Some years ago I was given a stainless steel spade and fork by a friend who had no use for them anymore, both had plastic shafts and bore no makers name. I used and abused them putting a bend in the spades shaft where it joins the stainless steel blade. When I got my allotment plot I decided to treat myself to a good quality spade and fork so I did some research and plumped for a pair made by Burgon and Ball, these were shown surviving having large weights applied to the handles and had a 5 year guarantee. My plot was overgrown and had been neglected so I set about clearing it with my new tools withing a few days I had tweaked out of shape one of the tines of my fork so decided to do the heavy digging with my old un-named tools as I didn't want to damage my shiny new Burgon and Ball tools. I dug half the plot with these old tools without any trouble at all. The next season I thought that It would be safe to get my shiny Burgon and Ball tools back out now that the worst of the digging had been done, however as usual for me I ended up putting too much strain on the handle of my spade and I heard the sickening crack of wood which led to the shaft parting company with the blade, to say that I was annoyed with myself was an understatement. Anyhow I cleaned the spade up and it could be clearly seen that neither the shaft or the blade had much use so I took it back to the shop where I had purchased it from, they replaced it immediately without any fuss at all. I have used my Burgon and Ball tools since then but still do all my heavy work with the trusty un-named fork and spade which survive my heavy handed approach to gardening, I feel safe leaving them in my unlocked allotment shed without fear of anyone pinching them, after all who would want to use un-named tools with bent plastic shafts?
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Some years ago I was given a stainless steel spade and fork by a friend who had no use for them anymore, both had plastic shafts and bore no makers name. I used and abused them putting a bend in the spades shaft where it joins the stainless steel blade. When I got my allotment plot I decided to treat myself to a good quality spade and fork so I did some research and plumped for a pair made by Burgon and Ball, these were shown surviving having large weights applied to the handles and had a 5 year guarantee. My plot was overgrown and had been neglected so I set about clearing it with my new tools withing a few days I had tweaked out of shape one of the tines of my fork so decided to do the heavy digging with my old un-named tools as I didn't want to damage my shiny new Burgon and Ball tools. I dug half the plot with these old tools without any trouble at all. The next season I thought that It would be safe to get my shiny Burgon and Ball tools back out now that the worst of the digging had been done, however as usual for me I ended up putting too much strain on the handle of my spade and I heard the sickening crack of wood which led to the shaft parting company with the blade, to say that I was annoyed with myself was an understatement. Anyhow I cleaned the spade up and it could be clearly seen that neither the shaft or the blade had much use so I took it back to the shop where I had purchased it from, they replaced it immediately without any fuss at all. I have used my Burgon and Ball tools since then but still do all my heavy work with the trusty un-named fork and spade which survive my heavy handed approach to gardening, I feel safe leaving them in my unlocked allotment shed without fear of anyone pinching them, after all who would want to use un-named tools with bent plastic shafts?