Anyone have any experience with U-Bar Diggers?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Beyond the Sidewalks : One Thread

I just got a copy of Lee Valley's garden tools catalog and noticed that they sell a version of the U-Bar. I've always thought these U-Bars looked like a great way to deeply loosen the soil without going to the bother of using a noisy, smelly tiller or disturbing the soil strata.

Has anyone here had experience with using a U-Bar Digger? I've seriously contemplated buying one of these things to use in my garden beds but would like to hear from anyone that's used them before I lay down the cash.

Lee Valley U-Bar Digger


-- Anonymous, April 14, 2001

Answers

I haven't used one, but they are used extensively by the French for double digging I believe.

If you have access to a welder and tools, you should be able to make one pretty handily out of rebar. I saw directions for making them somewhere.

If I were to make one, I would make it a little different than pictured. I would have the teeth set in two bars spaced a few inches apart. With both fastened to the handle it would relieve a little stress as the handles are pulled back. It would also add a little to the weight and build up your arms a little more. lol.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2001


There is good reading in Eliot Coleman's "New Organic Grower". We bought the Johnny's version of the digger with replaceable wooden handles. It looked great, but I bent one of the tines the first time I used it. Our soil is really rocky, and I was trying to deepen a bed beyond what the tiller had dug. Otherwise it's a great tool, easy to use, and loosens soil well.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2001

I borrowed one from my gardening guru at work to turn our second SFG (30 x 60 ft). I liked it. Didn't wear me out and gave quick results. Made me feel like a"biscuit and gravy powered turning plow". I am considering building a cross support to hold two of our long handled 4 prong turning forks by bolt clamping to the cross member so that the two forks can also be used seperatly or as a ubar.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2001

Thanks for all the feedback. I don't know a whit about welding so I think I'll stick to the mail-order option. ;-)

I'll probably end up buying the Lee Valley model... Now I just need to find some spare change lying around so I can buy the darned thing!. :-0

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001


Oh right, Jim, spare change. I've seen those prices, and you're going to need jars and jars of it!

A guy I know who runs a 23-share CSA uses a U-bar digger that he had welded up to match the specs in the Jeavons book. The thing weighs about 40 pounds, but since he doesn't really lift it, its pretty easy to work with. His has 24-inch tines, but that may be a little overkill.

He swears by the tool for loosening pre-dug soil. He does the traditional double-digging with shovel and pick or digging fork to begin with, and each year thereafter uses the U-bar digger on the bed to loosen it up.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001



Moderation questions? read the FAQ