Heavy-duty soil shovel

More than once I had to dig through waterlogged clay soil on the plot. Soil stuck to the shovel in such amounts that working without cleaning it became simply impossible. Removing the soil from the tool was no easy task either and took more time than the digging itself.

Having suffered enough with that kind of work, I decided to make a special shovel.

After thinking through the design, I made and tested my new tool.

The soil no longer stuck to the blade surface, since only a thin rod and a narrow blade were left of it. The blade’s cutting edges cut through the soil well, severing weed roots. The tool allowed working the soil both with and without turning the sod. All in all, the result satisfied me, so I want to share the shovel design with anyone who also has to dig wet clay or heavy black soil often and a lot.

Most of the shovel parts are made from round steel tubes of different diameters with wall thickness of at least 3.2 mm. The blade is from a steel plate (steel 45) 2.5 mm thick, although it would be better to make it from tool steel, e.g. U8. The handle is the same as on a standard digging shovel — wooden, made of bird cherry.

The blade angle relative to the rod is 13–15°, and the rod to the handle 18–22°. Thanks to these angles, the shovel enters the soil at a shallow angle, moves through it in a curve, cutting weed roots.

The blade and rod are joined with rivets; the other joints are welded, but riveted or bolted connections are also quite acceptable.

«Modelist-Konstruktor» No. 6’2001, V. CHISTYAKOV