# Let's talk shovels



## hewhodigsholes (Oct 28, 2020)

Ah yes, the lowly shovel. Used by service and new con alike, and the bane of apprentices everywhere.

What kind are you carrying on your truck/van? Anyone have a favorite brand? Fiberglass, wood, or steel handle?

I have a standard spade, a sharpshooter, and a mini shovel for under houses. I'm considering a tile spade for narrow spots. I tend to prefer fiberglass handles or genuine hickory. All metal shovels are too heavy. Don't really care about the brand provided the blade is good and the handle is strong.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

hewhodigsholes said:


> Ah yes, the lowly shovel. Used by service and new con alike, and the bane of apprentices everywhere.
> 
> What kind are you carrying on your truck/van? Anyone have a favorite brand? Fiberglass, wood, or steel handle?
> 
> I have a standard spade, a sharpshooter, and a mini shovel for under houses. I'm considering a tile spade for narrow spots. I tend to prefer fiberglass handles or genuine hickory. All metal shovels are too heavy. Don't really care about the brand provided the blade is good and the handle is strong.


Ahhhh,the ole Mexican backhoe, nothing better


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## Nazareth (Sep 30, 2017)

hewhodigsholes said:


> Ah yes, the lowly shovel. Used by service and new con alike, and the bane of apprentices everywhere.
> 
> What kind are you carrying on your truck/van? Anyone have a favorite brand? Fiberglass, wood, or steel handle?
> 
> I have a standard spade, a sharpshooter, and a mini shovel for under houses. I'm considering a tile spade for narrow spots. I tend to prefer fiberglass handles or genuine hickory. All metal shovels are too heavy. Don't really care about the brand provided the blade is good and the handle is strong.


Let's get some pics


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## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

Fiberglass handles all the way, standard spade, a squire shovel, a sharpshooter, and a military folding shovel


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## Sstratton6175 (Jan 10, 2021)

IDK. I’ll let the kid dig the hole with whatever he wants.


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## Logtec (Jun 3, 2018)

This one, Altho it gets used more for cooking and camping vs work.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

I get the razorback brand shovels because they have the thickest blade and the collar is longer. These are important features for lifting manhole covers and septic lids. The rubber grip is nice too so the butt of the handle doesn't chafe your palm. I have tried fiberglass handled shovels but they're too flexible/weak.

I get about a year and a half out of a shovel before the tip gets broken too much or the handle makes a bad cracking noise. Then it goes into the tool crib for some helper to finish breaking


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

All I know is I've never found one that fit my hands. 
Between going to school and helping out my father, I spend part of a year working for a concrete contractor. I was 24, 200lbs+ and fit. He was 50, 145lbs, maybe 150. But when it came down to it, that guy could work me right into the ground, day after day.
As a concrete guy, you spend more time grading with a shovel than digging. He preferred a square shovel with a particular tilt of the blade to the handle. It allowed him to work the shovel with the blade flat to the ground without having to bend over. One thing that amazed me about him is that he could look at a patch of dirt he was working and see even the slightest (1/16") irregularity even from a distance. RIP Pat!


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## hewhodigsholes (Oct 28, 2020)

Here's my mini shovel










And my favorite shovel


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

I have Menards shovels, regular, short flat, short trencher an my crawl shovel.

This is my crawl/camping shovel. WWII Russian military shovel. Good quality, I’ve beaten the living snot out of it. I wish it had a slight angle to it, but it does the job.



Amazon.com


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## jakewilcox (Sep 3, 2019)

I like the Razor Backs. I like the wood handle... Old school probably. I also like the big tabs to step on. I like them both for a flat shovel and a spade. They are also double riveted (most of the cheaper shovels are single rivet). I also carry what is called a drain spade, we call it a speeder, and I think you guys above me might call it a sharp shooter. I also carry a midget shovel for tight spaces; its not a military shovel, its kind of like a garden shovel or something, come to think of it, I don't even know where I got it.


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## The cable guy (Oct 31, 2020)

Steel handled kobalt shovels from Lowes. When you break em you can walk into the store with the pieces and they'll replace em no questions asked no receipt required.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

The cable guy said:


> Steel handled kobalt shovels from Lowes. When you break em you can walk into the store with the pieces and they'll replace em no questions asked no receipt required.


I wish our small hardware stores around here were like that. I had a shop vac motor fail after 4 months and the tool department guy wouldn't take it as a return. I had to pop rivet window latches to the sides because the handles wouldn't stay closed. As if they weren't going to throw it in a dumpster if they did accept the return.


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## rooterboy (Jul 16, 2009)

The root slayer at Amazon works good for hard packed ground and roots. Also sometimes need a 3" wide trenching shovel to clean out a trencher ditch. Had a 4" shovel on a job and it kept getting stuck on the sides of the ditch so I bought a three" wide shovel. Digging bar flat shovel rake and hoe are also helpful


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

rooterboy said:


> View attachment 130502
> The root slayer at Amazon works good for hard packed ground and roots. Also sometimes need a 3" wide trenching shovel to clean out a trencher ditch. Had a 4" shovel on a job and it kept getting stuck on the sides of the ditch so I bought a three" wide shovel. Digging bar flat shovel rake and hoe are also helpful



That would be nice for cleaning either side of a waste line on a replacement job.

When I first saw that little picture on my screen I thought it was a butt plug.


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