Cable Laying Shovel

[Onoff]

Looking to buy one just to tidy the bottom of a trench. Less than £20 on eBay for a Spear & Jackson / Draper. There's Bulldog ones on there too.

 

BUT.....I have old "big" shovels and a 9" grinder.

 

Surely just a case of mark two lines with a Sharpie and chop a big one down with a slitting disc. Heat the edges up with the oxy torch and bend up a bit?

[ProDave]

We have three different widths of gardening spade. The narrowest one the "lady spade" does a wonderful job on the building site for just such uses.

 

My favourite general purpose shovel is now about an inch shorter than when new due to wear, but I like it as it's so light weight. It's like triggers broom, it's on it's second handle.
 

[Construction Channel]

"old" shovels will generally be better steel, assuming it is really old, 

 

FWIW iv got the rest of the spear and jackson range and they have done me well, steer clear of the rough neck and faithful options as they have HUGE welds just where you want to put your lower hand  

[Declan52]

Found a Newcastle spade about the best for a deep narrow trench.

[jack]

34 minutes ago, Construction Channel said:

"old" shovels will generally be better steel, assuming it is really old, 

 

FWIW iv got the rest of the spear and jackson range and they have done me well, steer clear of the rough neck and faithful options as they have HUGE welds just where you want to put your lower hand  

Agreed on the older tools.  Even so-called decent brands like Bulldog have become woeful over the past few years if reviews are anything to go by.

 

I'll vouch for the Roughneck mattock though - my god it's a productive bit of kit.

[Onoff]

Cheap on here:

 

http://www.toolandfix.com/gardening-and-outdoor/garden-hand-tools/spades-shovels-and-forks/trench-shovels.html

[Construction Channel]

8 minutes ago, Onoff said:

Cheap on here:

 

http://www.toolandfix.com/gardening-and-outdoor/garden-hand-tools/spades-shovels-and-forks/trench-shovels.html

that is cheap. 

I instinctively started making the order up to £50 to get free delivery until i realised i didn't actually need to buy anything  

[Gone West]

I use this. It's called Neverbend but I managed to bend it digging a trench. I was trying to lever a block of concrete out without realising what it was!

 

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Spear+Jackson-Neverbend-Professional-Fencing-Grafter/p/131972

 

 

[curlewhouse]

On ‎18‎/‎09‎/‎2016 at 21:24, Construction Channel said:

that is cheap. 

I instinctively started making the order up to £50 to get free delivery until i realised i didn't actually need to buy anything  

Yup, done that more than once! Gone on a site to buy a small item and come off with the £50+ order

[Construction Channel]

best part was i have already got more than enough shovels of varying shapes and sizes, 

but i had 3 more in the basket before i realised i was just looking at a price for someone else  

[Onoff]

Little update...I found what I think is a trenching shovel in the back of the tumbledown greenhouse here!

[Construction Channel]

well I want to see a picture now. 

are you planning to cut it?

[Onoff]

1 hour ago, Construction Channel said:

well I want to see a picture now. 

are you planning to cut it?

 

Just for you! Reckon it's alright as is:

 

 

[Construction Channel]

looks like a gooden, maybe put a new edge on it and take the old cement off, (i like the grinder disks with the flappy sandpaper bits for this)

bit of linseed oil on the handle......better than a new one

[Onoff]

Got a gallon of Disclean kicking around somewhere! Yep, big fan of those discs. Haven't used linseed oil since I refinished a gun stock maybe 30 years ago. I went through a phase of trying that, teak oil and I even French polished the stock once!