[vixen]

Hi, Vixen's OH 'ere, now these 'ere hoes.  some are H/D 7" wide, some 6" wide, some 4" wide, some double sided, some with a pointy bit on?  Only want to buy one, if any, ( I'm looking at the chillington web) all about £30 with postage, or theres the 6" one on amazon for £8.60 delivered. (silverline) any good for that money or is it  bendier than a bendy thing.  Do b+q sell them? or are they rubbish, Also watched the chil...... youtube video on 'how to use'. ok it looks good, but once youve turned over a lump 12" sq, then wat, do you keep attacking it with the hoe or then a fork/spade. seems to me it ends up looking like a ploughed field, rather than a finely turned allotment. i find no problem digging and dont get back ache, as I know how to use a spade properly, but these have good reviews, so I'm 'all ears'

[Nobbie]

I looked at the Chillington ones and then bought a similar design of ebay for £15. It's a cast iron blade on a hickory shaft and works really well. You need a bit of weight for breaking up harder ground, but with a gentler touch it's really good for weeding between rows and stuff. I love mine.

[vixen]

Thanks for that nobbie, I take it you mean the silverine gt jobbie,  WELL!!!! at the moment there are on SPECIAL, at amazon, £8.63 with FREE delivery, whopeedodah!! One will be in the post soon.

[Hobnails]

I use a heavy, 4 inch blade Chillington type hoe with an ash handle. Given me by my father in law thirty years ago. I took it out of politeness and did not use it until  I came to cultivate this patch. 4 - 6 inches of topsoil over a sand and gravelly sub- soil packed solid of fork-bending tenacity.
To double dig this I brought out the Old Man's hoe and it did the job breaking up the hard pan better than anything else.  It took a stone and  half of mee also.
It's now a favoured tool in the shed and I find I use it for other things than hard labour- such as lightly digging over raised beds.

One word of advice if you get an old one with a wooden handle that has been used by somebody else - wear gloves to avoid any skin complications.
Good luck with your choices.

[vixen]

I did 'accidentally' break one of the tongs on Vixen's nice shiny fork yesterday

[operabunny]

I love my Azada and wouldn't swap it for any fork or spade going! Turns ground over so quickly and breaks it up really well. Takes so little effort compared to digging because you let the weight of the tool do most of it and I find lifting the Azada much easier than trying to push/lean down on a spade. I have used it successfully on heavy clay soil that a spade couldn't get through and a fork just got stuck in (ended up as a huge ball of clay on a stick!)

Don't try turning over the bigest lump possible, just slice down and pull towards you. I dig widthways across my beds rather than lengthwise along them so that I don't walk over dug ground. I then pick any weeds off the surface and gently push the soil back. To finish off I just give a quick rake over the surface, usually after sprinkling with chicken pellets.

I also use it for weeding, making trenches, earthing up, flattening areas for brassicas, cutting through brambles..... :happy:

I got some really strange looks from the old boys down the lotty to start with - until they saw how fast I could clear a completely overgrown patch

[noshed]

Ditto with above. It does look a bit like a ploughed field when I've finished but a week of rain and a bit of raking soon sorts it out.
Very good for coarse gardening.

[bigben]

I am on my second silverlined from Amazon - the first did such a good job at rough digging compacted ground and popping out monster brambles that I got a bit carried away and tried to use it to lever out a tree - well I managed to snap the handle - but it dig shift the tree root in the process!

I have since bought another and would not be without it. If they are on offer then go for it.

[TerryB]

Hi Got mine from Tool Shop Direct under £10 and has a 4ft handle.
Best tool i've ever had.