[jonewer]

When my soil is dry, it just laughs at my azada. I need a pickaxe.

[Armleywhite]

I have the large Chillington hoe and it goes through the compacted soil like a hot knife through butter.  Love it. 

[rowan57]

Might be worth investing in a file and sharpening the hoe those who are having trouble, should help. They were designed to be sharpened.

[boldondig]

I don't have an Azada - but I have brought a Mattock - one with a yellow plastic shaft.  After having decided to double dig I found my soil was clay and that part of my allotment has a type of marl which forms a band of cement like  consistency at one spades depth -  in narrow layers of a couple of inches thick. The only way though it is a pick axe or mattock ( I bent the fork and snapped the spade ) - It is hard work but breaks it up nicely. It does weather over time so it is worth doing ... I dug in manure with it at depth and this year I have seen an improvement. Like with a lot of Allotment things - patience is a virtue