Spear & Jackson1070AK Neverbend Professional Digging Spade Silver 98.5 x 19 x 11.5 cm

I purchased this digging fork to remove part of the lawn for my wife's garden bed. The tool does its job as expected.It is heavy, which is expected on a good quality tool, it also works on loosen the root of lawn and making holes.

Purchased this to replace my old standby favorite that my burly son broke. It is sturdy. It is good. I expect it to last a very long time. Nevertheless, nitpicking, I loved the old fork that had a fiberglass handle which was lightweight and smoothly set shaft into the metal fork end and had a plastic, but smooth D handle. The tines on my old fork were also just a bit slimmer and finely wrought such that they just slipped into the soil easily yet never bent on stones. If I could only find another of those! This one is an adequate replacement, but the handle is not as smooth in the hand, nor is it as light.

Good solid product, very good value for money. It is sturdy and has been used to turn compost without any problems. Ergonomic design and easy to work with.

Every fork I considered at a home center or farm store felt flimsy--particularly at the joint between the tines and the handle. At ~$40 a fork, I didn't want something that would last half a day. So, compelled by the reviews here, I ordered one of these in hopes that it'd be an improvement. ...it was. First, this thing is beautiful. It's extremely well built. And It's sturdy as hell. I used it to aerate 3,000 sqrt feet of lawn without any trouble [from the fork... my lower back thought otherwise]. And, despite being several heads above the rest, it rang it at the same price as the farm/home center forks. I'm tall (>6') so would have appreciated a few extra inches of handle length, but digging forks are always short such that I can't count it's [standard ~30"] handle length against it. If you want a fork that'll be the envy of your grandkids, this is it.

This spade/shovel by Spear & Jackson has not changed over the years. In fact the top handle design (see picture) has improved. The forged steel blade, thickened at point of high stress where it connects to the handle, is virtually indestructible. See second picture. A far cry from almost all other manufacturers who use a pressed steel sheet of constant thickness, albeit hardened, to do the same job. The highly competitive price from Amazon was also another welcome surprise. This spade replaces another almost identical one that I had for 20 years, bought in New Zealand whilst on a work assignment, bringing it home with me to California.

Took it out of the box Amazon sent it in and went after a few compacted-clay soil areas in my Bermuda grass lawn and it is rock solid - very well made - and I am glad I bought it.

I’ve looked for one like this in retail stores but never seen anything this well made. Most look poorly welded with loose plastic handles. I needed to replace one almost identical to this, that I’ve had for at least 30 yrs & had belonged to my grandparents many years before me. It’s the ultimate yard & garden weeder, mulcher, tiller tool. I use it for all kinds of dirt work.

Nice to find a good quality tool at a fair price. Should last a lifetime if taken care of properly

A new gardening year. The snow has melted and now is the time to get back out there. A time to dig up and turn over with our new Neverbend Professional 10 year guaranteed fork from Spear & Jackson.Oh but wait. It doesn't appear to be working. It has bent on its first day out.This is the worst product I have ever bought from a once respected brand.Check the photo if you don't believe me.

I don't know how so many people have written favourable reviews of this spade.First, it is far heavier than a good spade needs to be and much slower and tiring to use. My old spade weighs about half as much and has taken extraordinary punishment for 30 years and is still going strong.Second, the blade seems to rely on its coating for protection but in one corner the coating had already flaked off on arrival, which makes me suspect it won't last. A good blade relies on the quality of the metal, not on a coating.Today I started using it to cut out a large section of turf from my lawn, thinking this would be one task the heavy spade with a powerful blade would do well. After a few minutes I switched to my old spade and found to my amazement that it was nearly twice as fast. The Spear & Jackson can't even dig nicely into turf. If it wasn't soiled I would send it back.I would like to say thank you to the makers of my old spade, which I have abused over the years without realising what a wonderful tool it was. Unfortunately the name has long since worn off.

Don’t be fooled by the ‘unbendable’ and ‘professional’ names given to these forks. They’re no better than forks half the price.This one lasted a few hours digging over a previously dug border in flinty clay with some tree roots. My old stainless steel fork which should have weaker tangs fared better.

I purchased this item based on reviews, warranty and the name, “Neverbend”. The tines bent on first use and the handle snapped after a handful of uses. I’m trying to arrange a replacement/refund. Amazon have referred me to the manufacturer and they send me straight back to amazon as it’s within the first 12 months. They don’t seem too keen to back up their 10 year warranty.

This is a sturdy fork - but I think that "Neverbend" is a bit of a misleading comment. I tried to dig out a thick root with it and it did bend one of the tines, but I was pushing very hard and it was probably too much of a root for a fork to handle. However, as the bend was only slight, and ultimately it is a garden tool so doesn't need to stay in perfect condition for ever I decided to keep going with it rather than send it back, which has been a good decision because everything else it has managed without fault. The coating is very easy to clean off and even with the slight bend didn't break, so that protection is preserved.In summary: Not invulnerable, but much stronger than a cheap fork. I should imagine it will be 10 years before I feel like replacing this.UPDATE April 2015: The fork has met its end. Just some normal digging in the allotment resulted in the handle snapping clean in half. In total it lasted for about 2.5 years and was always stored in a dry shed. You can see the metal is in good condition! Time to find out how good the 10 year guarantee really is...UPDATE July 2015: I can hardly believe it - the guarantee worked. Contacted Spear & Jackson, sent the photo of the broken fork and then one turned up at our house a week later.