[Lady Lottie]

I hadn't even HEARD of an azada or mattock until this morning!

Now I know what they look like, I just wondered what all you seasoned allotmenteers thought about them as opposed to an ordinary spade? 

I have a LOT of digging to do on the neglected plot I have just acquired, so I might as well make it as easy on myself as possible mightn't I?  Any thoughts or comments deeply appreciated.

[noshed]

Mine is great for chomping through roots, levering out things and levelling. I got a medium one and it is still quite heavy. You can get cheaper ones in some shops if you look around, usually with slightly narrower blades.

[Celtic Eagle]

Mattocks are great for initially breaking the ground up and getting bramble or shrub roots. You can get a 12 ft bed to a stage where its easy to dig in about 15 mins. Save about a hours hard work The one i have weighes about 7 lb and most of the time you let the weight of the blade do the work. No need for lumberjack style swings about a 2 foot lift  and bring it down firmly pulling toward you as it   cuts into the ground

great tool great fun just watch the toes

[Lady Lottie]

You can get a 12 ft bed to a stage where its easy to dig in about 15 mins.

Wow!  Oi loikes the sound of that!!!!!!!  This amazing tool definitely requires further investigation...

[Ropster]

I have a Chillington Hoe (AZADA) and it is great for skimming weeds off the surface and digging treanches etc, if you have a lot to clear its a good tool, but you will still need a spade

[Thamesmeadhammer]

I love my Azada, the best tool in my limited shed !
Well worth the money

[Swing Swang]

Horses for courses, but I'm wedded to my enxadas. Mini one for hand hoe-ing/weeding/planting (effectively replaces a trowel and hand held onion hoe), middle sized one for general cultivation and earthing up, big one (almost a mattock) for digging up trees and chopping roots, three pronged 'spiked' one used as a muck rake and for forking over a heavy 'pan' when double digging. Next time I'm in Portugal I'll buy a beefy 'two pronged' enxada which is what the locals use to harvest spuds, and probably one with a very rounded blade (as opposed to a square blade) as I think that it will be better for trenching (but then again maybe I'm just starting a collection).

If I could only have three tools they would include my small and middle sized enxadas (the other would be my long-handles Irish spade).

SS

[woodburner]

A bit of a hijack here, but how do you actually use a mattock/azada to dig a plot?

I've only seen one used for chopping through roots of a tree stump, but that method doesn't translate at all well to clearing a plot. 

[Duracell]

And where would you buy one?

[Lady Lottie]

And where would you buy one?

"A bit of a hijack here, but how do you actually use a mattock/azada to dig a plot?

I've only seen one used for chopping through roots of a tree stump, but that method doesn't translate at all well to clearing a plot."

Both very good points!  I'm sure quick Google will turn up plenty of suppliers and I am sure I saw something lurking on a thread on here about how to use one... hang on...   

[Lady Lottie]

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=8123.msg93091#msg93091

hope that link works....didn't read it in depth, just skimmed it but it seems to have some pointers on there for how to swing an azada without chopping your legs off!

[Lady Lottie]

http://www.get-digging.co.uk/using.htm

...tch...found this link on another thread - I really should have done a search on here before I started this thread  sorry all.  There seems to be lots of info on different threads if you just search under - surprise, surprise - azada! Tch!   I'll get the hang of this forum eventually - I just get a thought in my head and off I go - gung ho!

[woodburner]

I know how to swing one, it was how to work across the plot without walking on the soil you had turned that was stumping me. The writer of the get digging article doesn't know how to use a spade properly, and despite recommending the azada, doesn't really explain how to use it either. Of the two articles he gives links to one demonstrates the problem I had envisaged, and uses a walking board to avoid compaction. What a palaver!

The other link, to selfsufficientish.com, however, has a detailed description of how to use one by Stonehead, and I think the second method would suit Lady Lottie. Link to selfsufficientish here

[Rangerkris]

Ive been to the inlaws garage this morning and found an azada in there its going to make thing much better when at the plot removing bramble roots.

[Trillium]

Azadas really are a great tool once you understand how best to use them. Until mine arrived, I used either end of a pick axe and was amazed that even that tool did a better job than my spade. But a spade is still a very useful tool and I wouldn't sacrifice mine for any of the other tools. It's all a matter of using the right tool for the right job as the pros say.