Pitchforks?

FortyTwoBlades said:
Lovely quality there! I do love a good capped ferrule.
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Well I'm sure if it was in a Hipster "American Pickers" type shop they would probably have a price tag of $60.00 on it...;)

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I agree with the consensus. There ain't a pitchfork made today worth a damn. The only good ones are old ones, though most I see in antique shops are well worn, with tines missing a good 3 inches of steel. I did score a nice 3 tine pitcherman's fork at an estate auction once- it was a Shapleigh Hardware new-old-stock complete with gold finish and paper stickers. We used 4 or 5 tine ones for spreading straw in the cattle sheds, and a "twenty prong fork" (which may have only had 15 or 18 tines?) for feeding silage out of the silos. There was a variant with square ended tines (like a flat screwdriver) and no taper, that I was told was a coal fork. This let the smaller crumbles and dust fall through so you'd have decent sized lump coal. Also, in the picture posted earlier, there's a 4 tined fork that is much longer and larger than usual, and grandpa called those barley forks. Barley and some kinds of rye get much taller than wheat, so the straw is accordingly longer.
 
I doubt this guy cared about a capped ferrule.
I wonder if the story had to do with a Farmers wife and a haystack...
But just notice its tapered forging construction.
One can almost see where the forgings stopped before the prongs went into the roller, Nice...
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Sometimes we'd jump off the big stack of square bales in the hayloft, and land on the layer of loose straw on the floor- that could be over 15 feet distance (but it sure seemed like more, looking down as a kid). It was fun 'till dad caught us. He said ya never know if there was a pitchfork laying hidden in that loose straw below. The poor guy above may have learned that the hard way.
 
My guess as well! Likely thought it would be fun jumping in the stack and didn't see the fork! I've jabbed myself in the heel once with one, despite my own caution with them at all times, and it's pretty scary how easily they penetrate flesh. Makes those fork-wielding angry mobs a lot more harrowing when you know what they can do!
 
Reminds me of an old old joke:
Teacher asks Johnny why Billy isn't at school today. Johnny says "We're jumpin in the hayloft last night and Billy got a pitchfork up his arse."
Teacher scolds him with "Johnny; that's rectum".
"Wrecked 'im? Goll Damn near killed him!"
 
Lieblad said:
I doubt this guy cared about a capped ferrule.
I wonder if the story had to do with a Farmers wife and a haystack...
But just notice its tapered forging construction.
One can almost see where the forgings stopped before the prongs went into the roller, Nice...
604564d1422994559-guy-gets-pitchfork-stuck-his-ass-pitchfork-ass.jpg
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Man those Amish are kinky
 
Able_walker said:
This is a cool company....Nice Made in the UK by hand Garden Tools...Nice to see traditional craftsmanship being kept alive.
http://claringtonforge.com/spades

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Yessir those are really pretty! Brit niche makers have steadily been closing their doors since WWII and with Brexit in the pipes you (and me) had better get hold of one of these while they're hot (and still being made).
 
Able_walker said:
This is a cool company....Nice Made in the UK by hand Garden Tools...Nice to see traditional craftsmanship being kept alive.
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For the record, that company (Clarington Forge, which is known as Bulldog Tools in the UK) has the forging done in India, not England, according to this local newspaper article from 2013:

"The company finally switched off its ancient blast forges last month after spiralling energy costs had led to the firm outsourcing spade, hoe and fork production to India..."
from Wigan Today, Dec 9, 2013
http://www.wigantoday.net/news/bulldog-tools-safe-1-6304049

This was confirmed by Fred-in-the-Shed's site:

"Bulldog Tools were the last real manufacturer of garden tools totally made in Britain...In 2014 all the forges and related equipment were moved to a new modern factory in India. Bulldog staff there supervise the manufacturing of the heads in the traditional way on the original forges before the metal heads are shipped to Wigan. In Wigan the handles are added and the tools finished and quality checked. The excellent Springbok and Wizard rakes are still completely made in Wigan, along with the smaller hand tools."
from http://www.fredshed.co.uk/bulldogtools.htm
 
That's too bad. I bought two Bulldog spades and two garden forks back 30 years ago. I've never found finer garden tools.
 
A good long handle fork around here is like gold, but I live near an Amish settlement. I have seen American Fork and Hoe Co, Keen Kutter, and Bluegrass three tine forks with good long handle bring over 100 bucks at local Amish auctions in my neck of the woods, the new ones you can't give away. Same goes for solid back shovels and spades and one piece hoe heads. Quality made farm hand tools are hard to find now days and when they do show up you pay for them.
 
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Square_peg said:
You got it.

The new ones are clunky and too short.

I mostly use my hay fork for mulch. For a mulch fork your want 4-6 tines with 5 times being the sweet spot. A long handle is better. This one is a smidge over 6' tall.



A fork forged from a single piece of steel will have a telltale sign, the base of the forks will be thicker in the center and get smaller as the tines branch off. This is the normal result of forging a fork.




Digging forks should also be forged out of a single piece of steel.

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There are also cultivating forks.
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I don't think it gets much better than that digging fork.:thumbup:
 
"I don't think it gets much better than that digging fork."

Yeah an implement like that makes you want to pick it up and work the Garden....and if you don't have one start one!
 
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