Spear & Jackson 4450DS Traditional Stainless Steel Digging Spade

This S&J boarder fork is worth every expensive penny. Stainless, solid, hickory handle, solid. Balance is fantastic, finish is fantastic. It is a heavy work of art. Heavy because its a solid stainless fork, not a cheap imitation/hollow thing. Pay attention to the dimensions and notice it's height - perfect for border work. Heavy enough to sink deeply into soils, and lift/pry up bulbs, grasses, edging and you name it. Great for dividing plants. This fork will last your ENTIRE lifetime unless you do something really ah... disastrous to it. It is a pleasure to own and use. I've encouraged several of my Master Gardener friends to invest in this S&J. We all... all... love them.

Great size for digging in crowded flower beds. Sturdy, well made, the stainless steel blades shines after an afternoon working in the garden.

I bought both the Spear + Jackson border spade as well as border fork (stainless steel). They're both really nice, especially for the price. I would prefer to have an option without finish, so I can oil the wood myself, but for anyone who just wants to use them as-is, they're great.My only issue... the border spade has the handle grip attached "off-center". This could compromise it's sturdiness over time. I returned and sent for another and the second had the same issue. Seems like a factory issue with a whole batch.

Quality workmanship, just not large enough for my needs so I returned and purchased another, same brand.

My garden has heavy clay and the last three cheaply made forks I bought bent right at the base where the tines meet the neck within the first year (one within the first day!). I was so sick of wasting my money on junk that I started looking for a solid metal fork like the ones I used to have as a kid. For some reason, NO ONE seems to sell them anymore! I looked locally and online, and this one from Amazon was one of the few I could find where the tines and neck of this fork are one piece, steel and forged and heavy duty enough to actually do the job! I've had for a while now and it does do the job, perfectly! So solid and durable, exactly what I needed. I wish this design of spading fork were the norm, but even if you have to look for one like this, it is so worth spending a little extra to get something that is going to actually last. Don't waste your money on anything that isn't made this good.

Lovely little fork. The wife was over the moon with it.

Love the size of this fork and the stainless steel is perfect but the handle breaks. It is not covered by warranty and nobody makes a replacement. I have bought 3 of the forks. Will not buy another.

I am an avid gardener, have used digging forks extensively, but have never seen a thing like this. On the second time I used the tool, it broke under not too much stress. The breaking point was between the fork and the handle. The handle itself did not bend or break, and no tine bent. The best way to describe it is that the handle and the fork had just separated from each other. I was curious and looked at the breakage point, and what I saw was very surprising. At the bottom end of the handle part I saw the end of a rusty metal rod, with no tear marks, enveloped in stainless steel plating. I assume this rod goes up into the handle. On the horizontal, top part of the fork, I saw a rusty flat surface, peering out of stainless steel coating. Again, it was smooth, no tear marks. It was the stainless steel coating that broke. Its thickness was about one tenth of an inch, and that had held the two parts of the digging fork together. In summary, in the light of what I have observed, my understanding is that this digging fork was made of two rusty parts held together by an enveloping layer of stainless steel, which in itself was not too strong. The wooden part of the handle seemed solid...It does not seem to me that selling a rusty tool coated with handsome stainless steel is a good or honest practice.

It's hard to find a good fork these days. Extremely hard! This one does it all. Strong, sharp tines. A very well-made handle. An often overlooked factor is the angle of the tines relative to the shaft, which makes a big difference in leverage when prying and lifting. I run a busy, high-end gardening company and I have tried many, many brands, most of which are now sitting broken in my fork graveyard. This one is truly a cut above. After trying it out I bought a lifetime supply of them. You won't be disappointed.

Digging

It's a spade, used it yesterday for the first time and very impressed, good grip, strong head and did the job, good quality, good value for money!

Sharp, sturdy, well made of quality steel, Heavy enough to get a good punch into moderately hard soil. Balance good, Handle in nice alignment to 'the business end' so it digs just where it's directed at !Yup, good small spade for those who need to dig in confined spaces and also those of us who are not as strong and agile as we once were!

Excellent product, sharp and strong prongs and ideal proportions for me at 5ft3.Would have been even better with slightly longer prongs- just because some of us are shorter doesn’t mean the weeds and shrubs we need to dig out are rooted any less deep. But it’s extremely useful in my garden and I would recommend this.