[teflon]

After breaking three "budget"garden forks in the past month,i'm thinking of buying a half decent one now.I've seen a Spear&Jackson stainless steel(wooden shaft) fork for £15 in Tesco with a 10 or 15 year warranty(i cant remember exactly).Has anyone had any experience of these&can offer any advice?
  Thanks.
  Tel.

[ben]

The only forks I have not broken are Spear & Jackson ! Quality kit.

Broke a 15 year guarantee Wilkinson Sword fork in a month. Doh!

[oldbean]

Maybe time for a rethink about how the tool works. It must be hard effort for you if you get to the point of breaking the tool. Stainless is probably a poor choice as its structure gives a brittle material, whereas carbon steel is tougher. However, http://www.chillingtontoolsonline.co.uk/canterbury-fork-head-only-p4 is a tool that lets gravity do the work. It is used worldwide in various forms by people who HAVE to grow their food, or they starve. Look at the bottom of this page http://www.chillington.co.uk/africa.html for the variations available. Though unless you order thousands, you can't get them in the UK.

[Babstreefern]

By the sounds of it, I have the same fork.  I absolutely swear by it.  We have two forks, my hubby has the "cheap" one and I have the S&J.  I've used both, and the S&J is best.  Because of its stainless tines, it glides through the soil with relative ease unlike the cheaper one.  Also, funnily enough, I am only 5ft, and its just the right size for me.

[andreadon]

i go with spear and jackson too!

I bought a homebase own brand fork and the flint-stones in our garden broke it within a couple of months.
my mum gave me a spear and jackson she's had for years and it's a little tiny bit bent, but not broken yet - that was 6 years ago.
and all i do is dig (with the fork cos the spade won't go through/past the stones....)

[savbo]

tools you can trust... 

[peterjf]

i bought a wilkos stainless fork and spade 6 yrs ago , very strong , great tools ,

wait till autumn and they come down to £7-99 each , it dont get better then that , me thinks

[Rangerkris]

I broke 2  fork's then went and got a joesph bently 25 yr warrenty one it was not cheap but wirth every penny its well balanced and just the right height.

[Sharonx]

Those Chillington Tools look very cheap, have you had anything from there Oldbean?

[BobandJack]

I use my Grandad's garden fork, it's at least 60 years old & is really comfortable to use, perhaps they "don't make 'em like they used to" ? Might be worth looking out for old tools at a car boot sale

[Kristen]

I have both stainless steel and carbon steel forks and spades.

I bought the stainless ones because we have heavy clay, and it sticks less.

But mostly I get on faster with the lighter, better balanced, carbon steel ones - and use a flat wallpaper stripper tool to scrape the clay off.  I have to stop for a stretch every so often anyway!

If you don't have clay I'm not sure there is any benefit in a stainless steel Spade / Fork

[Howard]

...and use a flat wallpaper stripper tool to scrape the clay off.  I have to stop for a stretch every so often anyway!

This is an excellent tip, and one I learned whilst underpinning. Wallpaper scrapers are invaluable for cleaning clay from any digging tool.

[oldbean]

Those Chillington Tools look very cheap, have you had anything from there Oldbean?

Fork, trenching hoe, baby hoe, ridging hoe, and the little weeder thingy. The fork is good for tearing grass weeds off the top before dealing with breaking up the soil if it needs doing. You can do it from an upright position instead of having to bend over and lift. I had the trenching hoe for years with a home made handle before I found out they did more tools.

The metal is forged steel. The tools are simple and effective. If you have access to woodland you don't need to buy the handles, as it's possible to cut the right sixe sapling and the job's done.

[Trebor]

Yeoman stainless steel digging fork ~£20 is my choice. It has a rubberised handle so is comfortable to work with and I haven’t managed any damage despite working ground with hard frost and flint in it!

(It was also what they were using on Gardeners World when I bought it).

[Trebor]

Should also add that the handle is bent upwards slightly rather than being flat and again this makes it more comfortable to use. It got me some comments of approval from the old experienced fellows on the site.