Any idea?

[Rally]

Anybody have an idea what this is called or used for??

 

[462]

Nope, but bet Bret has one.

 

[Kevin Stenberg]

Possibly a shovel to mix cement?
Rally its good to hear from you again!

 

[Rick H]

A pitchfork after the liability lawyers get done with it.

 

[Brad]

Nope, but bet Bret has one.

Shit, he has 7.

Two work, but he can’t find them. One 1 broken but old so he wants to fix it. Three are in various states of repair but parts are hard to find locally. The last is the one his son was using the other day but bent all to hell. Damn kids.

 

[RBHarter]

I would venture some version of a tuber harvesting tool . Potatoes , carrots, beets , turnips etc .

With that said if may be a manure tool for breaking out run off drainage or a trough rake where whole plant is fed and stems , leaves , cobs etc are left behind. A thresh fork maybe ? Just trying to visualize designed uses.

 

[462]

Shit, he has 7.

Two work, but he can’t find them. One 1 broken but old so he wants to fix it. Three are in various states of repair but parts are hard to find locally. The last is the one his son was using the other day but bent all to hell. Damn kids.

Probably more true than even he knows.

 

[Brad]

Ian has one made in China. He is rebuilding it from scratch using recycled auto parts, ingenuity, and a little machine work. Sadly, it will be left handed.

 

[Michael]

ACE sells them.

 

[JonB]

Open tile spade (shovel).
Used to dig in heavy clay soil, when the soil behaves like cheese. The open spade provides less surface on which the clay can stick.

 

[fiver]

ACE don't sell them... LOL
if they did i'd have a new one.

good for digging up potatoes when the clay soil is wet, also great for digging up carrots/turnips.

 

[Bret4207]

Shit, he has 7.

Two work, but he can’t find them. One 1 broken but old so he wants to fix it. Three are in various states of repair but parts are hard to find locally. The last is the one his son was using the other day but bent all to hell. Damn kids.

 

[Bret4207]

Ian has one made in China. He is rebuilding it from scratch using recycled auto parts, ingenuity, and a little machine work. Sadly, it will be left handed.

 

[Bret4207]

Open tile spade (shovel).
Used to dig in heavy clay soil, when the soil behaves like cheese. The open spade provides less surface on which the clay can stick.

Yup!!! First saw one in an old farm book from the 1800's. The idea is that in clay the soil sticks to the metal, so no metal, no sticky!!! I've seen them in British Pathe films of ditch diggers in England back in the 30's and 40's too. I read one account from the day that said a "good" ditch digger in decent soils should be able to dig 10 rods (160+ feet) and lay tile in it per day. Considering that even on pretty level land that ditch might be 4 feet deep, that's a LOT!!!

 

[Rally]

Thanks all. Just saw one at a garage sale and was driving me crazy.