Shovel suggestions

Carl_Bergstrom

Hi everyone,

I'm curious whether anyone has a favorite type of shovel for collecting from the mountains. Obviously, a high "strength to weight" ratio is desirable, as is either relatively small size or a collapsable handle.

Suggestions for other must-have collecting tools would also be appreciated.

Best regards,
Carl

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Will_Heath

Having broken and bent most folding or portable shovels I have ever used I went back to a regular shovel but in a shorter size. The ones I buy now have a total height of about three feet.

I have a backpack that I customized the inner compartment to hold this shovel, a pry bar, canvas bags with a lot of twine, water by the gallon, pruning shears (long handled and short) and the single most important tool I carry.....A black and decker battery operated Saws All! (Reciprocating saw)

This single item is the best investment I ever made! Thick roots, tap roots, unneeded branches, no problem, it's fast, it's quite, it's light weight. I always carry a extra fully charged battery and I have a charger in my truck for the big hauls.

Almost forgot another must have tool. A GPS. Wander to your hearts content, always find your way back. Mark trees for collection next year and walk right to them when you come back. Beautiful thing, I have about 2 dozen marked in the gps now for next spring.


Will

Carl_Bergstrom

Hi Will,

Good to hear your thoughts on the folding shovels. That was sort of what I was thinking, but I wanted to see if anyone else had enjoyed better luck.

The sawzall is a great idea. I'll add that. GPS is a good idea as well. Even if I can always get myself back out of the mountains, having a GPS to relocate the trees is a clever suggestion.

Cheers,
Carl

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grampz

Mr. Carl,

I have not been fortunate enough to do much collecting in the mountains, although we do have some good size hills...My favorite shovel is what we refer to as a 'sharp shooter' [blade about 6 inches wide and about a foot long with a pointed tip] with a short handle...It is strong enough to serve as a light weight pry bar when needed, although I usually also take a small 15 inch nail bar with me and a file for touching up the edge...

Mr. Will, what a wonderful idea about the portable 'saws-all'...Thanks for that information...

Regards
Behr

Mike_Westervelt

I too use a standard straight shovel, but with a removeable handle.I've also used a long narrrow one called a drain or ditch spade with a D-handle that works pretty well for prying.24"min. pry bar is a must for rocks.
Also recently discovered the joys of a sawsall, haven't taken one to the mountains ever, but they are great at keeping the rootball intact by virtue of eliminating the need for hacking at roots with the aforementioned shovels.
Great idea on the GPS Will, leave it to you hunter/gatherers.I personally use the little scraps of paper with directions, tucked into wallet, glove box, tool box technique for relocating trees.
Happy collecting

rockm

The type of digging equipment you use depends alot on what you're after and where you're collecting. I live in the middle Atlantic states and hae been collecting larger trees without a shovel for that entire period. I use a hand trowel to excavate around the trunk, then saw through roots with a short crosscut saw. This approach allows for finer tuning of the collection of a tree, and you discover immediately where the big and huge roots are and cause less wear on the root ball...

Treebeard

Carl,

What little collecting I have done was accomplished with a sharpened steel hand trowel and a big sheath knife. The hand trowel was sharpened on the leading edge with an angle grinder, this could quite easily be done on a spade or shovel.

Bear in mind though that I was only after tiddlers, and the ground was quite soft with few stones.

Regards,

Chris.

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Alasdair

although i have no experience in the mountains, i have traversed most other terrains and found a folding trench shovel works a treat. This is an army style shovel i got from a surplus store, and its great. Once folded open you screw a huge nut around the shaft and it solidly secures both the folding handle and blade.

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pootsie

To bad the posts on Gweb expire, cuz I remember somone showing a picture of a yamadori hunt with a shovel in the back of the truck that looked like this one



... only narrower

I googled "shark shovel" to find it

I thought it might come in handy!

pootsie

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