The best garden hoe?

[VERN in IL]

Forged head or welded head?

Obviously the Forged heads are conciderably more pricey, are they worth it?

I've always seen the welded heads will eventually break off. Is it more economically to get a Forged head, or just a cheaper welded one?

There is quite a price range between the two.

[buffalocreek]

Check out the hoes at easydigging.com

I just ordered two. Also check out a beet hoe. I've used one of these for years and they're one of the best hoes around.

[HermitJohn]

You want a hoe blade that has been actually tempered/hardened. How the gooseneck is attached to the blade is really of minor consequence.

And what kind of hoe do you want, a grub hoe, grape hoe, onion hoe, etc, etc, etc. There are different shape and weight hoes for different purposes. Just plain old cultivating type "garden hoe", I could just cut up an old lawn mower blade and weld up something probably better than cheap box store stuff and close to the fancy dan high dollar stuff.

Time is past many places, but used to you could also hit small farm auctions and find quality garden tools cheap, they'd about give them away if they didnt have a handle. Know what to look for and you maybe can find good deal that way. Generational farms get quite collection of such stuff over the years and the older stuff is from time when people actually used hand tools and nobody got away selling mild steel look alikes if they wanted to stay in buisiness.

[Old Vet]

The best hoe is the one that somebody else has and won't share.

[VERN in IL]

This is the product I am looking at:

http://doitbest.com/Hoes-Ames+Co.-mo...sku-701832.dib

Non of the products say the hardness or any such thing.

[Paquebot]

The hoe that you are looking at should give you many years of service mixing cement or mortar. Unless you are a 7' giant, any 90º hoe is almost worthless for gardening. For REAL garden hoes, go to www.goserud.com/Hoes.htm and see the best. Small Standard and Flow-Thru are great for close work. English Beet can't be beat for field work. Check with Hardware Hank or True Value hardware stores for less than Internet price.

Martin

[MELOC]

just like with any tool, it ain't what you got, it's how you use it!

[hotzcatz]

I have a lot more problems with the handles then the heads. Doesn't matter if the head is forged or welded, the handle will break first, IMHO. I may just get some pipe and weld a hoe head onto it and get an unbreakable tool. Already did that with the sledgehammer and the axe.

I found a five tine cultivator with movable tines at a garage sale last year. Cleaned it up and mounted it on a long handle and that has pretty much replaced the hoe in my garden.

[HermitJohn]

Originally Posted by MELOC

just like with any tool, it ain't what you got, it's how you use it!

Believe you are thinking of an entirely different kind of hoe. Those hoes are usually too expensive to use to weed the garden.

[HermitJohn]

Originally Posted by Paquebot

The hoe that you are looking at should give you many years of service mixing cement or mortar. Unless you are a 7' giant, any 90º hoe is almost worthless for gardening. For REAL garden hoes, go to www.goserud.com/Hoes.htm and see the best. Small Standard and Flow-Thru are great for close work. English Beet can't be beat for field work. Check with Hardware Hank or True Value hardware stores for less than Internet price.

Martin

Yep, the mortar mixer hoe is too light for digging and wrong angle to cultivate. At best if its high quality steel you could sharpen it and swing it to top tall weeds.... One mom had was like English beet hoe in above link only with tapered ends.

As to person breaking handles, you are using too light a hoe for what you are trying to accomplish. If you are using hoe to chop soil instead of cultivating around plants, then get a grape hoe or grub hoe or even heavy mattock. You wont break mattock handle.


Here is a grape hoe: Notice the angle of the blade, made for heavy duty cultivating and light digging. This is quality tool that will hold an edge.

Need more of a soil digging tool but not full mattock, this is grub hoe, longer somewhat heavier blade than a grape hoe:

This is a mattock:

[Old John]

Originally Posted by HermitJohn

Yep, the mortar mixer hoe is too light for digging and wrong angle to cultivate. At best if its high quality steel you could sharpen it and swing it to top tall weeds.... One mom had was like English beet hoe in above link only with tapered ends.

As to person breaking handles, you are using too light a hoe for what you are trying to accomplish. If you are using hoe to chop soil instead of cultivating around plants, then get a grape hoe or grub hoe or even heavy mattock. You wont break mattock handle.


Here is a grape hoe: Notice the angle of the blade, made for heavy duty cultivating and light digging. This is quality tool that will hold an edge.

Need more of a soil digging tool but not full mattock, this is grub hoe, longer somewhat heavier blade than a grape hoe:

This is a mattock:

I don't do much farming, anymore, but I have one or two of each of your examples, collected over the years. I have tined cultivators & beet hoes, too, for our little garden. I use my old grubbing hoes for minor trenching, sometimes.
It's hard to part with good old tools that you've spent some hours using, at least for me it is. I have seen to it that both my sons know what various tools are meant for. I have given them a few to get them started.

Oh, And, there are two kinds of Mattock, you might find, the Pick-mattock that you illustrated and the Axe-Mattock that has an axe blade, instead of the pick. It's very good for trenching too, as you can chop the roots easily.
Every tool has a purpose.

[Paquebot]

The most important thing about the beet hoe is the angle of the blade. When used for hoeing weeds, it should just about lay flat when your arms are holding it as if using it was a support to prevent falling over onto your nose. Then you need only draw it toward you while maintaining the same handle angle. The result is that the hoe is slicing through any weeds while their remains and dirt are passed over the hoe. With a 90º hoe, you are either pulling everything ahead of it or holding it at a most awkward angle. When someone brings such a thing to me, first thing I do is get out a big hammer and take about 30º out of it and then start filing. Beet hoe already has that angle and only needs minor adapting with a file. I have one of those which I know is older than me. It has been filed down to half what it originally was and just gets better and better each year.

Martin

[HermitJohn]

Originally Posted by Old John

I don't do much farming, anymore, but I have one or two of each of your examples, collected over the years. I have tined cultivators & beet hoes, too, for our little garden. I use my old grubbing hoes for minor trenching, sometimes.
It's hard to part with good old tools that you've spent some hours using, at least for me it is. I have seen to it that both my sons know what various tools are meant for. I have given them a few to get them started.

Oh, And, there are two kinds of Mattock, you might find, the Pick-mattock that you illustrated and the Axe-Mattock that has an axe blade, instead of the pick. It's very good for trenching too, as you can chop the roots easily.
Every tool has a purpose.

And there are different grape hoes also. Mine is diamond shape, little better in stoney ground. I was just out walking around and found it, needs new handle. Also found a homemade grub hoe I made when digging trench in tight quarters, but it has wrong head angle and the head is part of an old cultivator shoe so has an awkward little curve in it.

I used to have a long handle hoe that looked like a little light weight mattock. It was useful. Can easily make one like it from part of an old car leaf spring, just weld socket to middle of it and angle is important depending on length of handle and how you want to use it.

If you dont have scrap pile,. next best place to look when making tool is in farm store over where they sell the replacement blades, shoes, etc for farm equipment. This is good quality tempored metal if you can find the shape you want. Not trying to take the food out of mouths of children of those trying to manufacture and sell quality gardening hand tools, but you can usually make a very simular tool to the high end stuff for fraction of cost, especially if you weld. It may not be quite as pretty, but plenty functional.

Oh and for strong but lightweight handle, tubing salvaged from junk bicycles fits the bill, its very strong if you arent using it for a prybar and lot lighter weight than water pipe.

I once needed a short handle shovel. Had several old shovel heads sans handles. Welded up handle for one out of bicycle tube, thinking it probably wouldnt last that long so used crappiest old shovel head. Well the handle stood test of time better than the shovel head. I didnt use this to dig or pry but just to remove soil loosened with pick and mattock, like a shovel was meant to be used. Want digging shovel, you need a good trenching spade and they arent meant as pry bars but can cut and pry up reasonable bites of soil not big rocks. Need a pry bar go get a pry bar. Soil too hard, yoou are back to the pick and mattock.

[Stephen in SOKY]

I'm thinking about cutting the head off an old hoe and welding a mower section to the shaft. Anyone ever tried this?

[Cliff]

IMHO the best hoe is no hoe... mulch is a huge work saver and feeds the soil at the same time.

[wwubben]

My favorite hoe has turned out to be an onion hoe I bought years ago.My wife prefers a hoe shaped like a mower sickle section.I would not pay more for a forged head.You can get a good hoe at yard sales and auctions.

[texican]

Are you a careful person? Do you lose, or 'misplacerize' things? If you're careful, one good hoe might last you the rest of your life... if not, that expensive hoe might run off with an axe or shovel, to the land of lost tools. I started painting my tools with blaze orange paint years ago... my pa was down one day and asked what that sledge hammer was doing leaning against the tree... I'd been looking for it for weeks... seems 'somebody' had painted just one side of the handle... after that, I painted both sides.

And, after getting up to the garden yesterday, without a hoe, I must say that any hoe is better than no hoe, when your cleaning out your rows... pulling weeds by hand, and piling dirt on tater plants is plain ol stone age torture.

[wally]

the best hoe is the one my dw is using while set in the shade and enjoy a beverage of choice

[newfieannie]

good lord Hermit John that is the first time i knew the name of the tool i have. it's a mattock. i just call it a digger. i have had it for over 30 years. some guy on the wharf up in nothern new brunswick gave it to me. it is my most used tool. digging ,cutting etc. this year i have been using it for beating ice.

talking about hoes. i have so many of them but they dont have handles and it costs more for a handle than the tool. i have mauls ,rakes, pickaxes etc too. i'm still holding unto them because they are old ones. i might come across some handles at a decent price some day.i probably could make some if i knew how. ~Georgia.

[fishhead]

I like my Hula Hoe but I'm going to heavy mulch so it won't see much use.