Garden hoe

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
39,344
9,231
136
Some years ago I shopped garden hoes. Eventually I bought a True Temper hoe. Now, I'm pretty much average height, maybe a tad more -- 5' 10". I have found that the average handle on those hoes is too short, I get back pain from having to stoop over so far if I use it for a while, even holding as far toward the end as I can manage. So, I scarfed the end of another handle onto the wooden handle of this hoe, using epoxy cement. The scarf has held up. I varnished the handle, it's great. However I found that the True Temper blade absolutely sucks. The metal's too thin to hold the proper shape and the steel is just crap. It's not even tempered steel WTF ("True Temper" my ass)! You can tell carbon steel by the spark stream you get when you grind it. The sparks are big and bright and plentiful, but what I get when I grind this blade is a meager very low spark stream typical of shitty steel. Yes, it doesn't hold an edge worth a damn.

So, I am wondering if I can get just a hoe blade, a high quality one (without paying an arm and a leg), and put my extended handle on it. Does anyone know a source for just a hoe blade? I've done a bit of online searching and not come up with anything. Haven't gone into the B&M stores. Or, do I have to buy a hoe, discard the handle and put on my own to get what I want?
 
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Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
39,344
9,231
136
OP, any local shops that could just machine up a piece of stock into what you want?

It would entail welding. I'd need the two pieces. I may have something, maybe not. Tool steel is the thing or equivalent. Should be something out there in the commercial arena, don't know.

I suppose I'm just going to have to buy a new hoe and try to have some confidence it's well made. If I don't like the handle I could use my scarfed handle, which is perfect for me... as long as that scarf holds up. I've scarfed others (multiple times) whose scarfs failed early on.

It still blows my mind that True Temper would sell such crap. You can't temper crap steel, it has to be tool steel. That hoe is not made with tool steel (i.e. high carbon steel).
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
39,344
9,231
136
So many "ho" jokes...so many infractions to be earned...<sigh>

buy a longer handle?

http://www.southernstates.com/catalog/c-1896-hoe-handles.aspx

http://www.househandle.com/products-2.html#hoeandlevelheadrake


BTW, I prefer a "Hula Hoe" to any other.
I've never used one. This one, although it doesn't say it has a replaceable blade might be good. It has a 60" handle. The one I scarfed longer is ~56". 60" should be plenty:

Flexrake Hula-Ho Pro Weeder
simplest thing to do is get a new hoe and stick your pole into it
Kind of what I'm thinking.
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
I think true temper is the lowest tier brand at Lowes followed by blue hawk and then kobalt. I just go straight to kobalt and pay an extra 5-10$. Plus if it fails, it is their house brand and they have to replace it.
 

NetWareHead

THAT guy
Aug 10, 2002
5,847
154
106
I dont quite understand. Is the steel an inferior quality because it doesn't hold an edge? I've never had to "sharpen" or had a hoe go "dull". Never really needed an edge like that to hoe a garden. Or is the hoe blade just flexing and distorting when you use it?
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
39,344
9,231
136
I dont quite understand. Is the steel an inferior quality because it doesn't hold an edge? I've never had to "sharpen" or had a hoe go "dull". Never really needed an edge like that to hoe a garden. Or is the hoe blade just flexing and distorting when you use it?
The blade bends and needs reshaping frequently. It dulls very readily and I'm way too often having to dress the edge with my grinder, then files. It's just trash. I have another hoe that does better, doesn't bend, holds an edge significantly longer, but I do have to sharpen it from time to time. The blade on it is exceptionally small for a hoe, however it's not a useless tool like my True Temper. Well, it's not useless but it's just a bitch to keep it well shaped and sharp.

I actually had a hoe that I adapted some years ago. I took a file, dressed the broad edge of the file with a grinder, etc., softened the other edge by annealing, drilled a couple of holes in it and attached it to a hoe blade with nuts and bolts. Now that thing held an edge! Trouble is some scumbag stole it from my back yard some years ago. I try to never leave anything back there that I'd hate to lose anymore.
 
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NetWareHead

THAT guy
Aug 10, 2002
5,847
154
106
The blade bends and needs reshaping frequently. It dulls very readily and I'm way to often having to dress the edge with my grinder, then files. It's just trash. I have another hoe that does better, doesn't bend, holds an edge significantly longer, but I do have to sharpen it from time to time. The blade on it is exceptionally small for a hoe, however it's not a useless tool like my True Temper. Well, it's not useless but it's just a bitch to keep it well shaped and sharp.

That must really be a crappy hoe. I've never seen a hoe with a blade as inferior as you describe. Throw it in the recycling (supposedly its steel) and just buy a new one.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
65,248
13,518
146
The blade bends and needs reshaping frequently. It dulls very readily and I'm way too often having to dress the edge with my grinder, then files. It's just trash. I have another hoe that does better, doesn't bend, holds an edge significantly longer, but I do have to sharpen it from time to time. The blade on it is exceptionally small for a hoe, however it's not a useless tool like my True Temper. Well, it's not useless but it's just a bitch to keep it well shaped and sharp.

I actually had a hoe that I adapted some years ago. I took a file, dressed the broad edge with a grinder, etc., softened the other edge by annealing, drilled a couple of holes in it and attached it to a hoe blade with nuts and bolts. Now that thing held an edge! Trouble is some scumbag stole it from my back yard some years ago. I try to never leave anything back there that I'd hate to lose anymore.

Damn...sounds like a real POS. Time to replace the whole thing...not just the handle. When we moved in 2012, I got rid of my garden hoe and two hula hoes. The garden hoe was more than 20 years old...and still worked great. I'd dress the edge every couple of years with a file, but that's it.