Shovels

[notinsignificant]

I have a Workwizer D handle that I love, it is truly a wonderful piece of equipment. Sadly it doesn't appear that Workwizer is selling shovels anymore.

The rookies last season got Bushpro shovels that are heavy and have carbon steel blades. On the third day of the season a vet bent the tip of the blade back of those fuckers in an encounter with the Canadian Shield. It was not the first such instance that season. The only nice thing about the shovel is that it is easy to cut done, which is great for rookies. I'm going to try and talk the ones I know into getting better shovels, but the options appear to be somewhat limited.

Based on my limited knowledge on metallurgy, stainless steal is significantly stronger than carbon steel because of its chromium and manganese content. (Bike geek note: This is why higher-end steel bike frames are much lighter than cheap steel and even aluminium ones, the nice ones are made of strong 4130 chromo, while cheap ones use mild steel or cheap aluminium alloys. The strong material means much less steel is needed, thus the significant weight range). So stainless is a must.

Bushpro's Stainless Speed Spade seems to be the best and only match, but I feel a little turned off of Bushpro shovels right now. Any alternatives?

[Scooter]

Why yes, I have a suggestion. This is a little video that I shared with my own camp, but I wasn't sure if I would post it here. I figured that maybe I should go through a season of product-testing before I shared my idea.

But what the hell. I'll throw this out as food for thought. Hard to say if it will work effectively. Let the buyer beware ...

[notinsignificant]

Why yes, I have a suggestion. This is a little video that I shared with my own camp, but I wasn't sure if I would post it here. I figured that maybe I should go through a season of product-testing before I shared my idea.

But what the hell. I'll throw this out as food for thought. Hard to say if it will work effectively. Let the buyer beware ...

I've been told I'm doing mostly fast land this year, so I've decided to build one for myself, with a few differences:
- using a Bushpro E handle
- There is no Home Hardware in Winnipeg and all the stores I tried lacked what I needed (except for a $50 hand forged trowel at Lee Valley, but what's the point of that?), so I found a decently cheap stainless steal towel that should work online.
- I'm going to try to use a wooden shim instead of duct tape, if I can find the right size piece.

I don't have time to build it now, but I'll post pics when it's done.

[Scooter]

I've used mine for a couple runs on the coast, and I mostly love it. The only thing I find different is that I'm used to a fairly large shovel, and I miss the weight of the shovel when I'm driving this into the ground. But this works really well on soft organic blocks. I'm pretty sure it'll work well in decent trenches with soft soil that isn't clay-based. Several of my planters are going to try it this season (to complement their existing shovel, not as a replacement) so we'll soon have a better idea of how effective it is.

[Nate]

On the fire shovel note, there was a guy in his 60s who planted for Brinkman in the early 00's (he'd be in his 70s now) who planted with a slightly modded fire shovel. He used to put in decent numbers, but I remember a few of us chipping in trees for him a few days for reasons I now can't remember. Anyone know his name or what his back story was that he was planting trees in Ontario for Brinkman with a fire shovel in his 60s? Super quiet/chill/nice guy.

[jdtesluk]

I used a Canadian Tire drain spade for a few years. They were really cheap ($30) and came wiht a fiberglass shaft and a (useless) offset handle. They needed to have their blades cut down (big time) and the handle replaced with a proper D grip. This provided a very light and very thin shovel. I would guess it was nearly half the weight of a conventional shovel. I found this to be my favourite shovel except for heavy screefing (which is rare anyway). The light thin blade went in easy, and seemed to substantially reduce strain on my arm. The cons where that they wore fast (each one only lasted a single season), and could break. Over three years, I only snapped one, but it was my own damned fault for forcing it in frozen ground. After that I used a normal blade for really rocky or frozen ground, but kept the lightweight shovel for most ground. It was especially nice in steep ground where I had to maneuver my shovel above shoulder height a lot. I felt that this shovel gave me a definitive advantage with my amr having to lift far less weight every tree, and the sharpness and thinness of the blade counteracted the lack of weight for penetrating the ground. I'm a bit surprised they didn't catch on with others. THe other problem is that when I check Canadian Tire now, the don't seem to stock the same model anymore, and most drain spades have an angled blade that is not suitable for planting conversion. The ones I used had an orange shaft, and a blade that extended directly from the shaft, with minimal offset.

Point is, there may be potential for gains through trying different gear.

[notinsignificant]

Here it is, I start Sunday on a pretty sandy contract, so we'll see how it goes. It's so small it looks comical.

IMG_20140502_111145.jpg (137.16 KiB) Viewed 5152 times

[krahn]

i met someone last season with a shovel almost this short! insane. i'm not flexible enough to use this, but might be great on a steep piece.

[Lewis]

I bought one of the new workwizers this season. It's a pile of junk. By day 8, having only planted soft ground, the handle snapped in two. By day 10 the tip of the shovel had bent inwards and a few days later it snapped off.

I have 4 or 5 bushpro's and workwizers lying around and each is a piece of shit. I think there must be an opportunity for someone to come into the market with a decent piece of equipment. I know I'd have no problem spending 2 or 3 times what I pay for shovels if knew I didn't have to worry about something breaking on it mid-day.

[notinsignificant]

No luck, the blade isn't nearly strong enough. Oh well, my current shovel works still works pretty good.