Fork handles...

[ChingfordHarry]

I had a "Two Ronnies" moment today when the handle of my digging fork snapped - it's only 25 years old so a surprise that it broke so soon :-)

I'm going to replace it, but does anyone have advice before I take the plunge? I've always gone for D handles rather than T handles (that's what I grew up with...), but I've also noticed that the Americans use long straight handles instead (particularly on spades and shovels) - does anyone here have experience of both and would have a recommendation? I have read that the reason the short D or T handle is prevalent here is because they were originally used in the pits (where there wouldn't be much room, and you would be working on your knees). My father was very disparaging of the "Yanks" in the war using long handles (I think his reason was that it made digging much easier..), but I'm prepared to overcome his prejudice!

Oh - and ash, hickory, or "hardwood"?

[ameno]

I've always used D handles, too. I imagine T handles are probably just as good, though. It's just a matter of what you are used to.
I can't imagine a straight handle would be any good for digging, though. A long straight handle is fine (preferable, even) for a shovel or pitchfork, where the intended use is moving or scooping piles of loose material, but not for digging with.

[ChingfordHarry]

When I used to work on a farm, I used a pitchfork (or what we called a "bale fork", but it's the same thing) for tossing bales of hay or straw about - often to someone on top of a stack of them in a barn (note these were the old-style bales about 3' long by 18" wide by about a foot high (I'm trying to remember the sizes from nearly 50 years ago, so I could be out substantially), not the 1-tonne giants everyone makes these days). These could not in any way be described as "loose material"!

Although I'd tend to agree that a straight handle without either a D or T at the end would need to be handled differently, they are certainly found on digging forks - here are a few links to adverts for them - the advantage seems to be that you don't need to bend so much when you use them, which is the reason why I like my Canterbury fork so much and use it most of the time. Canterbury forks are rather more awkward to aim accurately when you're digging a plant up, though.

https://www.gardenstreet.co.uk/garde...ging-fork-p206

https://www.stakelums.ie/p/darby-lon...g-fork/f103dlh

https://greenmangardentools.com/prod...-handle-f0624/

[Nicos]

We used the 2 pronged tine forks with the horses…brill for mucking out and chucking around full bales as you say CH.

I found this German site you might find useful?
https://www.idealspaten.de/en/spades...f-spade-shafts

[ChingfordHarry]

Ah, the Idealspaten website is very informative - thank you. Shame that they don't seem to retail here...

I'm very tempted at this point to replace the handle with a 48" straight, and also invest in a new fork. Burgon and Ball seem to be popular - does anyone have thoughts on how the stainless steel (stst) ones compare with the mild steel ones (see below for my commentary on this)? Most online reviews I read concentrate on stst.

I've had stst tines snap before now, and one of my fellow allotmenteers showed me his stst spade blade that had shattered - mild steel is more malleable, so more likely to bend than snap.

[Mark Rand]

I have managed to snap a tine off a stainless steel border fork.

Worse, the wooden handle on a stainless steel digging fork snapped this year when I was trying to evict some hedge roots. The fork had been left outside over a winter and I suspect that the wood wasn't quite as good as it should have been. Luckily, I've found that I've got a length of stainless steel tube that's pretty much exactly the same diameter as the top of the fork's socket and I can TIG weld stainless. So next time I'm doing some welding, the fork will get upgraded.

[ChingfordHarry]

Long handle - first impressions.

okay, I invested in a Faithfull West Country Shovel handle - 54" (1.38m) of ash. The taper fitted my fork head almost perfectly (could have been a bit narrower, but it fitted without having to file/surform/spokeshave it down. Nice bit of timber.

I'd have to say that I have had few surprises, and have found that what you might expect is pretty much what you get. It's much heavier than a "normal" handle, and if you are working in a tight space it's more awkward than a short handle.

Digging with it is much the same as a normal handle, except that if I need a bit more leverage, rather than "putting my back into it", I slide my top hand up a bit and push or pull there instead and don't need to bend over. Digging up root vegetables from my claggy soil was really very easy. Getting the tines into the ground is pretty well identical to doing the same with a normal fork - I have never used the handle to shove the head into the ground if it needs a bit more oomph, I've always stood on the fork head - and that hasn't changed.

I expect that it will be easier to snap or bend tines, but that's a bridge I'll cross when I come to it.

I did feel a bit like a mediaeval peasant, walking through the woods to the allotment with what now looks the sort of thing that wouldn't have been out of place at Agincourt...

[Nicos]

Keep us updated on how you get on with it will you?
Interesting thread!…thanks.

[ChingfordHarry]

Hi NIcos - that's my plan. I've also invested in a B&B "RHS endorsed" fork, and over the next year or so will try to keep both to hand and see which one I reach for.

It occurs to me that one advantage might be that if anyone on the allotment site "borrows" this one, I'll be able to identify the culprit easily!

[Snoop Puss]

I was given a Burgon & Ball fork by a friend. Two of the tines have bent rather alarmingly. I'm guessing it was what you describe as the mild steel version, Harry. Not used for anything strenuous, either. So disappointing, I'd say. It supposedly has a lifelong guarantee (I've not said anything to the friend who gave it to me, as he went to tremendous effort to bring it over to Spain on British Airways and it was a really thoughtful gift).

Mr Snoop once repaired a fork with a broken shaft for me, replacing it with what Idealspaten call a knob handle. I don't like it at all. Possibly because it's too long, I don't know. Although I can get the tines into the ground easily (like you, I stand on the fork end), I don't find it at all easy to dig with. Harder work for my lower back, as I feel I'm levering the fork much more, and I keep expecting the fork end to snap off from the shaft.

[ChingfordHarry]

Hi Snoop

What I described as "mild steel" is actually "carbon steel" - it turns out that mild steel is a type of carbon steel, but it's too malleable for things like garden implements, so they use a harder variety (this is a learning experience for me).

From what I gather, the B&B tools with the lifetime guarantee (I'm left wondering what happens if you return it broken after 76 years and demand a replacement, as their "lifetime" is 75 years) are the stainless steel ones, which is the one that I plumped for - so it remains to be seen if mine is going to be as bendy as yours!

I must say that before I broke my fork handle I thought a fork is a fork is a fork...

[ChingfordHarry]

I've now had the long fork handle for a couple of months and used it a bit. The really good thing is that I don't need to bend at all at the waist when digging - as I mentioned before, when I need a bit more leverage I can just slide my hand up the shaft and pull or push, and walk back or forth while remaining upright. So "double plus good" for a dodgy back.

The other day I dug a load of buttercups out of my "sunken" bed, which is about 15cm below the surrounding level and too muddy to step into at this time of year (those of you who have read my previous posts might have noticed that I have a hollow in which I have put half-dustbins to raise some fruit bushes above the winter floods) - I could have knelt down and yanked them out with a weeding fork, but that would have meant an awkward bend and my lower back is playing up a bit. The long-handled fork made it a breeze. Today I did the same with some raspberry runners that would have been awkward to reach with a normal fork but the long handle made it easy.

The downsides are all pretty obvious and what you would expect - it's considerably heavier than a normal fork with a T or D, and you have to watch out for what's behind you so you don't clatter anything with the end of the handle. It's unwieldy if you're working between rows of anything like fruit bushes, cordons or trained vines - so I'm glad I bought a "normal" fork that I can use in places with limited room for manoeuvre (having said that, I've barely used the normal fork so far).

[Nicos]

Interesting! Thanks for the update

[Andraste]

I concur with Nicos - really useful feedback - thanks ChingfordHarry

I shall be bringing your post to the attention of OH has he's the fork-er on our plot and at 6ft he's often left with an aching back after toiling with his.

[rary]

When working with long shafted forms of spades and forks I have always found it easier to take less than you would normally go for when digging, also long shafted shovels are better to work with if shovelling material into a barrow or throwing manure etc. over the garden, as for the quality of steel a low carbon steel is a softer steel,if I remember from my days of working at furnaces about 20% carbon a steel usually used for pressing out shapes, the harder high carbon steel 40%? carbon content used for rolled shapes like rails and H beams, as for long life tools I still use a hoe that belonged to my father which must be over 100 years old and it is still the original shaft