Ramblings of Garden Tool Co.
Posts tagged quality garden tools
Six Characteristics of High Quality Garden Tools
21 year ago
by Anne Schreck
in Garden Tools
1. High quality garden tools are hand forged with few if any welds. A hand forged tool is constructed of a single piece of steel and much stronger and more durable as a consequence. When a garden tool is pressed and welded, those points are weaker and that is where the tool is more likely to break. Pressed metal is often thinner as well which can lead to an easily bent tool. A pressed tool is also a single thickness whereas a hand forged tool will be thinner at the cutting edge for sharpness and thicker at the connection to the handle where greater strength is required.
Sneeboer Hand Forged Garden Tools
2. The best garden tools are made of high quality carbon steel. Carbon steel is the strongest metal due to the addition of carbon and heat treating or tempering and annealing. While companies use different varieties of carbon steel, some of which are proprietary, to make gardening tools, stainless is the most resistant to rust. Any high quality steel will be stronger than other metals used in cheap tools and if carbon steel is bent, it can be bent back without jeopardizing its strength as with a lighter metal.
3. A great garden tool features sharp cutting edges designed to self sharpen with use. Any tool designed for cutting through soil, grass or weeds will work better with a really sharp edge and if it is not designed to self sharpen with use, it should be easy to sharpen or allow for replacement blades.
4. Quality garden tools are designed so that the weight is well balanced and appropriate for the intended task. It is harder to do any job if the weight is either too light, too heavy or if the weight is not distributed appropriately over the tool.
5. The best garden tools feature a quality wood handle that is comfortable to hold. Ash is typically used in the high quality longer garden tools and it flexes without sacrificing strength with your usage, while a metal or fiberglass handle vibrates against your movement when used. The metal or fiberglass handle may be stronger, but the vibration makes your hands tire or hurt faster. The longer Dutch garden tools often feature a choice in grips because some people prefer to work with a T-grip while others prefer a D-grip or a straight handle. DeWit offers a variety of grips for their garden hand tools as well, including a P-grip that can be used with either one or two hands and the drop grip which offers a greater reach.
P-grip handle
Straight, D-grip and T-grip handles
6. And finally in my opinion, the best things offered in a quality garden tool is a lifetime guarantee. Having to spend the money to replace a broken tool is very frustrating and while it is unusual to break a well made garden tool if you are using it correctly (not as a pry bar), it does happen sometimes. It is very reassuring to know that if it should happen, you can get a replacement at no cost.
Do You Miss Smith & Hawken’s Quality Garden Tools?
431 year ago
by Anne Schreck
in Garden Tools
Smith & Hawken originally focused on the serious gardener and sold quality garden tools. Through the years, they added a lot of knick knacks, decor items and other stuff, a move that the original co-founder Smith says led to the demise of the beloved retailer. Today all that remains are those knick knacks and decor items and worse, they are now sold at Target. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still find the great quality tools that they once sold – you just have to look elsewhere.
Smith & Hawken was a big influence on us when we started Garden Tool Company. Their philosophy that garden tools should last a lifetime is our belief as well. And even before the business was an idea in our heads, Blake ordered and devoured Paul Hawken’s book Growing a Business which is about making your business an expression of you. Based on our experiences with bad customer service, we decided to make our primary personal focus creating happy customers.
Hawken started the company with Bulldog Tools and today that is only one of the great lines that we carry, although now they are known as Clarington Forge in the US. We worked really hard to put together a store stocked with the highest quality garden tools made in the world and we hope that you will come check them out anytime you want a garden tool that you won’t have to buy again next season.
Garden Tool Care and Maintenance
201 year ago
Ok, it’s not quite time to put your tools up for the winter yet, but it’s not too soon to start thinking about taking care of those wonderful garden tools you so love…yes a good garden tool can be loved, but…I’m a tool freak.
When I started out to write this article about garden tool maintenance, I knew just what I wanted to write. We’ve had many questions about tool care so why not write a post for the Garden Tool Co. blog about the subject.
Well someone already did – and a good one! In looking around the web for what had already been written on the subject, I came across a website called Demesne with an article called “Garden Tool Care” and after reading it, I thought, how can this get any easier? I mean, as you can see, I’m not a writer and this article says everything I wanted to say on the subject so all I have to do is link to the article and my job is done…right?
Seriously, it is a good article about garden tool maintenance and the website itself is full of useful gardening articles. Just click on the link below to go to the article.
Is Your Compost Fork Up to the Task?
31 year ago
by Blake Schreck
in Garden Tools
When you buy garden tools, do you buy them thinking who will be using this tool after I’m gone? Probably not the way most tools are made today. Sneeboer in Holland make garden tools to last for generations and their compost fork is no exception.
Whether you’re moving compost, mulch or any organic material, you find that this Sneeboer compost fork is up to the job…now an well into the future.
I am the hero of the compost yard for finding such a well-built tool. We go through pitch forks like socks. This fork is really built.
The Sneeboer compost fork is built to last with its all stainless steel, super sharp tines that easily plunge into whatever material you’re turning. Each compost fork is then fitted with a FSC Certified Ash hardwood “T” handle.
Using the finest Stainles Steel, Sneeboer has been making hand forged garden tools since 1913. Each stainless steel garden tool they hand craft is individually shaped, sharpened, polished and then fitted with a Ash handle. Guaranteed a Lifetime.
Learn more about this Sneeboer Compost Fork at Garden Tool Company.
Felco Pruners – What’s the Difference?
21 year ago
by Blake Schreck
in Garden Tools
Felco pruners are easy to buy, right? I mean, they are considered the best pruner you can buy, so what’s so hard?
I don’t know about you, but when I look at a wall or a web-page full of those familiar red handles, it can be a little overwhelming to pick the one that’s right. Do I want the original model # 2…they’ve been making it for 65 years so they have to be good right? Or do I want that one with the rotating handle…wait a minute, they make left-handed models?
Well, hopefully with this handy-dandy sheet below, we will de-mystify the differences in the models. (click on image for a larger view)
Ok, think you’ve got it figured out but want a little more information about a particular model? Visit Garden Tool Company’s Felco page here.
Garden Kneeler – Garden Tool and Unsung Hero
01 year ago
by Blake Schreck
in Garden Tools
At the end of a long day of gardening; what garden tool helped make it easier? You probably didn’t say – my garden kneeler. But if you’re like me, any amount of time spent on my knees will haunt me long after my gardening day is over.
We search out and buy the best garden tools for their long lasting quality and ability to make or gardening chores easier, yet we often overlook the one tool that can help us enjoy it longer – the Garden Kneeler.
Garden kneelers are as simple as a foam pad for kneeling and models that are a combination kneeler and seat. Garden kneelers come in many sizes and just about any color you can imagine. Try a garden kneeler, your knees will thank you and you’ll be able to enjoy your gardening longer.
Garden kneelers available at: Garden Tool Company.
Garden Tools with an Attitude – DeWit Spork
02 years ago
by Blake Schreck
in Garden Tools
These Spork garden tools designed by Englishman Robert Todd and made by DeWit Tools in Holland are certain to become a part of a gardener’s tool array. Made of carbon steel with a “Old School” burnished finish that blackens and protects. Each garden Spork is then fitted with a Ash hardwood handle from government managed forests.
Spork – This is the one that started the Spork family. Digs like a garden spade and pierces the soil like a fork, the Spork is a real work horse in the garden. Great for lawn edging, digging, turning the soil or chopping roots.
Sprake – With the same sharp teeth as the original Spork, the DeWit Sprake is great for raking debris, weeding and clearing overgrown areas.
Mini Spork – Same attributes as Spork, only smaller Great for getting in those tight spots.
Pull Spork – Hoeing, tilling and weeding are a few the chores you’ll find easier with the Pull Spork.
Hand Spork – This hand-held version of the Spork is right at home cultivating and weeding in those tight place and around plantings.
See the attitude in these tools? If you’re looking for a garden tool that works as hard as you, try one of the DeWit Spork tools and you’ll wonder how you’ve gardened without it.
To see more of the DeWit Spork tools, visit Garden Tool Company.
Hori Hori Knife – The MacGyver of Garden Tools
02 years ago
by Blake Schreck
in Garden Tools
There’s a reason so many gardeners keep the Hori Hori close by…it’s so damn handy in and around the garden? The Hori Hori knife digs, weeds, cultivates, cuts roots, is a planting tool and with a little imagination…fight off marauding bears.
The first time I saw a Hori Hori knife was in a catalog many years ago and it was listed as a great little weeder. Being married to my wife Anne – President of “The Weed Haters Club of the Universe”, I thought it would make a great gift, so I ordered one and wrapped it up. Well…we went to the in-laws for Christmas and when Anne opened the Hori Hori knife, there we’re more than a few puzzled looks at her gift. (…you got her a hunting knife?) Then it sunk in…Anne and Blake live in Colorado, so surely she needs a Hori Hori knife for all of those “marauding bears”! Well…maybe just “marauding weeds”.
All kidding aside, the Hori Hori knife is genuinely one handy garden tool that you’ll find yourself using for so many things when gardening. Its double-sided blade is made from tough stainless steel with a sharp edge on one side and a serrated edge on the other. It’s fitted with hardwood handle and made to last a lifetime.
To see more of the Hori Hori knife, visit Garden Tool Company
