Qvds55899

I ruined my favorite spade after more than 30 years by leaving it out in the rain too often for a couple of years. I bought an all-steel 'King of Spades' model, but have to admit it's actually too heavy to enjoy using. (I'm a woman - sharing the Amazon account.) I was considering a Spear and Jackson but was dubious about the split wooden D handle design. So you can see I'm willing to get spendy to find the right tool. I saw that this Spear Head Spade was designed by an older fellow who needed something easier to use. It got great reviews on a gardening site, so when I saw the price, it was certainly worth a try. I admire well-engineered products, and the peculiar look had to confer some advantage. . . After using it for a few weeks, I couldn't be happier. Every year I dig things up and move them around, wage war on bluebell bulbs half a mile deep, isolate day lilies out from where they're creeping into the hosts, etc. This spade is ideal for neatly extracting plants without making a mess and heaving up all the soil in the surrounding area. It feels good in the hand, and with the fiberglass handle, I don't worry if I leave it out at the end of the day. And I've saved about $75 on what an expensive spade was going to cost. More money for plants!

Just opened the box and it's already damaged from factory.. not impressed. I bought this for a gift and i dont feel comfortable giving someone a damaged present .

Although I had not used this spade, I bought it on the recommendation of someone who had and loved it. When it arrived, the box was so light I wondered if the spade was actually in it. It was. I tried it out that day. It took me all of about 10 seconds to have the entire 3-foot in diameter root system of a small, diseased, tree out of the ground, without major disturbance to the roots of the flowers around it. The foot deep tap root of a 2' high thistle took about 20 seconds. I cleared clover (which has a very tangled and difficult to remove root system) from a 4' by 6' flower bed in about 5 minutes. Shaking the dirt off the roots took a heck of a lot longer than getting them out. This spade is going into my husband's very small collection of tools that actually live up to their advertising.UPDATE: I bought this spade on a personal recommendation, rather than after reading reviews of it. After posting my review, I decided to read some of the other reviews. Many reviewers called this a shovel, and frequently marked it down because it did not work like a shovel. It is not a shovel, it is a spade. The definition of a spade is "a tool with a sharp-edged, typically rectangular, metal blade and a long handle, used for digging or cutting earth, sand, turf, etc." In contrast, the definition of a shovel is "a tool for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore." If you are digging a hole, you should use the spade to cut through the sod and break up the ground, and then a shovel to remove the dirt. Don't expect a spade to carry the load a shovel does. It's not made for that.

I purchase this item because I wanted something that would not only penetrate the ground easily enough, but yet would also be functional for shoveling while transplanting trees and shrubs. From the product description and the related reviews, I got that impression that it just might work for that. Sadly, I was disappointed. . .In my opinion, this item is more on par with a large garden trowel than an actual shovel. . .or spade. The photos on the product page simply do not do justice portraying the proper dimensions for this item, make the blade look larger than what it actually is. I sometimes wonder if the manufacturer did this on purpose, or if it was just an oversight. If I would have known of the actual dimensions of the blade, I would never have purchased this item. This item can be useful if you intend to use it for smaller jobs, like planting/transplanting flowers, decorative grasses, etc, or for weeding. But for larger jobs where you need to do a lot of digging and/or are transplanting larger items, not so much.This so called "shovel/spade" has a total length about 40.25 inches: 5 inches for the D-handle, 24.25 inches for shaft (between the handle and blade) and 11 inches for the blade. The shovel/spade blade does seem to be made well enough, but I do question the strength of the handle and shaft. Many times while digging up trees and rocks, the handle and shaft would make cracking sounds, and it wasn't because of trying to lift a tremendous amount of weight either (the largest tree I transplanted was 3 feet tall and the rocks were about 6 inches in diameter). After planting over two dozen trees with it, all ranging from 8 inches to 3 feet tall, the handle and the shaft are still intact. However. . .given that some reviewers complained of this shovel braking on them, I wonder how much longer this will last, that is, if I even continue to use it. The blade of this shovel/spade does penetrate the ground much easier than conventional shovels, but. . .that's pretty much it and is to be expected given its much smaller diameter and more pointed blade. The penetrating aspect of this shovel/spade I am pleased with; the shoveling aspect of it. . .I am not. . .Being that the blade of this item is so much smaller--I would say 60% smaller--than a regular short-handled shovel (see photos), a person can't shovel much dirt at a time. Many times when transplanting trees, I felt like I was playing with a kiddie toy--just a little scoop here. . .a little scoop there. It does get the job done, but I often wished I had a true shovel--or even a true spade--when digging a hole and putting dirt back around the tree I just transplanted.In addition, another area where this "shovel/spade" did not perform well for me, which also has to do with the smaller blade head, is when lifting/prying up a tree to be transplanted. Being that the blade is so narrow, once I had dug around and under the tree to be transplanted, the smaller blade design made prying up the tree and the surrounding dirt so much harder to do, made it much harder to lift up in one clump. When attempting to do this, I found the dirt surrounding the tree breaking up, falling apart, making a mess, and worse, exposing the sensitive roots of the tree. A larger blade wouldn't have done this, for the greater surface area would have supported the tree, its roots, and the surrounding dirt so much better, would have kept everything intact and thus easier to lift out and transport. And if you happen to be wondering if this shovel was effective for me when cutting through roots that I encountered. . .no. . .it was not, not any better than a typical shovel, maybe even less so being that the angle of the blade is so great. I've run into a lot of roots while transplanting trees, large and small, and this shovel/spade just didn't "cut it". . .and I tried.With all things considered, this shovel/spade does serve a purpose: It penetrates the ground more easily than your typical shovel and should work well for smaller jobs as I mentioned. However, it being purported as also a shovel is ridiculous. Shoveling with this will surly extend the length of your work and could exacerbate any back issues from all the extra bending you will have to endure. For what I needed this shovel for, this is not a very effective tool. It did not make any of my jobs easier overall. I also don't think this tool is worth the 50 plus dollars, not as a shovel, spade or the combination of the two. . .nor as a glorified, over-sized garden trowel. You can get a regular 40 inch shovel with a fiberglass handle and with a lifetime warranty at your local hardware supplier for $15 to $20. For a price of over $50, I was expecting a bit more. I guess it comes down to: do you want less shoveling or an easier time penetrating the ground? What you prefer and/or need will determine how useful this tool is for you. For me, it is worth no more than 3 stars.**Note: There seems to be some confusion on what this product really is. Some say it is a shovel. . .while other are adamant it is a spade. The truth is, this tool fits neither of those qualities very well, especially it being a spade. It is advertised as being a HYBRID (see product description), meaning it is intended to be both a shovel and a spade; but that term simply is not all that accurate.So what exactly constitutes a spade and a shovel anyway, and what exactly is the difference between them? The truth is surprising: what many call a spade is actually a shovel (see photos). Being that there are so many different shovels and spades out there, and that they often share many similarities or are hybrids and that people often use the two terms interchangeably, it can be confusing to say the least truly discerning one from the other. The main difference between a shovel and a spade is simply the blade itself. A true spade has more of a straight blade and a completely FLAT bottom edge (does this Spear Head Spade have a flat blade?), while a shovel generally has a broader blade that curves inward and is rounded or pointed at the tip (yes, I know, snow shovels aren't like that, but. . .like I said, it can be confusing, for there are so many different varieties of shovels out there and no one single definition will work). Shovels of this curved and pointed design are made for DIGGING, while a TRUE spade is more suited for edging. You can dig with both. . .but a shovel is much more efficient. If you don't believe in what I am saying here, please look it up. And when I say look it up, I don't mean in a dictionary, for the definitions in dictionaries are often lacking and rather ambiguous--if not also archaic in meaning--when it comes to describing shovels and spades. Do a Google search on "difference between spade and shovel," and you will see what I am talking about here. According to the true definitions of spades and shovels, this product being described as a hybrid is not very accurate, thus why I said it is more on par as an over-sized garden trowel. If that is what you are looking for, a giant garden trowel, you will be pleased with this item. But if you are looking for a shovel. . .or a true spade, you might be disappointed.**

Using this for metal detecting only.Just got it today and used it today. Soil was slightly damp due to slight overnight rainso not rock hard like it has been. This tool goes down deep and easy in normal dirt.Made cutting the turf plug effortless.Did not do anything different in the areas where it started to get rocky about 4 inchesdown but then no other style or brand could do any better in this type of hard denseold rock and gravel layer.Overall very pleased with this digger and will be using it exclusively in the future.For initial plug cutting and lifting this tool is excellent and it just the right height,weight and blade shape. This digger it is built solid and the blade is a thick rigid steel.Made in China which is why it is cheaper than some other models (perhaps China too ?),I would not mind paying $10 more for this if it was made in USA.

I bought the Spear Head Spade to be my primary digger for metal detecting. I've been using it now for about a month now and have fallen in love with it! It's perfect for cutting great plugs out of the ground for treasure searching and cuts through tough rocky land with no issues at all.Along with my hobby, I'm planning on using it for planting shrubs around my house and other basic tasks. The blade arrived semi-sharp and ready to use right out of the box. The shovel is also fairly light, which helps with hauling it around while metal detecting. I'm pretty sure this will last a lifetime.(Note) I've wrapped the green shaft with digital ACU duct tape ;-)

This spade works, no hype. I bought my first one from the manufacturer at a garden show and was so impressed after I used it for a few weeks that I bought a second through Amazon. It is most useful for slicing through turf like butter. I cut through hundreds of feet of turf as I edge my beds. Before the Spear Head Spade, I used a flat bladed spade and often had to jump repeatedly on the foot rest to get it to cut through green grass. I also used a purpose-made half moon edger which was just slow going. No more. The Spear Head Spade requires much much less effort and will cut edges straight or curved. Great tool.

Works great but, mine came with what I assume is a scrap piece of fiberglass rattling around inside the sealed fiberglass pole of the shovel, so Quality control minus one star! When I can buy a competitor's fiberglass shovel with every feature this one has EXCEPT for the PATENTED shaped shovel head, and pay almost 4 times more for this shovel and get that kind of crappie Quality Control, it tends to leave me with a bitter taste for the company making it. I personally think I should have returned it for a $15 fiberglass shovel with D-shaped handle and standardized Spaded shovel head, instead of paying over $52 for this special shaped shovel head. It does work, but at almost 4 times the cost it's seriously questionable, and with the quality control issue mine came with it, makes it even more so! Minus one Star for being overpriced! 3 STARS Only!

Absolutely the best spade I have ever used and certainly the best I have owned. It's so much better than a normal shovel, goes easily into even the densest of clay soils and assists in breaking up tree roots and other unwanted debris. I got it to help me dig all my irises - about 400 that need splitting but they live in clay soil and this tool has made that task much more manageable. I use it for everything. The handle is comfortable, the height is perfect for a 5'4" person, it is so sturdy, doesn't bend (so far) when digging troublesome weeds and rocks, and it's sharp! that helps in cutting out those nasty unwanted roots.

This is the absolute best tool to have! I waited far too long for something like this. I have soil on top of clay and weeding was a nightmare because I have quack grass and other stubborn weeds. This tool cut through the soil like a hot knife through butter. It has made weeding and planting so much easier and my time in the garden nearly carefree.

We have claylike dirt which is extremely hard to shovel, and the design of this shovel blade is perfect. It is strong and sturdy, so should last for years. So glad I bought this shovel after struggling for years with the standard shovels that did not do the job in difficult dirt.

It was good until the handle snapped off as I was digging. If I had known that the handle would snap off the way it did, I would've skipped this purchase.

I bought this because my good friend bought one and I gave her's a 'test ride'. I like to pointy shovel head and the small size. I am the one in the family who clears out the garden beds and this small shovel is perfect for uprooting bulbs, weeds, and old plants that need a new living location. I love the colors, it is a cute 'girly' shovel and it meets my needs exactly.

Excellent, high quality shovel! I was pleasantly surprised to find it lightweight, yet very strong - and at a very reasonable price. It has already had use in the garden. In addition to gardening, I’m using it to dig rocky terrain while metal detecting where it has shown itself to be quite tough. The length is perfect, too - acting as a walking stick while metal detecting. I looked at countless shovels in hardware stores prior to buying this one - they didn’t even come close. I’m 55, and I’m sure this shovel will outlast me.

This is one great little digging tool. If only I tried it sooner I'm sure I would not have damaged the Ulnar nerve in my hand and elbow from pounding away with other types of shovels, spades and hand spades in my clay soil.This went right in with hardly any effort and made planting shrubs "almost" enjoyable again.I would highly recommend it to anyone who want's to take away the hard work associated with digging and trying to plant shrubs in clay soil. Mine is the Yellow spade with the cushioned D grip.