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Shovels & Spades

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Shovels and spades are hand tools widely used in the paving, drainage and groundworks trades . There's a lot of digging work in the groundworks trade, and so a good spade or a shovel is possibly the most important tool of all. We rely of different types of spades and shovels to perform different jobs.

What is Shovel?

A Shovel is a tool with a handle and a broad scoop or blade for digging and moving material, such as dirt or snow. Handle lengths and blade lifts are important to balance and efficient shoveling. Low-lift blades and irrigating shovels are best for digging and turning soil while regular-lift shovels and scoops are for moving and throwing earth and other materials.

What is a Spade?

A spade is a sturdy digging tool having a thick handle and a heavy, flat blade that can be pressed into the ground with the foot.

Difference Between Shovel and Spade

Is it a spade or is it a shovel? What's the difference? Well, quite frankly, many people call a shovel a spade and vice versa. According to dictionary, a spade, deriving from the Latin word spatha, is a long-handled tool with a flat blade that is pressed with the foot and used for digging, while a shovel is a long-handled tool with a broad scoop used in lifting and moving loose material. Ultimately you dig with a spade and you shift stuff with a shovel. And both can be used for both the purposes.

Materials of Shovel Blade Construction

Well, there are three main choices of materials for shovels blades. They are as follows:

Steel: Steel shovels very heavy but they are the most durable.
Aluminum: They are lighter and softer, though some aluminum shovels have steel-reinforced edges which add weight.
Plastic: They are lightweight, but abrade rapidly. Plastic shovel can bend repeatedly with no damage. They are available in a wide range of colors.

Classification and Types of Shovels / Spades

Shovels are classified by three factors:

Construction
Point description
Handle length

Types of Shovels based on Construction

The five types of construction are as follows:

Plain back shovels or strap socket shovels: They are hot formed having two straps holding handle to back by welding.
Solid-shank blade and socket shovels: From one piece of metal, the shovels are hot rolled with solid steel section at base of socket.
Closed back shovels: The shovels are hot formed from sheet steel with an extra steel piece welded to back at the socket base.
Open back shovels or Hollow back shovels: They are hot formed from sheet steel with an opening at the socket base. These shovels have rolled steps for extra rigidity.
Special construction shovels: These shovels are hot formed from hot-rolled blanks of different gauges depending on end use. They are light weight with maximum strength.

Types of Shovels based on Point description

The blades of the shovels have round point or square point. Thus, there are round point shovels and square point shovels.

Square Point Shovels: The square point shovel has many uses - it is specially used for moving loose garden material, sand, topsoil or debris. The other uses of square point shovel include shaping beds, mixing concrete, leveling off areas that need to be flat and scraping stubborn material off driveways, patios or other such hard surfaces.
Round Point Shovels: The round point shovel is used for digging and excavation in a variety of soils. Some of these types of round point shovels are meant for heavy duty works and come with heavy duty blades having crimped collar that strengthens the handle.

Types of Shovels based on Handles

Shovel spade handles are basically of two types. The first one is the D-handle, also known as a Y-handle, because of the way it forks. The second type of shovel handle is T-handle. Though there is not much of difference between the two, most users prefer the D-handle shovel which is found to be more comfortable, stronger and less likely to break than the T-handle shovel spade. The D-handle is considered to be better to bear with more stress or load. There are two ways of fixing the handle to the blade. This is done by either attaching the socket or the strapped method.

Types of Spades/ Shovels

Although shovels have been classified broadly on the basis of their construction, blade points and handles, there are many minute differences in these broad categories of shovels that give us the following types of spades/shovels.

Tapermouth spade: The tapermouth spade gets its name because the blade tapers slightly. That means it is narrower at the cutting edge than it is at the shoulder. It is supposes to be a handy all-round tool.
Squaremouth shovel: Also known as a "Widemouth", it is used for shoveling and leveling, with its wide end. However, it is not suitable as a tapermouth for digging. This shovel is popular to shift large quantities of sand, very loose gravel or earth, silt etc.
Grafter spade: It is handy for digging-out fence posts, or working in tough, boulder clay. The shape is very narrow only 100mm or wide at the cutting edge, with a tapering blade.
Trenching Spade: Its a combination of a tapermouth shovel and a grafter shovel. It is useful for working in trenches. Its narrow profile makes it perfect for cutting through tough soils, and since it is wider than a grafter, it can also carry a good quantity of excavated material out of the way.
Roundmouth shovel: As the name suggests, they have a round shaped blade and ideal for shoveling sands and gravels into a mixer when making concrete.
Garden Spades: Used usually for the purpose of digging in the garden, Garden Spades have square-point blades about 7" wide and 12" long with a 28" "D" handle. Some garden spades have a rolled shoulder on the top of the blade, so user can apply foot pressure in unusually hard or heavy soil.
Spading Forks: Spading forks are roll forged from a solid steel bar to produce four sharp tines that enter and turn the soil more easily than a solid blade.
Drain Spades: Also known as Tiling Spades, drain spades are used primarily for digging ditches for tile installations. Round-point blades are 5 1/2" wide, 14" to 16" long and handle is 27" long
Ditching Spades: Ditching Spades have square point blade 6 1/4" to 6 1/2" wide and 14" to 18" long, 27" handle and foot pedal. Good for use in heavy soil or rocky surfaces.
Scoop: Scoops have deep blades for moving loose or bulky materials and should not be recommended for digging. Most have "D" handles although some are available with long handles.

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