This Broadfork Won’t Bend

This Broadfork Won’t Bend MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Roger Seys made a 24-in wide broadfork for his garden that won’t bend The heavy-duty steel teeth are more like angled steel chisels than fork tines They slice through compacted ground and root clumps without a problem “The general idea is similar to commercial broadforks but I made mine with 3/16-in thick tines mounted on 2 1/2-in square steel tubing ” says Seys “I used heavy-duty 48-in long 1-in dia steel pipe for the handles It’s heavy duty but it’s not too heavy and it slides right into the ground ” The pipes are bolted to an L-shaped piece of steel welded to the square steel tubing that holds the tines The lip on the shorter leg of the L wraps partially around the pipe to reinforce it Seys’ first attempt used lighter weight pipe for handles and 1/2-in bolts for tines The bolts were too hard to get into the ground He switched to 11-in long flat steel rectangles that he cut on the diagonal to get sharpened points While he didn’t need to sharpen them he did find they bent if they hit a rock “I heated them red hot and then dipped them in water and that seemed to help ” explains Seys “I’ve also considered putting a 30 to 45° angle on the last inch or two to make a stronger tip Right now they have a 10 to 15° angle ” Seys uses his broadfork in his conventional garden to break up compacted footpaths and zones around tomato plants He pulls up chunks of compacted ground as the loose dirt falls between the tines “In the fall I spread animal manure and compost over the top of the garden and then work it with my broadfork ” says Seys “As I fork it a lot of the manure and compost drops into the soil profile while I am getting root clumps out of the ground ” Seys says using it is satisfying as is knowing he fabricated it himself “I made it to save money but I like working with it ” he says

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