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Go a lot of bush stumps to dig up. So far have gone through 3 spades in 2 days.
Don't care about looks (yes it does mean a lot to some people) or weight - recommend me something nice and strong for digging and levering.
Spear & Jackson tubular steel grafting shovel from their contractor range
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that's not a bad price, £20 delivered:
Spear & Jackson are the best.
You need a bull nose. And big pri bar.
It does sound like you may be trying to use the spade as a lever under the bushes roots, if you are it could be the reason you're breaking them.
I'd be doing as redthunder says, a long wrecking bar will be a much better tool for levering the roots out, if you can't afford to buy one, hire one!
Or here's a link to one.
+1 for the digging bar as recommended to me on here. I recently had to dig in 14 posts among the roots of some trees. The digging bar made things a LOT easier.
had a power spade or something that was is really good and very strong, never broke it with my 17 plus stone hanging on the end! Can't find it online at moment.
Grub axe and bar might be of more use if you're digging up roots. As others have said a spade is for digging not levering.
One of fav tools 🙂 Up there with a post hole digger.
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Digging bar sounds like the trick!
Thanks all.
your all living in the past whats wrong with a jcb
I think you might do better with a mattock. Oh, and wooden handles take out some of the shock.
Jcb 3cx !
This is what you need:
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JCB 's are awkward things to operate, get a tracked 360 Mini digger in for about £100 a weekend and get the job done in no time.
Love to hire a digger but would have to chopper drop it in to the rear garden!
Bulldog long handled grafting spade.
Like this........
http://www.cromwell.co.uk/RTL5228320K
Long metal bar, grub axe and a lot of sweat. A quality pruning saw is useful for cutting difficult to break underground roots.
Enjoy.
Tim
Ex-Army T-Handled spade - wooden handle, usually stamped Spear and Jackson - probably made in 1961 and stored in a MOD warehouse ever since.
Available for less than a tenner -
I've been using one all weekend to dig some foundations - they are brilliant.