Fork broke: which replacement?

[Pancho]

I was using Mrs P's garden fork today and it, being a "ladies" model, wasn't up to the application of proper red-blooded, non-vegetarian man-muscle[1] and I snapped it.

As I had previously snapped my Real Man's Fork, we are now forkless (or is that "forked").

Please suggest replacements. Don't mind paying for quality provided it genuinely will last forever. Doubly don't mind buying second hand quality.

[1] Or maybe, someone left it out in the winter and it went rotten.

[Little Jim]

Only one possible choice - Bulldog.

Get one with a strapped handle - the metal extends up the front and rear of the handle and is riveted through - incredibly strong, although I did break mine (snapped the front strap and the ash handle) but they replaced it FOC without too much hassle.

What's more they are still made in the UK (Wigan) and the business end is forged out of one piece of metal - they have a video on their website showing how things are made!  They are not cheap, but they are the "Brooks" of gardening tools.

NB: the lovely smooth ash handles will not appreciate being left out in the cold and wet

[clarion]

Has to be stainless.

[Simon Galgut]

Don't get stainless steel !

I have snapped many stainless forks tines and one spade (My wife buys them beacuse they look good  ) Stainless is too brittle for garden implements.

[clarion]

Rubbish!  I've bent a tine, but never broken one on a stainless fork, and I've had them for years.  Stainless is best for spades, too, as it cuts through the soil better, and is easier to clean, so lasts much longer.

[Tail End Charlie]

Bulldog tools are great. I have several passed on to me from my father.

Stainless tools have their place, it's hard to keep an edge on them (yes, I sharpen spades) but they do clean up easily. I've broken tines on cheap stainless forks, but not more expensive ones.

I know you didn't ask, but stainless hoes are hopeless.

[BrianI]

Make sure you ask the shop keeper for "Four Candles/Fork 'Andles" 

[Wowbagger]

My dad, who was an ace gardener*, always preferred women's garden implements. He reckoned that, because you were dealing with little sods rather than big ones, you put less strain on your back, needed fewer rests and actually shifted more soil as a result. And you ached less the following day so could get on with it again.

I suppose it's the gardening equivalent of spinning in a low gear rather than slogging in a higher one.

*Oft times Champion Gardener at the Ramsden Heath Horticultural Society Produce Show.

[Tim Hall]

What about the satisfaction (and cost saving) of replacing the broken handle?

[Pancho]

Good point. I agonise about replacing bust stuff with new stuff.

But where do I get fork handles (ho ho) from and how do I fit them; there seems to be stainless steel rivet that'll need drilling out and replacing with something?

[LEE]

Get down to Jewsons or Travis Perkins and buy an all metal one.

If you can't wedge it under tree-roots and jump on the handle then it's no use.

My mate is a builder and he helped me break up a concrete floor.  His technique was to wedge a spade or fork under the corner, have me stand on the handle to lift the concrete slightly, and smack concrete with a sledge-hammer.

I now have the same spade and fork as him (Spear & Jackson I think, I can't remember as I've had them 20 years and I doubt I'll ever need to replace them)

[Tim Hall]

Good point. I agonise about replacing bust stuff with new stuff.

But where do I get fork handles (ho ho) from

A Proper Hardware Shop (or perhaps a builders' merchant.  Don't you live in some rural idyll? What about a farm store thingy, like David and Ruth are always going to?

and how do I fit them; there seems to be stainless steel rivet that'll need drilling out and replacing with something?

IME you'll need to shape the new handle to some extent, with a plane or similar. The rivet will indeed need drilling out. Use the old bit of wood (if you get it out whole) as a pattern for the new. When the new bit of wood is the right shape and firmly in place, drill a hole through it, then bang a 6 inch nail though. Cut off all but say a quarter of and inch then bash the protruding bit flat, while supporting the head on something solid.

[Wowbagger]

On occasions my dad used to replaced handles. It was never a success, but my dad was no craftsman.

[Tail End Charlie]

Good point. I agonise about replacing bust stuff with new stuff.

But where do I get fork handles (ho ho) from and how do I fit them; there seems to be stainless steel rivet that'll need drilling out and replacing with something?

I had exactly this problem over the summer when my next door's gardener burned down my shed and I was left with a load of metal tool heads. The hoes, rakes were easy to replace, but the spades and forks were a bit more difficult. I got new handles from a farm supplier and fitted them using countersunk screws. So far they've held out. Does take time to trim them to fit in the first place though.

[Little Jim]

Good point. I agonise about replacing bust stuff with new stuff.

But where do I get fork handles (ho ho) from and how do I fit them; there seems to be stainless steel rivet that'll need drilling out and replacing with something?

You are Portsmouth ish aren't you?  If so SCATS - the nearest is probably Wickham.  They sell a range of replacement handles (and possibly the rivets too, but I've not looked for those in their store) and while you're there have a look at the Bulldog Tools as well 

[Pancho]

Yup, Scats in Wickham it is. I shall call in there tomorrow and see what they've got.

[Bledlow]

Good point. I agonise about replacing bust stuff with new stuff.

But where do I get fork handles (ho ho) from

A Proper Hardware Shop (or perhaps a builders' merchant.  Don't you live in some rural idyll? What about a farm store thingy, like David and Ruth are always going to?

and how do I fit them; there seems to be stainless steel rivet that'll need drilling out and replacing with something?

IME you'll need to shape the new handle to some extent, with a plane or similar. The rivet will indeed need drilling out. Use the old bit of wood (if you get it out whole) as a pattern for the new. When the new bit of wood is the right shape and firmly in place, drill a hole through it, then bang a 6 inch nail though. Cut off all but say a quarter of and inch then bash the protruding bit flat, while supporting the head on something solid.

As I recall, this is very similar to the technique my grandfather used. He was a toolmaker, & quite skilled in carpentry (no prefab sheds for him!) as well as metalwork, so perfectly capable of more sophisticated fitting, but he didn't deem it necessary.