It’s a common ordeal for people to struggle when shopping for the best garden fork. This article will help you to understand which garden fork would work best for your specific situation. You want to ensure that you find the right garden fork for the job.
A major detail that people forget to consider is how the fork will feel in your hand after working with it. The larger the fork, the heavier it will be. Do you tend to your garden for hours on end? Is it a large garden? Is it a small garden? These simple questions will help you to determine which garden fork to purchase. It’s my goal to ensure that you have all of the details in order to make an informed decision.
In all honesty, it’s hard to choose which one is the best product because all 5 of them serve different purposes and I only choose the best one in each type. But, after considering every factor, this is our pick:
Our Pick
Truper 30293 Tru Tough Fork
The reason Truper is chosen as the best garden fork is not only because it is an amazing product with high durability and affordable price, but it’s because Truper has every type of fork with any length in this product line. If you’re in doubt, choose this one.
How to Choose the Right Garden Fork?
There are several ways in which you can choose the right garden fork the first time. However, I don’t want to make it sound complicated when it’s actually very easy!
Ask yourself this: “What type of work am I needing the fork to do?”
That’s a great starting place. There are many different types of garden forks, but I will discuss those later on.
Before you get overwhelmed, take a look at your working space. If you have a small, box garden, then the best choice for you would be a small garden fork. You know, one that you can work with while sitting down. If you have a large vegetable garden, then it will be helpful to have a larger garden fork.
You also want to choose a fork that will offer the most comfort and ease to your body.
It doesn’t necessarily have to have a soft cushioned handle, but you want something that will work with you and vice versa. Depending on how many minutes or hours that you spend in the garden a day or in a week will help you to determine that detail.
What Makes a Great Garden Fork?
With all of the temptations to purchase cheaply, it’s easy to find yourself with a weak tool. Obviously, you want a garden fork that will do the job and last longer than a few uses. In other words, you don’t need a fork that will bend with the slightest force or exertion.
In fact, the best forks are those that are forged.
What does this mean? It means that the fork is created from one piece of metal that is forged when heat is applied. Generally, these garden forks are designed with rubber grips that further aid you in applying heavy force and pressure.
You see, when a fork is made from one solid stick of metal, it’s strength and durability is twice that of one that is put together piece by piece. Many forks are made cheaply today and are constructed of aluminum alloy. Sadly, this material, unless it’s mixed in with other metals, is very weak and increases the likelihood that the fork will bend during use.
Even further, if it’s constructed with several pieces, that weakens the fork.
My advice is to stick with the strong, sturdy solid forks that are forged.
What Are the Different Types of Garden Forks?
While shopping for a garden fork, it’s good to know that there are different types to browse through. Believe it or not, there is a fork for nearly every garden situation. Knowledge in this area will help you to find one that is right for you. Let’s take a look at the different kinds of forks.
Digging Forks
Digging forks are recognized as the most basic garden tool to have. They are typically long and used when standing up. They usually have four tines but can also have more. (It depends on how fancy you want to get.)
However, digging forks are great for breaking and turning the soil. They work very well on hard soil that can be quite cumbersome to turn over.
In fact, the digging forks are so multi-functional that they can be used for almost anything garden or farm related.
Pitchforks
This term may sound the most familiar to you. Every farmer seems to own a pitchfork! (And maybe a few Halloween costumes.)
Pitchforks are wonderful for working with hay and straw. If you have to constantly clean out livestock stalls, move small hay bales and anything else related to hay, the pitchfork will be your best friend.
They usually have four tines and are spaced evenly apart to successfully rotate or move hay. In fact, some pitch forks are very sharp and curved in order to get a good grip on the compost.
Potato Fork
I think the term, “potato fork” is self-explanatory. Do you grow your own potatoes? Are you shopping for the best garden fork? Then a potato fork will perform wonderfully for you.
The potato fork is designed to specifically lift potatoes from the ground. The tines aren’t sharp at all since it isn’t meant to dig holes. In fact, potato forks are purposely built with dull tines so that you won’t puncture a potato.
The potato fork may also have more tines since the concern here is to not lose the potato! The more tines there are, the least likely that a potato can escape through the tine gaps.
Hand Fork
The hand fork is also self-explanatory. It’s a miniature garden fork that fits snugly in your hand. These work the best for the very small gardens or small tasks. If you need to do some touch-up work on a plant or two, the hand fork would also serve as a great tool. This forces you to get to the ground level and literally dig in.
However, don’t expect to use the hand fork for large tasks or large gardens. It would simply cause too much squatting and standing and increase the time of completion significantly.
What’s the Best Way to Use a Garden Fork?
When you’re using a garden fork, it’s wise to consider how it will affect your body. This usually brings the most concern to the hands. If you plan on using a fork for very long, you need to protect your hands from painful callouses and skin burns.
The best way to remedy this is to wear protective work or garden gloves.
Otherwise, simply use both hands to operate the longer, slender forks like a digging fork or potato fork. It may also help to apply more pressure to your foot sitting on top of the tines. This is for strength and accuracy in turning up tough soil.
For hand forks, it may not be necessary to have to use both hands. Naturally, if you using the fork to turn the soil, keep a solid grip on the handle and twist the tines into the ground with pressure.
Best Garden Forks – Product Reviews
Let’s take a look at a few garden forks that are considered the best in the market. This will give you an idea of what’s on the market and the variety of options in which you have to choose from.
1. Joseph Bentley Traditional Garden Tools Stainless Steel Hand Fork
This classic hand fork is fairly basic and offers great functionality.
The oak handle is designed to provide comfort to your hand while also protecting your knuckles. The stainless steel also protects the three tines from rusting as easily as other metals do. If you accidentally leave it out in the rain, no worries!
The Joseph Bentley is perfect for maintaining plant beds and garden boxes.
What we like:
- Stainless steel tines
- Oak handle
- Durable and work through hard soil
What we don’t like:
- Not too versatile (but it does serve its purpose)
2. Truper 30293 Tru Tough Spading Fork
The Truper, 30-inch pitchfork is one of the best garden fork available on Amazon with an affordable price.
The four sharpened tines make it super easy to use with hay, compost and turning up soil. Constructed of steel, it’s guaranteed to provide sturdy reliability for your garden and farming chores.
What we like:
- Four tines, ideal for any purpose
- Has a D-grip
- Clear-coated steel
- Wide range of product selection (including other fork types and length)
What we don’t like:
- Some people who bought this product noticed quality issues
3. Radius Garden 203 PRO Ergonomic Stainless Steel Digging Fork
The Radius Garden is a popular digging fork. It has a special “O-Handle” grip design that delivers extreme gripping strength compared to the classic design handles. This detail comes in handy for the toughest of soils. In fact, the handle is slip resistant and gentle on the hands.
The Radius Garden fork is made of high quality, sturdy steel. The four tines are sharpened and square shaped for the purpose of turning soil, sod and more.
What we like:
- Slip-resistant
- Stainless steel blades, durable to work with hard soil
- No splinters
- O-Handle, weird but it works!
What we don’t like:
- Bad customer service. If it’s broken on shipping, you’re on your own
4. Fiskars 47 Inch Steel D-Handle Ergo Garden Fork
The amazing thing about Fiskars garden fork is the lengthy 47 inches! It’s created from steel that gives it the durability and reliability needed to get the job done.
As for the handle, it’s designed with the classic D angle that forces your hand and wrist to stay in the same spot in order to provide quality support.
The Fiskars fork is great for many tasks including compost, turning soil, moving mulch, rocks, and stones. It’s an overall multi-functional garden fork.
What we like:
- Welded steel
- Convenient mid-grip
- Feels stronger than the other forks
What we don’t like:
- Although it’s a pitchfork, you might still not feel the tines are sharp enough
5. Spear & Jackson Professional Potato Fork
The awesome detail about this garden fork is the fact that it’s forged with strong steel. Remember what I said earlier about forged garden forks? You don’t have to worry about them bending or snapping in half under the weight or pressure.
The head and socket are riveted for extra strength and the four tines are extra wide for the lifting of potatoes.
Even better? The Spear & Jackson potato fork has a weather resistant, wooden shaft! Rain or shine, your garden fork would be protected.
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons.
What we like:
- 10-year warranty (at least it’s not “lifetime warranty” which often times not)
- Weatherproof shaft
- Forged
What we don’t like:
- The price is much higher than the others
- Newcomer
Our Pick
Truper 30293 Tru Tough Fork
The reason Truper is chosen as the best garden fork is not only because it is an amazing product with high durability and affordable price, but it’s because Truper has every type of fork with any length in this product line. If you’re in doubt, choose this one.
