My husband irrigates our ranch all summer. He can blow threw an average shovel very quickly. His old shovel I found for him in the back recesses of an old hardware store. It was made back when things were meant to last. Alas a wore out the blade last season so once again I'm looking for a great shovel. This one almost fits the bill. The handle is hardwood with a Clean straight grain. The head is well forged and sturdy. My husband dislikes A. The blade's head is pretty small and B. The angle of the blade is almost vertical. It's almost like a spade. It's difficult to get good tork the handle when you are digging into irrigation banks and you have to do twice the work because of the blade size. This shovel if definitely a step in the correct direction. With a few minor tweaks it would be the perfect irrigation tool.
Great shovel but still has a slight angle between blade and handle. A strait shovel would have been perfect for ditch digging.
Durable, dependable and versatile. This is what you want in a shovel. Growing up with a farmer for a father we used the most dependable tools. Whenever we had a job to do we took this same model of shovel. The blade is super thick steel and when sharpened it will weed, dig holes, cut roots, break ice, etc. This shovel is hands down the most versatile and will last a lifetime. My father still has the shovel I used growing up. It has >30 years of use on it.
