crawgarden said:New favorite tool

Man, I need to get me one of those. I have so many trees in my yard that no matter where I dig a hole to plant anything, I hit feeder roots invariably. I'm so glad I saw this post.

terrafirma said:
I'd have to say that that my tractor 'seat' has become my favorite! My old knees aren't what they use to be, and this has become my most valuable of all tools!

I found a similar seated cart one day quite by happenstance. We were driving down a residential street one Saturday, passed a garage sale and suddenly I said to Lance "STOP THE CAR!". Saw one off to the side of her driveway just in time. The little old lady was selling it for $25! Guess she bought a newer model or something. Snatched that baby up in the blink of an eye. And have I ever put it to use! I have Degenerative Disk Disease and had been shopping for one for quite awhile but didn't like the prices I found on the nicer ones. I just LOVE mine!

Wow! That was a steal, and a very nice one at that! Congrats!

Good grab!

I just ordered one of these Garden Weasel nut gatherers to collect all the hickory nuts falling down off the trees that surround our getaway cabin in Central TX. I have Degenerative Disc Disease and have issues bending down to the ground. It arrived today and I'm very impressed with design and mostly steel construction. All crucial part are steel. You roll it over the nuts and they are pushed into the basket. Then you slide the grey thingie down the handle and it pushes an opening into the basket so you can tip it and dump them into a container or pile for collection. We're going down there tomorrow to mow the yard and I'm going to try it out. I think it will be something I use heavily in the nut-dropping season and it should help with my back issues a lot! :)

Peggy, I saw those nut-gatherers on the tool rack at our local hardware last spring. Intrigued. Don't have nuts to gather so didn't need one. Wondered what else could I use that for....
Interested to hear if you like it, after you use it.

They really work as advertised, @katesflowers, especially if you haven't been walking on the nuts for 2 years like we have to push them deeper into sandy soil ;) We have very sandy soil down there and they crack after rains and send their tap root down for new saplings VERY fast, so we need to get to gathering them pretty quick this fall when they are sitting right on top of the ground.

My husband tested it while I was watering all my trees and shrubs. He walked over to say it works as advertised, but if you don't empty it often, says when about a 10-12 nuts are gathered, the weight of the nuts (which are 1½-2" size) in the filled basket spreads the bottom spokes (from weight) and it can open and let them fall out before you manually slide the mechanism to widen two spokes to release them into your bucket/catch container. I think it would work much better on pecans as they are much smaller. But he said for me and my bad back, it will keep me from having to bend over at all so long as I roll just a couple times, slide/open when it's only say 1/3 full and empty. I'm OK with that. Anything to not have to bend my back over and over again. We had tried a comb rake and a leaf rake and they just weren't working well for the job.

I have something different but same concept. It's for picking up acorns. I pulled it out today and started using it. Like I'm really going to beat the rush. Right. I'm surrounded by large oak trees.

Tex - are your oak trees loaded with nuts this year, too? Ours are.
I always thought it was a precurser to a hard winter if the nut trees were loaded.

crawgarden said:New favorite tool

After RJ recommended this I got the 3 pack of 2 size shovels and the edger on Amazon. Amazing and best tools for my clay and tree roots. The skinny shovel is great for splitting plants

Wow! It's great gardening tractor. I use hand tools.

katesflowers said:Tex - are your oak trees loaded with nuts this year, too? Ours are.
I always thought it was a precurser to a hard winter if the nut trees were loaded.

You posted this awhile ago and apparently I never answered And the answer is Yes, I had have a lot of acorns and lots of little oak trees popping up everywhere. Grrr. I see I mentioned a tool for picking up the acorns. Pshaw! That was a laugh.

I have no idea if it's a precursor to a hard winter. But wait! Might be true this year if rain counts. I've had a bumper crop of acorns and an extremely wet winter. Not cold except on occasion. But the Dallas area has broken records for the most rain ever from January thru March and I think the 2nd wettest March. I have to say that the weeds are loving it!

Back to tools, I'm probably going to repeat myself, but the best tool ever is the Cobrahead. Period. Full stop.

Two tools I love - short square spade, dirt knife. Gave away my cobra as never used.

Just found this thread. Pretty spiffy tractor!

My first thought was hand tools, too. I guess my most useful and therefore favourite(?) garden tool would be my DeWit five tine claw/cultivator. It has served me very well since I started gardening, and I would buy it all over again in a heartbeat. However, it soon many have some competition for the top spot on my favourites list.

I just ordered the Root Slayer trenching shovel. After digging out some Saw Greenbriar Vine recently, and knowing that it may come back, not to mention the fact that I have an entire bed I would like to get started either this Autumn or next Spring, I thought the Root Slayer would be an excellent investment, and it is on for $20 off at the moment. I cannot wait to try it! I have some areas right now where I can use it right away, e.g. a trash tree that was cut down a few months ago but insists on coming back again, and again, and again. I hope the Root Slayer will at least let me slice through some of those roots and slow it down if nothing else.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M1CCIWH/

Excellent tool, I've had one for the last 2 years. Works great!

By far my favorite is a tool called various things.....scuffle hoe or bat wing hoe or Rogue Hoe. Also my battery powered leaf blower.

I'm finding one of my favorite tools is a drill and auger. I use it to plant my bulbs and bare root daylilies and small perennials. I use it like a mixer to mix in my compost in the hole

As long as you keep using them, they are worth the investment. I bought a big drill and large auger years ago for the same reason. After the first year of planting Daffodils, they never came back the second year, and I have not planted any since. Drill and auger are covered in dust in the garage closet.

Huh that's weird. I only plant daffy and they reliably return and multiply. Tulips on the other hand I avoid like the plague. Shrug.

It may have been the soil was too poor. The property had been neglected for many years. I did my best to bring some life back to it, but I ended up moving to a smaller property. I am going to try my hand at Irises here. It may have been the bulbs, too. I purchased them at either Lowes or Home Depot. Maybe they were not high quality.