[DaftMule]

Last June I took over an allotment patch that had not been dug for 20+ years.  Once I'd cleared the weeds, a trial dig revealed heavy clay soil which was nicely compacted!  It nearly killed me just digging about 2 square meters  :blink:

Come the autumn, my father in law suggested buying a Wolf Terex spade.  Some googling revealed that the Terex was no longer made although a new company had picked up the design and was making the spade again under the name Backsaver Auto-spade.

I gulped when I saw the price, but jumped in and bought one.   It takes a little bit of getting used to, but I have to say that even on my heavy, compacted clay, it performed amazingly and I walked away after several hours digging with my back intact 

The trick with it is to not try and bite off too much with each spade full.  That way you don't stress the springing mechanism and you can get into quite a tidy rhythm which soon eats up the ground.

Anyway, just thought I'd let peeps know.

[mumofstig]

Yes, these have been mentioned on the forum before, and some peeps do have one as they are very good for backs...if you can afford one

[DaftMule]

Yes, these have been mentioned on the forum before, and some peeps do have one as they are very good for backs...if you can afford one

I asked for donations towards the cost as an early Christmas present 

[joyfull]

see what you mean about price 

[Parsnip]

We've got one with the fork attachment, they are really good.