What are the miracles of a pitchfork for digging the earth and is it worth buying such a tool

What are

The pitchfork is used for digging, loosening, plowing the earth, with them, and not with a shovel, many summer residents choose root crops, get rid of weeds. There are suitable pitchforks for every task. For example, for harvesting potatoes, carrots, beets, a pitchfork with blunt teeth is used, which take out root crops, but do not pierce or scratch them. This is very convenient - you do not have to bend over to shake off each carrot, you just need to take out the crop on a pitchfork, shake it to crumble the earth, then transfer it to a basket.

They plow and dig up the ground with more powerful, strong pitchforks with sharpened teeth. So they enter the ground more easily, do not destroy worms like a shovel, do not cut the weeds, but take them out by the roots. But it is still difficult to do this, so folk craftsmen tirelessly come up with new designs, improve old ones in an attempt to facilitate the work of the farmer. Enterprising manufacturers immediately pick up successful ideas and launch them into production.

Today, you can buy, and not only make a miracle swivel forks, created specifically for digging up a plot, a Mole shovel, which, in fact, is a pitchfork system, and other modifications of the old tool. Forks are made of materials of varying degrees of strength for various jobs, they come up with special designs to increase labor productivity, but reduce fatigue from it. Such forks, when digging, can replace a shovel, and some turn the soil over like a shovel, while others only loosen its fertile layer.

Design features

All modern fork modifications can be made by hand, even drawings are easy to find on the Internet, but this requires welding - most often such forks are supplied with something additional. So, swivel forks are slightly rounded forks of different widths (they are made with five, six, seven teeth) with an extreme bayonet tooth, which is sharper and longer than the others. A sharp tooth easily sticks into the ground with one movement of the foot, with it the entire frame enters the ground, and then the layer of earth turns over around the bayonet, which becomes the pivot axis. In this case, the person no longer presses the pitchfork, does not bend, but only turns the steering wheel at the top of the T-shaped handle. Usually the frame of the forks, which are offered in stores, is 30 cm, the length of the shank can even be adjusted for different heights.

Another pitchfork is equipped with a moving triangular stop in the front of the frame; drawings with different sizes are posted on the Internet for those who want to make a device with their own hands. Another option is a wide stop at the rear of the forks, which rests on the ground when the ground is turned out. The design of the miracle shovel, so named only because it is made for digging the ground, is a wide fork frame (45 cm), connected to a rectangular frame of a shank, which consists of two shanks attached to the edges of the forks, connected by a “rudder” from above. The sharpened teeth are driven into the ground by pressing the foot, and then with the movement of the hands, the frame of the handle rotates, like a pivoting forks.The drawing of this device is in the shape of a rectangle.

Another miracle shovel - "Mole" was made by combining two pitchforks into one structure. Some forks cut through the ground, and their teeth at the bottom are also connected like a perforated shovel, while others, when pressed by hand on the handle, pass through the slots of the first and break the ground. For this tool, in addition to two forks, a foot rest, a rear stop, manufacturers also make a telescopic handle so that it can be adjusted according to a person's height. Of course, if you do it yourself, you can slightly simplify the complex structure, at least with a handle for your height. When making a drawing, you can lay down dimensions calculated for the width of your beds.

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Benefits of Application

Why do we dislike digging a vegetable garden so much? It is especially difficult for summer residents in the spring, an organism that has become unaccustomed during the winter does not immediately get used to summer cottage loads. When digging with a shovel, the load is unevenly distributed over the leg, both arms, shoulders, lower back. We first press on the shovel with our foot, then bend over, pressing on the handle with our hands, turn out the clod of earth with force, then lift it up and pour out the earth. To reduce the number of these actions, which means fatigue of the back, shoulders and arms, people come up with various pitchforks. All design improvements are aimed at reducing fatigue and increasing productivity.

When working with rotary forks, the back does not get tired, because there is no need to squat, bend over and lift a clod of earth, instead of the lower back, the shoulder girdle and arms work, which greatly simplifies the work, allows even the elderly or physically weakened people to dig the garden. Plus, digging speed is increased with fewer steps and a wider fork frame. If you make a pitchfork with your own hands, you can calculate the width of the beds and the width of the pitchfork so that the processing time of the site will be reduced to a minimum. The miracle shovel and all the options for the miracle pitchfork significantly reduce the time for digging the site, several times (from 2 to 4 times) they allow you to dig up the treated area faster, especially with light soil.

Some owners argue that it is with a pitchfork that you need to dig up virgin soil, you just need to remember that the metal will have to be chosen stronger. Of course, such a pitchfork is not supposed to loosen the ground between the bushes, they, as a rule, dig up and clear large beds of weeds before planting, dig up the soil, introducing fertilizers into it. For loosening under bushes and between individual plants, other devices are used, which are also made on the basis of a pitchfork.

Is it worth buying

All designs of the miracle of pitchforks and shovels were created with their own minds and with their own hands by amateur gardeners, folk craftsmen. Variants are constantly being processed and improved: some people post drawings and photographs of their inventions on the Internet, while others make corrections and improvements in accordance with their needs or wishes. And entrepreneurs are picking up ideas and producing better tools. Today you can buy in stores the most common forks made of metals of different strength and processing. Is it worth it? To facilitate and speed up the work, of course, it is worth it if you are ready to pay 1.5-2 thousand for the pitchfork.

The only question is the availability of the price. But after all, all structures are quite simple, it will not be difficult to find drawings and do everything with your own hands to someone who knows how to work with metal. If you select the necessary metal and can use welding, then making it yourself can bring not only cost savings, but also the greatest combination of amenities (support for the desired leg, for example, or the height of the handle, the width of the frame). For those who cannot do it themselves, but have collected all the necessary elements, it makes sense to contact a specialist with their materials and drawings - it will still be cheaper and more convenient.

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