Thread: garden fork tyne bending

Hi guys,
I have a question or two the the collective might have an answer for.....

I have a regular 4 tyne garden fork, dad would have bought it 50+ years ago so I'm guessing reasonable quality, if I am making it do considerable work (all my wieght on the handle) I can bend one or both of the inner tynes, I can straighten them cold with a bit of pipe slid over the tyne and a bit of effort, but if this keeps happening and I keep straightening it there's a good chance it will eventually break off, what I was thinking is to weld a wedge shaped stiffener onto the back edge of the tyne from the top down 2 or 3".

What I don't know is the type of steel that might be typical in a quality fork, I'd assume something more than just mild steel, I have replaced the regular attachment sheath that holds a wooden handle with a piece of 1 1/4" pipe welded to the top cross many years ago with no issues re softening, it does not bend at this attachment point.

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are?

Cheers,
Pete.

The bottom line is the garden fork is a cultivation tool not a digging impliment.

You would be hard pressed to find a garden fork that will withstand that sort of abuse.

The hardest work a fook like impliment will do is digging for sand worms below the high tide mark.

often the "sand" will be pretty hard packed and saturated ...... it also necessary to get the full depth of the fork in and the sod lifted and truned before the worm can escape.

I have destroyed a good solid commercial garden fork in one session

If you want a fork to do this sort of work and survive, it will have to be custom made with tines shaped of flat on edge and pretty much a full welded and braced steel handle.

cheers

If you weld a stiffener to the back, it'll bend lower down. As soundman said it's a cultivation tool, not a digging implement. If that is all you have, then take smaller bites at the soil.
Kryn

Originally Posted by pjt

What I don't know is the type of steel that might be typical in a quality fork, I'd assume something more than just mild steel

Actually, I expect it probably is more-or-less mild steel. If it was a high-carbon or other harder metal, the tines would likely snap rather than bend, and bending is a better option as it can be straightened fairly easily, whereas a snapped tine is the end of the tool for the average gardener. As you mention, though, repeated bending will work harden the tine leading to failure.

I doubt there's any harm in having a go at reinforcing the tine. The downside is that it'll be more difficult to penetrate the soil.

I got a really cheap fork out of the warehouse in New Zealand which turned out to be very good, way better than you'd expect for the cost. However, even it broke eventually under far too much pressure from me. I stick welded it but it broke in the same place fairly easily. Later I mig'ed it and it now bends at the repair instead of breaks (if I use too much pressure) and is quite strong and useable. I am guessing, but maybe the stick is hotter and made the repair too brittle because it has such a high temperature gradient. Or maybe the stick I used was the wrong material.
When I came to Australia, the ground where I am is like concrete. Most of the year its dried up clay and I found the fork to be no use, it was just going to break. Best thing is a 2m length of 24mm hot rolled steel, which I put a point on with a lathe. you could do the same job with an angle grinder, just wouldn't look as pretty. It's the perfect weight to thump into the ground under its own momentum and break up rocks, clay etc. its far faster at breaking up the ground than a fork when the going is tough. Then I just scoop up the debris with a spade if I'm making a hole. I don't really do gardening, but I have dug a lot of holes to put bushes into where I'm told.
I'm not sure it its relevant to your situation but thought I'd mention it because it's the best garden tool I've got and very cheap to make. Surprised they don't sell them in garden centres beside spades. I bought the bar of black steel to keep as stock for use with the lathe. After the first use, it went straight to the pool room, its a keeper. No need to paint it, the only bit that gets rusty is the point if the ground is wet, and that cleans up next time you use it. After a few holes, the millscale gets a nice shiny patina. I think nowadays it would cost about $20 which gave me a fright, I'm sure steel has double in price since I got mine.

This is a problem .... in some parts of Australia the ground IS very hard ...... notions of gardening from other parts of the world must be utterly abandoned.

Yeh is .."Turn the ground with a fork or spade" ...... yeh right ..... start with a pick, a mattock or a bar.

Then you have to introduce very large amounts or organic matter and sand to make the soil anything like workable.

cheers

I thought they would be a spring steel, my father has one from when he was a market gardener in his teens(80's now)I swear that its a spring steel?

Yep hard ground I have a small parcel of near pure clay I have been unsuccessful boring post holes with a diesel Kanga during the summer months before!

Originally Posted by Harry72

Yep hard ground I have a small parcel of near pure clay I have been unsuccessful boring post holes with a diesel Kanga during the summer months before!

A complete side note here, but I found that when the kanga just cant penetrate the clay, pour a bucket of water down the hole. The water allows the auger to get a grip into the clay. I was stuck on half a hole after 20 minutes, but after I discovered the water trick, I did the remaining 30 holes in few hours.
Cheers
- Mick

Most soil I've come across becomes quite diggable once it's wet, so if you're having a tough time of it, run a soaker hose, dripline or dribbling hose on the spot for an hour or two each day until the soil is moist to the depth you want to dig.

The true tine-bending soil is rock.

Thanks guys yes correct I found that out after when the old man pointed it out just after calling me useless as tits on a bull!