transplant. I suppose it could also just be what I'm used to and that there are different spades for different uses. Just my thought and wording on it. Our spade was one Grandpa had whan I was a kid so it is about 60 or so years old and has had the handle changed once now.

 

[Larry H.]

I'm pretty sure my Grandfather had this one years ago. I think my Uncle ended up with it.

I have Razorback and Bully. You can't wrong with either.

Digging Spade (B)

Kinsman Garden Digging Spade. Solid-Socket Forged made with Carbon Steel. Wooden Split-YD handles. Made by Spear and Jackson. Shovel

www.kinsmangarden.com

I'm pretty sure my Grandfather had this one years ago. I think my Uncle ended up with it.

I have Razorback and Bully. You can't wrong with either.

Digging Spade (B)

Kinsman Garden Digging Spade. Solid-Socket Forged made with Carbon Steel. Wooden Split-YD handles. Made by Spear and Jackson. Shovel

www.kinsmangarden.com

Bully is a good one. USA made ,

 

[Brownie450]

Round nose shovel----long handle.
Spade----D handle --16" blade.
Jim

 

[Charles in Aus.]

It's always best to " Call a spade a spade " as the saying goes . A spade is the gardening equivalent of a knife , a shovel a spoon .
Best small spade I've got is an ex military one , not an entrenchment tool , rather one for digging latrines and such . D handle , slightly pointed round cutting edge , very slightly scooped mouth .
Takes a razor sharp edge that holds up for months .

 

[Pumpkin Steve]

I guess different areas different terms. Tile spade: narrow blade to dig trench. Spade: any long handled tool to dig dirt; one with a large angle on it called grading spade. Shovel: flat blade that won't dig dirt but is good for loose material such as sand and gravel.
I ordered one on Amazon. They call it a caprock but it is what we would call a round point.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I guess we have a different idea of a spade. When I think of or hear the word spade I think of something with a blade of about 18 inches long so you could be about 2.5-3 feet deep in a couple passes like you would use to dig a tile ditch. Then the rest would be shovels like you would commonly see used by most people to dig a hole with or dig up strawberry plants to transplant. I suppose it could also just be what I'm used to and that there are different spades for different uses. Just my thought and wording on it. Our spade was one Grandpa had whan I was a kid so it is about 60 or so years old and has had the handle changed once now.

I think what you're referring to is a tiling spade. Long and narrow with a rounded point. I have one from my FIL's old stuff.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Speaking of calling a spade a spade. Which one looks more like a spade? The "drainage spade" or the "round nose shovel?"

 

[woodbutcher]

I think what you're referring to is a tiling spade. Long and narrow with a rounded point. I have one from my FIL's old stuff.

AKA bill-dookey or sharpshooter

Butch

 

[Loosehandle]

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?

Frequent estate sales and whatnot

 

[rustred]

Speaking of calling a spade a spade. Which one looks more like a spade? The "drainage spade" or the "round nose shovel?"
View attachment 84457View attachment 84458View attachment 84459

The long nose spade many use it to clean their cat tracks. I don’t see any shovels. A shovel is for shoveling grain or snow. That’s why u need to call a spade a spade. Lol.

 

[DanielW]

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.

 

[scootergmc]

Spear and Jackson could've been the manufacturer of the old spade. They still make them, don't know of availability.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

Cyclone spades and shovels are an Australian brand established in 1898 and still made in a country factory not too far from my farm . I don't know if they export . They do have a comprehensive range though.

Shovels & Spades

Cyclone Tools

cyclone.com.au

 

[Gary Reif]

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.

 

[Hoenes]

I guess different areas different terms. Tile spade: narrow blade to dig trench. Spade: any long handled tool to dig dirt; one with a large angle on it called grading spade. Shovel: flat blade that won't dig dirt but is good for loose material such as sand and gravel.
I ordered one on Amazon. They call it a caprock but it is what we would call a round point.

Tile spade, was the term when I was younger. I was told full vertical depth was the setting for clay tile sewer piping. Not very deep, but sewers don't freeze, as long as there is no standing water.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

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.

No, because we kept our shovels inside and they didn't develop more than a light surface rust between uses. After a shovel or two in our ground, they were clean and shiny again.