Fiskars Garden Shovel for Digging, Heavy Duty Steel Gardening Tool with Straight Handle

This garden shovel is absolutely fantastic and well worth the investment! The sturdy stepping place is a game-changer; it gives me the solid footing I need to dig into tough soil without a problem, something a lot of other shovels are missing. It's incredibly easy to use, making my gardening and planting a breeze. While it is a bit heavy, I see that as a testament to its exceptional quality and durability. This isn't a flimsy tool—it's built to last. I've used it for planting countless flowers and shrubs in my yard, and it has performed flawlessly every single time. It's a solid, reliable tool that makes gardening so much easier.

This is an amazing shovel. Unlike some others seem to think, I do not find it that much if any heavier than other heavy duty shovels that I have used. I bought this to replace a shovel made by a long time American tool brand that is supposed to be guaranteed forever but no longer stands behind their products. This shovel is very stiff even when I put my full weight on it to pry dirt out of the hole. I do not feel like it will break. The wide foot pads are comfortable to jump on even in rubber boots with minimal foot support. The handles does not seem any longer than other standard shovels and is a comfortable girth and shape. The angle of the head is good. One of the only drawbacks I can think of is the fact that it did not come sharpened. This is a minor inconvenience that anyone with a little DIY skill can take care of. It was also poorly packaged and hanging out of the box a little bit. On a funny note, it does conduct electricity. I was digging up a pipe in some moist ground when I lost my balance and by instinct grabbed for the closest object to steady myself which happened to be an electric fence that I have for my cattle. I got shocked both where I touched the wire and the hand that I was grounded through the shovel with. At least no one was around to hear me yell. *** Update: I have been using this shovel for about three years now. It still is holding up. The powder coating has faded some and is no-longer glossy and has worn off on the cutting edge but who cares??? it is a ranch tool. I have continued to beat the crap out of this shovel, throw it in the back of trucks, jump up and down on it to drive it into hard ground and then lever on it with my full weight and I still have not even flexed it. I will take back part of what I said in my original review, it is a little heavier than a normal shovel but not much heavier (if any) than a heavy duty shovel. I am in the process of replacing a couple thousand feet of fencing. As I have been auguring the holes, I have carried two shovels on the tractor with me. I use a lighter one for clearing lose dirt from around the post holes but all the real digging has been with this shovel. In terms of garden or outside hand tools, this is by far the best I have bought. It is well worth the money. If I have not managed to destroy in in three years of farm tough use, it should last a general home owner a life time. If you need a heavy duty shovel look no further.

This is a great shovel that digs a six foot by three foot hole with ease as long as you wait until the ground has thawed. The arrowhead shape really gets in there slicing through the ground and the heavy duty handle ensures its durability…won’t lie, you’re going to best friends with this shovel before you’re through. The straight “top” lets you step on the shovel blade for stubborn dirt. I recommend sturdy shoes and leather gloves. No husbands were harmed, lol.

I had some heavy digging to do around the house and decided it was time to retire my old, rusted shovel that I'd had for decades. This was the highest rated one I could find, so I ordered it. I spent the following full weekend digging up several dozen large and tough agave that had overgrown some areas of my yard. I couldn't have done it without this shovel. The combination of the wide stomp edge and sharp blade let me dig into hard packed desert dirt that is full of rocks and heavy roots. I live out in the desert in Arizona, and the soil is so hard that you often need a pick axe to loosen it before you dig. I was able to do this project with only my new shovel. The steel handle was a real plus. It is sturdy enough that I could trust it not to break when I got the blade up under a tough agave root and needed to pry things loose. I was able to put my full weight into it, which I would have been afraid to do with my old wooden-handled shovel. The extra long handle also helped with this, as it gave me additional leverage for the prying. I've seen questions and comments about whether the steel handle gets hot working in the sun. I live in the desert outside Phoenix, and it was a balmy spring day when I did my digging (only 105, I think). The sun was overhead, and intense, and the handle never overheated. I did wear leather work gloves to protect my hands, but picked up the shovel with bare hands several times when I left it lying on the ground during breaks and never noticed the heat. Others have questioned whether the steel handle is too heavy for some users. I'm a 60 year old woman, and not athletic by any means. Yes, it's heavy than my old style shovel, but that didn't make it difficult to use. As I mentioned above, the long steel handle was one of the features that make this an exceptional shovel. Most of the work with a shovel doesn't involve lifting. It involves stomping, leveraging, then lifting shovels of dirt. The weight of the shovel didn't interfere with that. Someone who has difficulty lifting a six-pound shovel probably won't be doing the kind of work you'd need such a tool for. I don't want to suggest that this was an easy job. I worked outside most of Saturday and again on Sunday, and was sore, exhausted, and bleeding after digging up and dragging around about 300 pounds of agave.with spikes that are deadly sharp. This is hard work, but if I'd tackled it with my old shovel, I would probably have given up after only a couple of these stubborn desert plants. My husband was out of town when I bought the shovel and did this project. I think he was tired of my talking nonstop about this amazing shovel. He eventually reminded me that it's "just a shovel." Oh no, I argued, it's a wonder-shovel. When he got home, he had to see for himself how a shovel could get me so excited. Then he spent THAT weekend digging up stumps from old shrubs I'd chopped down, and then digging holes to plant all the new things I bought. He loved it, too.

Can't believe I haven't reviewed this shovel until now. I've already bought 4 over the last 4 or 5 years. Going to order my 5th one soon. Yeah this thing is heavy, not just heavy duty. It gets the job done. I have a scrawny upper body build, I weigh about 133±. This shovel should be out of my league but for some reason I'm drawn to this beautiful tool. I've built a large trail and continue upgrading it using mainly this shovel, an Eswing Ax and a cheap Chinese handsaw. I've done everything with this shovel. I dig and move earth, dig out and pry heavy rocks and slice through thick tree roots, weed whack through bushes and young trees. That's why eventually I end up eventually cracking the blade. It's heavy duty but I don't think its meant for what I put it through. My mom is probably around 110-115 lbs. She doesn't like this shovel and won't use it. You probably won't either if you're anything like her: petite and not very strong.

Finally a shovel for taller folks... I'm 6'2" so every yard tool that I use I am hunching over and it gets old and gets tiring real fast! I read the reviews and although I can't stand this tool is made in China it appears to be a solid contender. I've planted 4 trees using this and so far it doesn't seem to want to stop. I love that the handle is long and I like that it is steal. The foot setting is nice and I am able to jump on the shovel as compared to the other shovels with just a bent over piece of metal at the base of the shovel. This would easily get a 5 star rating if it were made in the USA.... Seriously, why manufactures can't get a grip on this is beyond me. Charge an extra $10 or whatever per shovel and start making them here in the USA. I try whenever possible to buy USA made tools and take pride in knowing that someone here made it and not some factory overseas paying SUPER cheap labor to someone just to pocket their bottom line...

This is a very good shovel. I like that it is all metal and no parts that will separate that I see. I'm a petite weak lady and I can't use other shovels because it is just too hard for me. I would rather use a trowel and take forever than use a big shovel. This one was actually fun for me to use. I can position the shovel to go in the ground and balance on the step part of it and wiggle it back and forth for it to go into the ground and then I can pull back on it without worrying about it breaking and it lifts up the dirt. I look like I'm on a pogo stick and it still takes me a while because I'm slow and not heavy and not strong but it is easier and faster than my trowel and doable for me rather than the other shovel that I use to have with a wooden handle that broke. I've dug 3 holes since I got this shovel and that is a lot more big holes that I ever could do without it. 2 times were happy times and my plants are happy but the 3rd time was unfortunately sad because I had to bury my kitty in the rain. It is harder to dig in the rain because the wet dirt sticks to the shovel and makes it heavier so I would have to use my foot to get the mud off and then the step gets slippery but the shovel cleans up quickly. I don't recommend digging in the rain. It seemed more dangerous because of the slipperiness. But if you think you have to do it like I did then it still works pretty well. Whenever my husband uses it he says that it is a good sturdy shovel. He uses it the regular way that I see most people use a shovel and he can dig a hole for me in like a minute or three. Very impressive to me but then again he is a man. I like that this has a bigger step for me to use. This is heavy but maybe that is a good thing. The color of this is nice and it goes in the ground easy. It has a coating on it so that it won't rust. It seems like it will last a long time. The best part is that I can use it myself when my husband is busy. I'm glad I got it for it has been useful. Update: It is now 2023. My neighbor borrowed my shovel and now it is broken. ;( I am sad. It was useful a long while.

I am extremely happy with this shovel. As you can see from the pictures, it consists of two pieces: First is the shovel head and the second is the one-piece stainless steel handle. The two are welded together at the end of the handle and also where the handle meets the end of the shovel-head (where the digging tabs are). This makes for a very strong shovel! So why is this good, vs a more conventional and cheaper one? No matter what you do, wood handles are weakest where they are joined to the shovel head. This is typically done by shoving the wood handle down into a steel sheath, then bolting them together. At the joint under pressure, the wood will try to bend. However, the steel sheath does not allow any bending which adds a lot of extra stress to that wood. Fiberglass handles have helped somewhat. However, note that fiberglass handles are HOLLOW. They are very strong and very resistant to breaking by bending them. However, they are not as resistant to a crushing force applied (such as if you dropped an anvil on them). Imagine the plastic straw... it is resistant to bending, but not so much if you pinch it with your fingernail. You therefore have the same effect with a fiberglass handle; the steel sheath digs into the fiberglass. Once that fiberglass cracks or bends, its structural integrity goes out the window. Another shovel I have seen looked really strong, but they secured the fiberglass handle with 4 small steel tabs! This is idiocy as those tabs will dig into the fiberglass as the shovel is used which will weaken the handle over time. ------------------ Therefore, this shovel can be used to pry rocks and tree roots out of the ground to a certain extent. You can apply a lot more pressure to this shovel than with any other one by far! This doesn't mean that it is indestructible though. If you sufficiently abuse the shovel, it could bend. Since it is not a solid steel, it is shaped to give it maximum strength. Imagine a straw again. Its hollow shape gives it a lot more strength than if it was not hollow and just a long plastic toothpick effectively (using the same amount of plastic) As you bend the hollow straw, it will eventually fail somewhere and the circular shape now becomes flat at that point. Even when you bend the straw back, you notice it is significantly weaker at that point. No matter what you do, it will always fail at that point when you bend it. Therefore you have to be reasonable. This is NOT a giant crowbar. Get a San Angelo bar for that, which is 6 feet of tempered solid steel. ----------- The shovel only weighs 3.4 pounds! That is not a whole lot! I thought I would need a 'light duty' shovel and only use this sparingly. But this is definitely not the case. I am not terribly big, but Ive had no trouble with it. I guess if you were digging lots of light soil, then a lighter shovel might be beneficial. But, I am perfectly happy with this shovel. ----------- The only minor issue is that this shovel is NOT sharpened. The end of the shovel is rounded, not sharpened, then the entire head is painted. With its extra heft, this is generally not an issue. However, if you are digging through tree roots then you might want to sharpen it.