Only thing I would add is the importance of starting at the top of the material pile when transferring. Instead I always see helpers start by trying to jam their blade into the middle or bottom of the pile thinking they’ll get a bigger scoop and wearing themselves out. So glad you made this video because shoveling techniques is so often overlooked and can really help save the back. Thank you Scott!
Depends on to and from location. If shoveling from a pile on the ground up into a wheelbarrow, start from the top where it's looser and light. If shoveling from a truck bed down into a wheelbarrow, stand on the ground and pull from the base of the pile for maximum movement without leaning over. I admit I've mostly done this with mulch and not gravel, in case that makes a difference.
@@mrshoeguy2477 I agree, I'm a big physically fit guy and have spent much more time shoveling than I ever wanted...if you're on a hard flat surface, transferring various loose material like stone, sand, mulch e.t.c... In my experience sliding her in the bottom is much easier than kicking or stabbing into the top: thereby either standing on the pile, reaching e.t.c...
Thumbs up for making a video about something many people would categorize as trivial, but can actually be used to build a strategic mindset and character 👍🏼
When scooping somehing like sand or concrete with a D handle shovel turn your front hand palm down instead of palm up. This will align your forearm muscles and put much less strain on them. Swing into the concrete and when the shovel is extended in front of you, give the D handle a little flip up and you can shoot the concrete to land on a dime 30 feet away. I was taught this by an immense concrete finisher who went by "TIny" when I was an 18 year old smart alec college kid working on a concrete crew pouring the interstate highway. I don't think TIny had much education, but he taught me that day to never underestimate anyone, they might teach you something. I remember Tiny often, and always with much gratitude and great respect.
Thanks I didn't know that. I nearly wore myself out by being strong enough that form didn't matter. I make sure my kids or anyone I can teach uses good form now. I'll add this to the curriculum :)
Cool. Good to remember the curved fore edge of the shovel acts like a blade, so if you control the angle, you're choosing the pitch at which the shovel enters the material, Example, point your butt (yes, yours) where you want the material to go, then (for a right hander) put your left hand near the bottom of the handle, right hand near the top, then use your right hand as a fixed point and pull your left hand towards the target as the blade enters the material. Now every bit of motion you impart to the material is in the direction you want it to go. Proper use of shovels and brooms is a learned skill, and one of which to be proud.
Here in Japan, a non-D-handled shovel is as rare as hen's teeth. I had to make my own, I got a D-handle shovel, removed the shaft, and made my own handle. I have both a round-nosed shovel with a long handle and a Transfer shovel with a long handle. Every job site I go to the other guys want to know where I got it from and they want one. I do not know why they don't have long-handled shovels here, but they do not. Happy New Year from Tokyo!
I still call a transfer shovel a flat shovel most of the time, because the person I'm asking to go and get it probably doesn't know the right name for anything and I need that shovel now. The flat one! Love your channel! I homeschool and my kids are growing up watching you, learning how to frame and shovel and swing. I've done about everything - carpentry, paint, roofing, tree work, landscaping; I like hand tools and have dug ditches on my farm and excavated for a big egress window at my grandmother's house back in the day. Learning the right way to use tools keeps you using tools, working all day long without wearing out, which is what you need if you're going to be a pro or a father to your kids when you get in from working. p.s. a transfer shovel IS good for digging - if you're stripping the surface. I used them all the time for removing sod. Dig down just past the grass structure and then tip horizontal and kick and you'll be bustin' sod and laying new grass in no time. Cheers!
Just last week, my HVAC tech related a helper he had who didn't know what a phillips head screwdriver was. They settled on the one with the cross tip. Schooling would be a lot more useful if around middle school they had a class that taught basic hand tools use, how to read a tape measure, maybe throw in a little about simple machines. The ambitious programs could even throw in a little Physics and Mechanics.
I heard an old guy once tell a kid on the job that was doing a real poor job of digging. The old guy said “ Fill up the back part of the shovel, the front will take care of it self “. Words of wisdom.
Man it's aggravating when you're trying to move a lot of material (asphalt in my case) and the guy next to you is only filling his shovel up half way each trip 😂. When I'm moving a pile of asphalt by hand the only thing I can think about is getting it over with as fast as possible so I can step away from that heat, other guys take so long it's almost like they love soaking in those fumes and basking in that 300 degree heat
About the only thing I do fast these days is fall asleep, but using the right tool for the job still makes things go faster. May your 2025 be blessed in every way!
An alternative to your "leverage" version of moving materials is this: Rest your forward shovel forearm on your forward knee. Put your rear hand as far back as you can on the shovel handle. This provides a larger lever on a softer pivot point. When I was younger, I would often move 2-5 yards of materials per day from front dump sites to backyards by myself with a wheelbarrow. My record was 13.5 yards of 3/4" crushed rock, loaded, moved, placed and graded out by myself in less than 8 hours. There was no equipment access, and the yard was torn up with trenches and such. Went to work the next day sore, but still back to normal production. Thank you for another great video showing the world that hard work doesn't need to be that hard.
My best day worst day, was placing sand bags, two truck and trailer of sand, 2 teams of shovel and bag man, young kid thats me had to place 75% of all those bags in 8 hours, it was hot, no air, 40 feet long 6 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Maybe I was delusional in the exact measurement but it was pretty darn close to those numbers.
Finally, a topic where I *might* be able to add value! The shorter round point shovels are useful in that sweet spot about 1 1/2-2 ft down, when the longer handle starts getting in the way of the hole your digging. Trenchers are also super useful when digging around infrastructure. The soils that I typically dig through are compacted and full of rocks and roots; I rarely ever reach for a spade. It's full-size round point (and I like those models with the extra plate on the back to keep dirt from gunking up), rock bar, and a short pair of loppers that I first reach for whenever I know I have to dig. And for finer work, I tend to use a small cat's paw to dig. I don't use a pick mattock or jump on my shovel because I don't want to break the very thing I'm trying to repair. Large digs, I'll use a toro dingo. Excavators and backhoes are a bit too powerful, or I'm just a terrible operator. For me with the dingo, I feel I at least have a chance of snagging the pipe before I break it. And yes, I work in irrigation; In my mind everything between 8-24" down is full of pipes, wires and swing joints lol
@sebastianmarquez3014 Irrigation you say? So you’re the one to blame being in my way when I install a subdivision worth of utilities 60” down. The spade is the king of digging.
@@jacobmarley2417 Haha, that's me I guess! It's strange to me how for many the normal online interaction is unnecessarily combative. Everything you say is true, why the need to bring the heat? I mean jobs without as-builts stink for sure.
Man, the cat's paw is just right, never have one on hand. I end up using a small mason trowel usually. Especially working around pipes wires rocks etc.
The first minute and a half of this video is GREAT! I was raised on a vineyard, and there was a ton of shoveling involved during irrigation season. My Dad, who also grew up on a farm, taught me at an early age the trick of using your knee, and it makes all the difference in the world. On the other hand, when I was assigned to a unit in Korea in 1979, the headquarters company had what was known as an entrenching kit, which was merely a large number of pick axes and shovels and accessories. The shovels were exclusively the D-handle variety and were miserable tools for the job at hand. Thanks for the great flashback and for passing a bit of wisdom down to the next generation.
I was that fourteen year old kid put to work by my grandfather, except that I was 12. Later I learned about hand shoveling from a book by an old hippie called Mike Oehler, in his book about underground houses. He would dig into a hillside by hand and make roughly 600 square foot shelters with windows on the downhill side for plenty of light. If you want to move a lot of dirt in a 12ft x 12ft area for example. Start in the back left corner. Put your shovel in all the way. Throw down hill or into wheelbarrow. Repeat this along the back line creating a shovel width trench one shovel deep. Leave the loose dirt. Next start at the left end of the trench and dig along the edge of it, widening it toward the front. Throw what’s on your shovel down hill or into the wheel barrow. Leave the loose dirt. Repeat until you have completed the level one shovel down. Finally remove the loose dirt from this level working front to back. Then dig the next level using the same steps, starting again in a back corner. Get a good rhythm and by Mike Oehler’s recommendation, 3 hours is a good amount of time to spend digging in one day. Its good work and you will sleep well.
I was just about to post a similar method. lol. For me its the twisting of my back that kills me. Getting behind the load and tossing it forward is my go to method.
That $50 underground house would cost a bit more today but not that much. His whole system was hard work and some plastic sheeting. I wore that book out at the library.
Technique is very important when you have lots to shovel in a day. My dad would always get on to me for wasting moves. He grew up on a farm. "Keep your bucket in front of you and plan your next move." When your survival depends on getting the crops harvested, you learn efficiency early. Thanks for the lessons!
There was an efficiency engineer, Taylor I believe, who started as a laborer in a steel mill in Pittsburgh. Members of the crew provided their own shovel. He noticed all of them were different! Some worked better for coal. Some for coke and so on. This was before " hydraulics". He convinced the company to provide shovels for each task. Thus, his career was launched.
The short D-handled spade (round shovel) is what I use for tall-raised garden beds. I could use a long handled shovel, but since it is 3 feet above my standing surface, I found the short D-handle more maneuverable.
I'm reminded of something taught to me at my first job about sweeping with a corn broom. You can move a lot more material (and sweep an area faster) if you hold the broom at an angle and while pushing down, use the flex of the corn bristles to "flick" the dirt to a location instead of pulling it. Also works great when sweeping leaves off of the driveway.
I learned two things about shovels in my life; first from my father in law "always keep your digging edge sharp" and from my septic guy " flat (transfer) shovels are best for digging in dirt, it cuts thru small roots and allows you to dig straight sided trenches or holes, spade shovels work best when digging in soil with rocks" I live in an area that has sandy soil (little clay or rocks) I have adopted his method and it is a game changer for me. Sharp edge is key it cuts into the soil like butter. Cuts cleanly thru sod also. He told me the Navy uses flat shovels the army grunts used spades. He was Navy.
@pmdoit You have much more to learn. Maybe try a source other than a government organization designed to kill people on the battlefield. This isn't WW1 , those guys knew how to use a shovel.
In the UK (from landscaping and horticulture) we tend to use 'spade' to mean a cutting tool (to cut into the ground) with a sharpened edge at the bottom where as shovels are blunt nosed (regardless of shape). Both are generally shorter D or T handled, and certainly growing up, the only tools I saw with long handles were pitch forks. Always amuses me how people in different places have solved the same problems with similar tools in different ways!
Interesting the word spade was never used, even when describing digging. From the UK, I have always thought that the US versions of these tools were a bit "wrong" for digging.
Uk here as well. I would recommend getting a long handle shovel, lidl do them occasionally. The work really well if you have to stack any dirt high and when shifting loose material. I also keep one handy if I have to move a lot of material just for change in position to help with fatigue.
I've always used a Spear and Jackson tapered shovel with metal handle for digging. We used to call the wide one a coal shovel. Useful in other situations as well, such as ripping down ceilings.
Excellent! I’m in my 60s now but my first job was landscaping. Laying sod, hand grading areas with shovels and rakes. Very therapeutic. Second job was in construction, building gas stations, I dug footers for steel columns by hand. 4’x4’ x 6’ deep. Poured and finished concrete slabs too. Had many experiences with shovels. Didn’t know a square shovel was called a transfer shovel. Learned something new! Thank you
Here in the UK long handle ''scoopy things'' are rare. So a lot of us maybe didn't recognize the leverage aspect - so thanks for throwing that in as a bonus for us. Our naming might be a little different too: spades are for digging, and shovels for moving. So to a lot of British builders anything that's not flat fronted is a spade. Or maybe that's just gardeners and that's why everyone laughs at me at work. Thanks for sharing another few minutes of a lifetime of experience. Wishing you all the very best for the New Year, and looking forward to (all) your next video(s). As well as the learning, you always seem to inspire me to work better.
My dad gave me the same lecture in pieces. Especially using your knee as a fulcrum. You need a mattox instead of stomping on your shovel. Ten to twelve hours of that and you'll wreck your foot/ feet. Another great video!
I dig in clay , frozen soil and some of the worst conditions imaginable. No pick ax required, you don’t “Stomp” when using a spade. Use those late night ice cream splurges to my advantage.
Great vid! We bring those short, d-handle shovels on off-road vehicle trips as they’re pretty good at digging out stuck tires in cramped conditions around the vehicle on a trail
The first tool I learned to use and it’s been a constant through sixty years of living, from shoveling alloys into a ladle of liquid steel , sawdust away from a sawmill or digging clams on the beach the right shovel in hand makes easy work of the task.
Working on my knees is some thing I wish I thought of when I was digging lots when I was younger, spent too much time bent over giving my self all sorts of back issues.
New Zealand here, landscape garden and such. Completely agree, I'm only 42, and learned on the farm as a boy some of these tricks, glad to see a seasoned workman still going strong, on the right path here. Core strength, leverage, using skeletal structure instead of muscle,,and a r gular change of physicality, ie, swap tasks if possible,, at least swap sides if not. Ie, left to right handed action. ❤
Another excellent explanation of a key skill! One small tip on technique. If you place your forward hand holding the handle on your knee you can push both the shovel handle and the hand holding the handle forward. This increases your power and accuracy when digging. Learned the trick working on a paving crew moving AC.
Couple years ago I dug an egress windowell for my house all by hand, I had some help here and there. It was honestly a lot of fun, probably because I grew up in Indiana and now live in Eastern Idaho, the dirt here is a dream to dig in, sand loamy soil almost rock free, at least in my yard. We will be doing another one in the next year or two and i am looking forward to that.
A great video breaking down how not to work too hard on a shovel. Thanks! Terry Pratchett was right when in his Discworld novels, two not very bright characters observed a shovel. One says "What's that?" The other replies "It's a shovel. You put that end into the ground. After that, it gets technical."
We used a flat shovel to clean the edges of dug foundations for footers, and use a short d handle round shovel for digging up waterlines near apartments and houses where they usually break near the edge of the home making the shorter d handle more useful.
Great video... Midwest Lake effect snow country here... everyone pushes the large plastic snow shovel...grain shovels(scoops?) move less snow but allow you to not have an exploded back... when the snow is wet and heavy as opposed to dry and light grain scoops are the most I can stand. In all honesty the transfer shovel gets the nos most of the time. In vehicles, the transfer is my friend,it digs hard packed snow that no plastic shovel can touch, even though its slower. A round point is carried in all of my vehicles year round , you may ger a funny look now and then,but a shovel has saved the day more than once.
I ALWAYS mention my experience shoveling gravel in my interviews when I was 10! I do not mention how my dad just gave me the shovel and told me to do it, expecting me to do it right without any guidance. That's what I love about this channel is getting the how and why to what is being done so we can be more efficient and keep ourselves from getting hurt! Also, make sure your wheel barrow tire is properly inflated when using it! My dad threw out his back because he didn't want to stop and get it fixed.
The shovel at 06:00 is similar to the a British Army Pattern 58. They were designed to dig trenches and working in confined areas. They were small enough to be carried on the back.
Reminds me of a story told of my GreatGrandFater on my Father's side. He'd come over from Ireland as a lad, alone, and gotten an apprenticeship job for room / board. After two yrs he struck out on his own, and being Irish, ditch digging was one of the few jobs he could get. Ended up in Kansas City ( not sure if in Ks or Mo side ). He and a couple of Mick's were down in a trench digging in the middle of Winter, -20° F, and the English foreman came by to check on the progress. He told'em they could dig alot faster if they took off their coat, haha. Well, my GGF came outta that ditch, took off his coat and punched the foreman silly. Put on his coat and went looking for another job . . . ☆
Damm, I was not expecting that ending.😅 I thought it would've somewhere along the lines of he started a successful career as a ditch digger. The foreman did have the right idea of taking off your coat and as you shovel faster and efficiently, your body creates its own heat, but in -20°F, that's going on the extreme a bit even for someone who lives in the northeastern US, imo.
Great video. Happy New Year. 40 years ago I was 17. On a blistering hot day my boss told me and a 27 to dig a trench in rock hard ground. The moment the boss left the dope head broke his shovel and disappeared in his truck to get another shovel. I dug the entire trench and never complained. The lesson I learned has served me well. The lesson: How to judge trustworthy people.
BRAVO ! My first real job (off the farm) was Grounds for a very large Hospital. My boss came from a landscaping background and this was the first thing I learned on my first day. I showed it later to my dad and everyone else that would listen in the last 50 years.
Great video Scott, reminds me of my dear Dad teaching me how to dig most efficiently. Living on a farm with drainage issues and poor field roads, we did a lot of shoveling. Funny thing when I went to volunteer at a "Habitat for Humanity" project, my first job was to spread a load of gravel, so I attacked it like normal. The other volunteers stood back and accused me of 'showing off'! I went from farming to the septic and sewer business and always appreciated a good shovel, surprised you didn't have a 14'' tile spade. That spade is great for tight soils and roots. Happy New Year!
Heres a little tip for shovelling in wet clay, which sticks to the shovel blade: drill holes all over it and it will relieve the surface tension and allow the clay to come off of the shovel easier. My buddy got 50k from sears for that little idea. It works!
Who knew there was so much to learn about shoveling?!? That was totally awesome--even though I haven't been a 14 year old boy for some time now! Thank-you for this vid.
No mention of the really fun digging tool. The shovel’s evil cousin, the pick/axe. Wanna get warmed up quick on a chilly morning? Go a couple rounds with Mr. Pick/axe and watch the layers start peeling off.
Great video! You have taught me something new once again. I hope you and everyone who helps you make these videos realize the good y'all are doing for you're fellow man (and woman). Not just through instruction but the occasional tips to help calibrate one's moral compass. I hope y'all continue to keep up the good work and reap the just deserved rewards. I can't imagine the education one could have just by working alongside you for one project. My 2¢ - If I'm digging by hand, regardless of which shovel or posthole digger I deem best for the task, I always grab my 69" solid steel posthole digging bar with a chisel on one end and a tamp on the other. Around here you're always going to to hit roots or rocks and that bar will bust right through them, often just by dropping it chisel end down on to the obstacle. It weighs 17 lbs so it doesn't take much added effort to bust through whatever is in the way. And it gets you back to actually digging much quicker than whacking at it with just a shovel.
I've been watching you for about 5 years now. And in this video you mentioned the name of a man i recognized through my wife's family. So I asked her if she recognized you or your name, and it turns out you lived on the street she grew up on back in the 90s. Such a small world, and cool connection, and I never knew until today. I enjoy your content and your stories, take care.
The D-Handle shovel is great for being able to have a full sized shovel blade and store it in confined spaces. The military has or had them in their "Pioneering" gear sets. Much better than just having an entrenching tool to use. I personally have one, too.
Nice video. To the casual observer this may seem like a totally mundane subject, however anyone who has had to be on site with someone who doesn't know how to use a shovel will be watching with rapt attention. One of my go-to techniques for bulk material movement is a bit different but I find it quite effective and not overly taxing. I favor a paddling motion, facing toward the pile, with a reverse grip, skimming material off the top or face and firing it out behind me. Obviously this works best when backfilling or spreading rather than filling a wheelbarrow.
Same. Keep your hand down to the bottom of the stick. Switch hands/sides/ to keep the whole body working and everything balanced so you aren't bent up after work.
Excellent presentation and advice for children. I am 80 and it took me awhile to learn these things about shoveling. You should do one on snow shoveling, which is a different animal. I still can shovel snow without killing my back, "speed shoveling" in a slightly different way, more like a golf swing. To paraphrase, " shovel smarter, not harder". Thanks again!
Thank you so much for all you do. These tips are so important especially for our young men. We are almost cursed with strength while we are inexperienced. I'm grateful that my body has been so kind to me when I have not returned the favor much :)
I've used shovels for this, that, and the other for 25 or so years. I learned a lot watching this video which goes to show you can always learn something new even about something commonplace. Maybe now I'll have a spine when I'm 60. Many thanks, EC.
Here in Germany, we dig mostly with spades, they are fairly straight at the tip, but Farley heavy gauge and sharpened. The wide flat front shovel you call a transfer shovel we often call a coal shovel.
With a long handle shovel and an army trenching tool set at 90 degrees I have been able to move about 7 tons of dirt on my retaining wall project. You can do a lot with such tools. Great video.
A short handle shovel was the inspiration for me becoming a policeman. We still had to shovel a lot of "stuff" but it was different kinds of stuff, with a different kind of shovel. Best channel on you tube. Bless you sir.
I use my D-handles spade shovel for moving pine samplings. Only need to dig the ball the depth of the blade at most, and the D gives me great control to keep undercutting straight and to balance the ball/tree during transfer. No way you can transfer one with a long handled spade because it will roll & fall as you carry. Short handle keeps both ends in close while carrying to save my back. I keep one on the tractor when I’m in the woods moving logs because I want to save all pines. Works great. I imagine they are great for gardens as well. Thank you for another great video. Stay blessed and I wish everyone a great new Year!
I keep a D handle round nose under the back seat in my truck in case I ever get stuck anywhere. You only get stuck in the snow once to learn its a good idea to have one.
GREAT Job. Ive tried to train several young men in the proper selection and use of basic hand tools, as well as trade skills. The last guy told me I should start a ytube chan. Glad you are out there so I dont have to.
D handled short spade style shovels work the best for mixing concrete by hand in a wheelbarrow. As a 30 year fence installer I’ve had time to try them all. Great knowledgeable videos on this channel. Thanks for putting the time and effort into making them.
Hey this is great. I suffer from chronic back pain, and the thought of shoveling anything makes me sweat-I'll remember this if it ever comes down to it, and my back will thank you. ❤
Fantastic tip! Ive heard and had good use with using a mattock for starting the hole or breaking up the hard material before switching back to the shovel to move it
ive been a follower for more than 5 years easy, and i still love the videos as the first video i saw with you in it, here in México ppl cant think is possible to have a house made out of wood and thanks to you i not only can tell them it is true, i also have an idea of how they are made and show practical videos from your channel, i love the most this kind of videos that you kinda go off topic, thanks for all the info you have shared with us, and thanks to youtube to make it possible,
After taking a gander at these comments I think you could absolutely make an in depth video (if not series!) about digging techniques, materials, stone sizes, soil grades, tools used, etc. There are a whole lot of people who haven't spent nearly enough time on a shovel to share their "wisdom." I think it would surprise many of your viewers to learn how intricate something as simple as shoveling can be.
My favorite digging tool is a post hole digging bar, a long heavy black iron bar with a wedge at one end, you pound into the ground, wedge back and forth a little, then pound it in again, loosening the dirt. Periodically, use any shovel to easily remove the dirt. Absolute fastest way to dig a hole w/o electricity.
I learned early in life that working a shovel might be the hardest job out there. We would all do good to mentor a youngin’ to “raise a blister” now and again. I learned a new tip today. Thank you!
My brother who had been a helper on house construction sites as a late teenager in the early '70s and a master carpenter after college in the late '70s taught me decades later how to work down a pile of loose material. I had some leftover dirt I was using for a project when he was up. Tendency is to walk in and dig in the deeper slope. He showed me to work the pile flat from the edge then as you moved in, you didn't pack the material. And bonus, when it was used up, the site was already mostly flat. Of course, I learned it with the harassment typical of a brother 8 years older than you. That made me realize some of the old efficiencies used on sites before equipment was common are being lost. Now when I use a pile, I end up with a flat instead of a crater.
That Shire Shovel comes in handy for digging out clay sewer pipe in a crawl space. Laying on your belly, questioning your life decisions - that shovel, plus a couple old garden spades, come in pretty handy.
I love this video. The modified shovel you called a spade, the owner of the first company I worked for called that shovel a “sharpshooter”. I picked up all sorts of weird names for tools from Mike. Merry Christmas to the EC family.
Thanks for sharing this technique to maximize leverage. I’m gonna give it a try, especially when I need to backfill my next culvert pipe. Anything I can do to save my back while getting the job done faster is worth a try. Thanks too for explaining the various shovels and their specific uses. I intend to use this as evidence when justifying to my spouse why I own at least 5 different types of shovels….
Good techniques and "hacks" thanks! I like the leg support trick. Might have to break out a long-handle transfer shovel when in the US to try that. And there are definitely good techniques with a D-handle that you might be missing. I actually enjoy shoveling when things aren't too crazy. I have done my share, still do at 68. You learn to be efficient and use sustainable movements, engage your stronger muscle sets, spread the load, change up sides etc. I get my own work done promptly when I want, and don't need to pay a gym membership! Having worked and built in the US and Mexico, we can learn a lot from the Mexican crews. Most have never used a spade. They use only D-handle flat shovels for construction and then sometimes, for site work you'll also see a long handle small flat nose used for farming called a Koa. The Koa can dig a ditch as well as weed, turn soil etc. I guess it's their spade, but small and square not pointy and big. For actually breaking ground, a digging the bar is the tool, with a point on one end and small clay spade on the other. Works well. Throw the weight of the tool sinking it in, then lever off a flake. Steel doesn't break levering like wood handles. Then the flat shovel transfers the loosened material. Often two guys working. The scenario you have of moving mud is rare where I've lived but yep, a spade seems best when material is moist and not too dense. Sod. Whereas caliche (most places) or worse wants a digging bar.
In the UK we mostly use square-ish spades for digging and square shovels for shovelling, both with D handles, along with all the various specialist spades and shovels of course. I've used a long handled square shovel in the past and absolutely loved it but have yet to buy one myself, but I did recently buy a D handled large square grain shovel which massively increases the quantity of most materials I can shift per movement... while my body lasts, that is!
You are the father and grandfather that EVERYONE wants. Thanks, man. You're the best!
Only thing I would add is the importance of starting at the top of the material pile when transferring. Instead I always see helpers start by trying to jam their blade into the middle or bottom of the pile thinking they’ll get a bigger scoop and wearing themselves out. So glad you made this video because shoveling techniques is so often overlooked and can really help save the back. Thank you Scott!
Yep, it's a marathon not a race!
That's ridiculous. If the stuff is on a flat surface that creates a natural place for a flat shovel to go. The top is also farther away.
Depends on to and from location. If shoveling from a pile on the ground up into a wheelbarrow, start from the top where it's looser and light. If shoveling from a truck bed down into a wheelbarrow, stand on the ground and pull from the base of the pile for maximum movement without leaning over.
I admit I've mostly done this with mulch and not gravel, in case that makes a difference.
@@mrshoeguy2477
I agree, I'm a big physically fit guy and have spent much more time shoveling than I ever wanted...if you're on a hard flat surface, transferring various loose material like stone, sand, mulch e.t.c...
In my experience sliding her in the bottom is much easier than kicking or stabbing into the top: thereby either standing on the pile, reaching e.t.c...
I go first for where it's easy to reach. I also switch tthings up to prevent fatigue.
Thumbs up for making a video about something many people would categorize as trivial, but can actually be used to build a strategic mindset and character 👍🏼
So true. Too few people realize that.
When scooping somehing like sand or concrete with a D handle shovel turn your front hand palm down instead of palm up. This will align your forearm muscles and put much less strain on them. Swing into the concrete and when the shovel is extended in front of you, give the D handle a little flip up and you can shoot the concrete to land on a dime 30 feet away. I was taught this by an immense concrete finisher who went by "TIny" when I was an 18 year old smart alec college kid working on a concrete crew pouring the interstate highway. I don't think TIny had much education, but he taught me that day to never underestimate anyone, they might teach you something. I remember Tiny often, and always with much gratitude and great respect.
The video originator does not give the D handled shovel enough credit .
A pity really.
Thanks I didn't know that. I nearly wore myself out by being strong enough that form didn't matter. I make sure my kids or anyone I can teach uses good form now. I'll add this to the curriculum :)
Cool. Good to remember the curved fore edge of the shovel acts like a blade, so if you control the angle, you're choosing the pitch at which the shovel enters the material, Example, point your butt (yes, yours) where you want the material to go, then (for a right hander) put your left hand near the bottom of the handle, right hand near the top, then use your right hand as a fixed point and pull your left hand towards the target as the blade enters the material. Now every bit of motion you impart to the material is in the direction you want it to go. Proper use of shovels and brooms is a learned skill, and one of which to be proud.
You can always learn from someone, even if they’re a bad teacher. Certainly words to live by.
every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him,
Here in Japan, a non-D-handled shovel is as rare as hen's teeth.
I had to make my own, I got a D-handle shovel, removed the shaft, and made my own handle. I have both a round-nosed shovel with a long handle and a Transfer shovel with a long handle.
Every job site I go to the other guys want to know where I got it from and they want one. I do not know why they don't have long-handled shovels here, but they do not.
Happy New Year from Tokyo!
Because their people are short?
Happy New Year from Australia 🦘🌏
🎉✌🏼
Feels like you might have stumbled on a nice business opportunity created by a gap in the market.
Who knows?
@@ronfox5519 Video says D handles are good for confined spaces and straight is good for leverage, whether you're tall or not. You racist
I have seen the long handle versions at the "Homes" store and also at Nafco. Depends where in Japan you are maybe. I have lived both south and north
I still call a transfer shovel a flat shovel most of the time, because the person I'm asking to go and get it probably doesn't know the right name for anything and I need that shovel now. The flat one!
Love your channel! I homeschool and my kids are growing up watching you, learning how to frame and shovel and swing.
I've done about everything - carpentry, paint, roofing, tree work, landscaping; I like hand tools and have dug ditches on my farm and excavated for a big egress window at my grandmother's house back in the day. Learning the right way to use tools keeps you using tools, working all day long without wearing out, which is what you need if you're going to be a pro or a father to your kids when you get in from working.
p.s. a transfer shovel IS good for digging - if you're stripping the surface. I used them all the time for removing sod. Dig down just past the grass structure and then tip horizontal and kick and you'll be bustin' sod and laying new grass in no time.
Cheers!
Just last week, my HVAC tech related a helper he had who didn't know what a phillips head screwdriver was. They settled on the one with the cross tip.
Schooling would be a lot more useful if around middle school they had a class that taught basic hand tools use, how to read a tape measure, maybe throw in a little about simple machines. The ambitious programs could even throw in a little Physics and Mechanics.
I heard an old guy once tell a kid on the job that was doing a real poor job of digging. The old guy said “ Fill up the back part of the shovel, the front will take care of it self “. Words of wisdom.
opposite strategy for filling a wheelbarrow. use the wheel to carry the weight instead of your arms/shoulders/back
I’d add when digging a hole, dig towards your hole instead of away.
@@140ex5 If your using a backhoe
Its a joke, not advice 😂
Man it's aggravating when you're trying to move a lot of material (asphalt in my case) and the guy next to you is only filling his shovel up half way each trip 😂. When I'm moving a pile of asphalt by hand the only thing I can think about is getting it over with as fast as possible so I can step away from that heat, other guys take so long it's almost like they love soaking in those fumes and basking in that 300 degree heat
About the only thing I do fast these days is fall asleep, but using the right tool for the job still makes things go faster. May your 2025 be blessed in every way!
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
While I watch the neighbor kid shovel the gravel. Work doesn't bother me a bit, I can sit and watch it all day long😀😀.
An alternative to your "leverage" version of moving materials is this: Rest your forward shovel forearm on your forward knee. Put your rear hand as far back as you can on the shovel handle. This provides a larger lever on a softer pivot point. When I was younger, I would often move 2-5 yards of materials per day from front dump sites to backyards by myself with a wheelbarrow. My record was 13.5 yards of 3/4" crushed rock, loaded, moved, placed and graded out by myself in less than 8 hours. There was no equipment access, and the yard was torn up with trenches and such. Went to work the next day sore, but still back to normal production. Thank you for another great video showing the world that hard work doesn't need to be that hard.
There's a children's nursery rhyme with this exact instruction:
"Hand, forearm, knees and toes, knees and toes...".
My best day worst day, was placing sand bags, two truck and trailer of sand, 2 teams of shovel and bag man, young kid thats me had to place 75% of all those bags in 8 hours, it was hot, no air, 40 feet long 6 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Maybe I was delusional in the exact measurement but it was pretty darn close to those numbers.
I’m going to be a devil’s advocate, I’m not afraid of hard work I can watch you all day.
This! People don’t realize how much of a game changer leverage is when shoveling!
I taught my 5'2" daughter, proud first-time homeowner, the importance of different shovel types. Now I'll share your video as a refresher.
Finally, a topic where I *might* be able to add value! The shorter round point shovels are useful in that sweet spot about 1 1/2-2 ft down, when the longer handle starts getting in the way of the hole your digging. Trenchers are also super useful when digging around infrastructure. The soils that I typically dig through are compacted and full of rocks and roots; I rarely ever reach for a spade. It's full-size round point (and I like those models with the extra plate on the back to keep dirt from gunking up), rock bar, and a short pair of loppers that I first reach for whenever I know I have to dig. And for finer work, I tend to use a small cat's paw to dig. I don't use a pick mattock or jump on my shovel because I don't want to break the very thing I'm trying to repair. Large digs, I'll use a toro dingo. Excavators and backhoes are a bit too powerful, or I'm just a terrible operator. For me with the dingo, I feel I at least have a chance of snagging the pipe before I break it. And yes, I work in irrigation; In my mind everything between 8-24" down is full of pipes, wires and swing joints lol
@sebastianmarquez3014
Irrigation you say? So you’re the one to blame being in my way when I install a subdivision worth of utilities 60” down.
The spade is the king of digging.
@@jacobmarley2417 Haha, that's me I guess! It's strange to me how for many the normal online interaction is unnecessarily combative. Everything you say is true, why the need to bring the heat? I mean jobs without as-builts stink for sure.
Man, the cat's paw is just right, never have one on hand. I end up using a small mason trowel usually. Especially working around pipes wires rocks etc.
The first minute and a half of this video is GREAT! I was raised on a vineyard, and there was a ton of shoveling involved during irrigation season. My Dad, who also grew up on a farm, taught me at an early age the trick of using your knee, and it makes all the difference in the world.
On the other hand, when I was assigned to a unit in Korea in 1979, the headquarters company had what was known as an entrenching kit, which was merely a large number of pick axes and shovels and accessories. The shovels were exclusively the D-handle variety and were miserable tools for the job at hand.
Thanks for the great flashback and for passing a bit of wisdom down to the next generation.
I was that fourteen year old kid put to work by my grandfather, except that I was 12. Later I learned about hand shoveling from a book by an old hippie called Mike Oehler, in his book about underground houses. He would dig into a hillside by hand and make roughly 600 square foot shelters with windows on the downhill side for plenty of light.
If you want to move a lot of dirt in a 12ft x 12ft area for example. Start in the back left corner. Put your shovel in all the way. Throw down hill or into wheelbarrow. Repeat this along the back line creating a shovel width trench one shovel deep. Leave the loose dirt. Next start at the left end of the trench and dig along the edge of it, widening it toward the front. Throw what’s on your shovel down hill or into the wheel barrow. Leave the loose dirt. Repeat until you have completed the level one shovel down. Finally remove the loose dirt from this level working front to back. Then dig the next level using the same steps, starting again in a back corner. Get a good rhythm and by Mike Oehler’s recommendation, 3 hours is a good amount of time to spend digging in one day.
Its good work and you will sleep well.
I was just about to post a similar method. lol. For me its the twisting of my back that kills me. Getting behind the load and tossing it forward is my go to method.
That $50 underground house would cost a bit more today but not that much. His whole system was hard work and some plastic sheeting. I wore that book out at the library.
Technique is very important when you have lots to shovel in a day. My dad would always get on to me for wasting moves. He grew up on a farm. "Keep your bucket in front of you and plan your next move." When your survival depends on getting the crops harvested, you learn efficiency early. Thanks for the lessons!
There was an efficiency engineer, Taylor I believe, who started as a laborer in a steel mill in Pittsburgh. Members of the crew provided their own shovel. He noticed all of them were different! Some worked better for coal. Some for coke and so on. This was before " hydraulics". He convinced the company to provide shovels for each task. Thus, his career was launched.
Did he witness the foreman shovel, or commonly referred to as a trenching shovel.
The short D-handled spade (round shovel) is what I use for tall-raised garden beds. I could use a long handled shovel, but since it is 3 feet above my standing surface, I found the short D-handle more maneuverable.
I'm reminded of something taught to me at my first job about sweeping with a corn broom. You can move a lot more material (and sweep an area faster) if you hold the broom at an angle and while pushing down, use the flex of the corn bristles to "flick" the dirt to a location instead of pulling it. Also works great when sweeping leaves off of the driveway.
Finally, I am a certified shovel operator. 😂
dont do it!!!!!!
I learned two things about shovels in my life; first from my father in law "always keep your digging edge sharp" and from my septic guy " flat (transfer) shovels are best for digging in dirt, it cuts thru small roots and allows you to dig straight sided trenches or holes, spade shovels work best when digging in soil with rocks" I live in an area that has sandy soil (little clay or rocks) I have adopted his method and it is a game changer for me. Sharp edge is key it cuts into the soil like butter. Cuts cleanly thru sod also. He told me the Navy uses flat shovels the army grunts used spades. He was Navy.
Yup, a flap disc can really do wonders for your spade.
Flat shovels move water better for the navy.
@@perrymaxwell4488 not wrong ;)
@pmdoit
You have much more to learn.
Maybe try a source other than a government organization designed to kill people on the battlefield.
This isn't WW1 , those guys knew how to use a shovel.
In the UK (from landscaping and horticulture) we tend to use 'spade' to mean a cutting tool (to cut into the ground) with a sharpened edge at the bottom where as shovels are blunt nosed (regardless of shape). Both are generally shorter D or T handled, and certainly growing up, the only tools I saw with long handles were pitch forks. Always amuses me how people in different places have solved the same problems with similar tools in different ways!
Interesting the word spade was never used, even when describing digging. From the UK, I have always thought that the US versions of these tools were a bit "wrong" for digging.
Uk here as well. I would recommend getting a long handle shovel, lidl do them occasionally. The work really well if you have to stack any dirt high and when shifting loose material. I also keep one handy if I have to move a lot of material just for change in position to help with fatigue.
I've always used a Spear and Jackson tapered shovel with metal handle for digging. We used to call the wide one a coal shovel. Useful in other situations as well, such as ripping down ceilings.
Excellent! I’m in my 60s now but my first job was landscaping. Laying sod, hand grading areas with shovels and rakes. Very therapeutic. Second job was in construction, building gas stations, I dug footers for steel columns by hand. 4’x4’ x 6’ deep. Poured and finished concrete slabs too. Had many experiences with shovels. Didn’t know a square shovel was called a transfer shovel. Learned something new! Thank you
Here in the UK long handle ''scoopy things'' are rare. So a lot of us maybe didn't recognize the leverage aspect - so thanks for throwing that in as a bonus for us.
Our naming might be a little different too: spades are for digging, and shovels for moving. So to a lot of British builders anything that's not flat fronted is a spade. Or maybe that's just gardeners and that's why everyone laughs at me at work.
Thanks for sharing another few minutes of a lifetime of experience. Wishing you all the very best for the New Year, and looking forward to (all) your next video(s). As well as the learning, you always seem to inspire me to work better.
the hardest thing is when the line up the spades and shovels, then say "take your pick"
My dad gave me the same lecture in pieces. Especially using your knee as a fulcrum. You need a mattox instead of stomping on your shovel. Ten to twelve hours of that and you'll wreck your foot/ feet.
Another great video!
I dig in clay , frozen soil and some of the worst conditions imaginable.
No pick ax required, you don’t “Stomp” when using a spade. Use those late night ice cream splurges to my advantage.
@@jacobmarley2417I'm a bit confused when you wrote "use those late night ice cream splurges to my advantage". Could you clarify?
Great vid! We bring those short, d-handle shovels on off-road vehicle trips as they’re pretty good at digging out stuck tires in cramped conditions around the vehicle on a trail
The first tool I learned to use and it’s been a constant through sixty years of living, from shoveling alloys into a ladle of liquid steel , sawdust away from a sawmill or digging clams on the beach the right shovel in hand makes easy work of the task.
I use those shorter shovels when i'm working on my knees digging. Installing landscaping bricks, cleaning along a foundation in a trench etc..
When I was laying pipe in a trench. It was all d handled "banjos". We made them sing! Great video
Yes landscapers always have a short D handle for knee work
Working on my knees is some thing I wish I thought of when I was digging lots when I was younger, spent too much time bent over giving my self all sorts of back issues.
New Zealand here, landscape garden and such. Completely agree, I'm only 42, and learned on the farm as a boy some of these tricks, glad to see a seasoned workman still going strong, on the right path here. Core strength, leverage, using skeletal structure instead of muscle,,and a r gular change of physicality, ie, swap tasks if possible,, at least swap sides if not. Ie, left to right handed action. ❤
Another excellent explanation of a key skill! One small tip on technique. If you place your forward hand holding the handle on
your knee you can push both the shovel handle and the hand holding the handle forward. This increases your power and accuracy when digging. Learned the trick working on a paving crew moving AC.
Couple years ago I dug an egress windowell for my house all by hand, I had some help here and there. It was honestly a lot of fun, probably because I grew up in Indiana and now live in Eastern Idaho, the dirt here is a dream to dig in, sand loamy soil almost rock free, at least in my yard. We will be doing another one in the next year or two and i am looking forward to that.
A great video breaking down how not to work too hard on a shovel. Thanks!
Terry Pratchett was right when in his Discworld novels, two not very bright characters observed a shovel. One says "What's that?" The other replies "It's a shovel. You put that end into the ground. After that, it gets technical."
We used a flat shovel to clean the edges of dug foundations for footers, and use a short d handle round shovel for digging up waterlines near apartments and houses where they usually break near the edge of the home making the shorter d handle more useful.
Great video... Midwest Lake effect snow country here... everyone pushes the large plastic snow shovel...grain shovels(scoops?) move less snow but allow you to not have an exploded back... when the snow is wet and heavy as opposed to dry and light grain scoops are the most I can stand. In all honesty the transfer shovel gets the nos most of the time. In vehicles, the transfer is my friend,it digs hard packed snow that no plastic shovel can touch, even though its slower. A round point is carried in all of my vehicles year round , you may ger a funny look now and then,but a shovel has saved the day more than once.
I ALWAYS mention my experience shoveling gravel in my interviews when I was 10! I do not mention how my dad just gave me the shovel and told me to do it, expecting me to do it right without any guidance. That's what I love about this channel is getting the how and why to what is being done so we can be more efficient and keep ourselves from getting hurt!
Also, make sure your wheel barrow tire is properly inflated when using it! My dad threw out his back because he didn't want to stop and get it fixed.
The shovel at 06:00 is similar to the a British Army Pattern 58. They were designed to dig trenches and working in confined areas. They were small enough to be carried on the back.
Reminds me of a story told of my GreatGrandFater on my Father's side. He'd come over from Ireland as a lad, alone, and gotten an apprenticeship job for room / board. After two yrs he struck out on his own, and being Irish, ditch digging was one of the few jobs he could get. Ended up in Kansas City ( not sure if in Ks or Mo side ). He and a couple of Mick's were down in a trench digging in the middle of Winter, -20° F, and the English foreman came by to check on the progress. He told'em they could dig alot faster if they took off their coat, haha. Well, my GGF came outta that ditch, took off his coat and punched the foreman silly. Put on his coat and went looking for another job . . . ☆
Damm, I was not expecting that ending.😅 I thought it would've somewhere along the lines of he started a successful career as a ditch digger. The foreman did have the right idea of taking off your coat and as you shovel faster and efficiently, your body creates its own heat, but in -20°F, that's going on the extreme a bit even for someone who lives in the northeastern US, imo.
Great video. Happy New Year. 40 years ago I was 17. On a blistering hot day my boss told me and a 27 to dig a trench in rock hard ground. The moment the boss left the dope head broke his shovel and disappeared in his truck to get another shovel. I dug the entire trench and never complained. The lesson I learned has served me well. The lesson: How to judge trustworthy people.
BRAVO ! My first real job (off the farm) was Grounds for a very large Hospital. My boss came from a landscaping background and this was the first thing I learned on my first day. I showed it later to my dad and everyone else that would listen in the last 50 years.
0:56 I have been 30 + years behind a shovel and this man is correct, using the knee when possible is the best.
Good Wisdom!!!
It amazes me how little people know at times about, "work smarter not harder". Keep up the Good work!!!
Great video Scott, reminds me of my dear Dad teaching me how to dig most efficiently. Living on a farm with drainage issues and poor field roads, we did a lot of shoveling. Funny thing when I went to volunteer at a "Habitat for Humanity" project, my first job was to spread a load of gravel, so I attacked it like normal. The other volunteers stood back and accused me of 'showing off'! I went from farming to the septic and sewer business and always appreciated a good shovel, surprised you didn't have a 14'' tile spade. That spade is great for tight soils and roots. Happy New Year!
Heres a little tip for shovelling in wet clay, which sticks to the shovel blade: drill holes all over it and it will relieve the surface tension and allow the clay to come off of the shovel easier. My buddy got 50k from sears for that little idea. It works!
Who knew there was so much to learn about shoveling?!? That was totally awesome--even though I haven't been a 14 year old boy for some time now! Thank-you for this vid.
Brings back memories of working for my Dad digging trenches for water and gas lines. This was a big motivator to complete collage.
No mention of the really fun digging tool. The shovel’s evil cousin, the pick/axe. Wanna get warmed up quick on a chilly morning? Go a couple rounds with Mr. Pick/axe and watch the layers start peeling off.
efficiency of motion during work is something I have been obsessed with since I was a child, thank you for this video!
Great video! You have taught me something new once again. I hope you and everyone who helps you make these videos realize the good y'all are doing for you're fellow man (and woman). Not just through instruction but the occasional tips to help calibrate one's moral compass. I hope y'all continue to keep up the good work and reap the just deserved rewards. I can't imagine the education one could have just by working alongside you for one project.
My 2¢ - If I'm digging by hand, regardless of which shovel or posthole digger I deem best for the task, I always grab my 69" solid steel posthole digging bar with a chisel on one end and a tamp on the other. Around here you're always going to to hit roots or rocks and that bar will bust right through them, often just by dropping it chisel end down on to the obstacle. It weighs 17 lbs so it doesn't take much added effort to bust through whatever is in the way. And it gets you back to actually digging much quicker than whacking at it with just a shovel.
I've been watching you for about 5 years now. And in this video you mentioned the name of a man i recognized through my wife's family. So I asked her if she recognized you or your name, and it turns out you lived on the street she grew up on back in the 90s. Such a small world, and cool connection, and I never knew until today.
I enjoy your content and your stories, take care.
Every man( and person) needs a mentor like you.
The D-Handle shovel is great for being able to have a full sized shovel blade and store it in confined spaces. The military has or had them in their "Pioneering" gear sets. Much better than just having an entrenching tool to use. I personally have one, too.
Nice video.
To the casual observer this may seem like a totally mundane subject, however anyone who has had to be on site with someone who doesn't know how to use a shovel will be watching with rapt attention.
One of my go-to techniques for bulk material movement is a bit different but I find it quite effective and not overly taxing. I favor a paddling motion, facing toward the pile, with a reverse grip, skimming material off the top or face and firing it out behind me. Obviously this works best when backfilling or spreading rather than filling a wheelbarrow.
For sure. Get into a nice swinging rhythm. The best technique if the situation is suitable.
word of the day: rapt
yes, using your low arm as the fulcrum and top arm as the piston. can sling some material like that
Same. Keep your hand down to the bottom of the stick. Switch hands/sides/ to keep the whole body working and everything balanced so you aren't bent up after work.
I had expected exactly this to be the "Speed shovel trick". Not precise, but it absolutely moves the pile in a hurry.
Excellent presentation and advice for children. I am 80 and it took me awhile to learn these things about shoveling. You should do one on snow shoveling, which is a different animal.
I still can shovel snow without killing my back, "speed shoveling" in a slightly different way,
more like a golf swing. To paraphrase, " shovel smarter, not harder". Thanks again!
Fantastic. Raising blisters is how our grandfather measured our shovel work. Thank you for the great words.
I didn’t know I needed this knowledge but in the case I ever do, I’m glad that I had an excellent teacher. Thank you!
You make me a proud to be a tradesman. I appreciate your positivity. Who else could make shoveling look like so much fun!
Thank you so much for all you do. These tips are so important especially for our young men. We are almost cursed with strength while we are inexperienced. I'm grateful that my body has been so kind to me when I have not returned the favor much :)
I've used shovels for this, that, and the other for 25 or so years. I learned a lot watching this video which goes to show you can always learn something new even about something commonplace. Maybe now I'll have a spine when I'm 60. Many thanks, EC.
Very glad I watched this! As a not so young man anymore, the fulcrum trick is going to be a game changer. Thank you
An excellent tutorial from a Gentleman who's obviously done a fair amount shoveling in his time. Hats off to you sir!
Here in Germany, we dig mostly with spades, they are fairly straight at the tip, but Farley heavy gauge and sharpened. The wide flat front shovel you call a transfer shovel we often call a coal shovel.
I wish our spade shovels had less angle to them.
@@ronfox5519Modify it?🤷♂️
@trickyricky12147
Probably doable, but I don't think I will ever get that far down my too doo list.
@ronfox5519 Yeah, it happens. But hey if you ever get to it, there's nothing an angle grinder and a death wheel can't do!💀
With a long handle shovel and an army trenching tool set at 90 degrees I have been able to move about 7 tons of dirt on my retaining wall project. You can do a lot with such tools. Great video.
I love your videos. Thankyou for showing me (among other things) how to shovel and how to store an electrical cord.
You always give me a new and interesting way to do even the most basic work more efficiently.
Only from you would I watch video about shoveling and enjoy!....thanks for the good work Mzee.
A short handle shovel was the inspiration for me becoming a policeman. We still had to shovel a lot of "stuff" but it was different kinds of stuff, with a different kind of shovel. Best channel on you tube. Bless you sir.
Scott, you are the man!! Big Lord of the Rings fan here. It was great to hear you reference it!
A MINE!!
@peptobismol2921 Gimli?
@@bobmanns3623 Yes, haha
@@peptobismol2921 do I "have your axe?"
@@bobmanns3623 Aye, I can do that
I use my D-handles spade shovel for moving pine samplings. Only need to dig the ball the depth of the blade at most, and the D gives me great control to keep undercutting straight and to balance the ball/tree during transfer. No way you can transfer one with a long handled spade because it will roll & fall as you carry. Short handle keeps both ends in close while carrying to save my back. I keep one on the tractor when I’m in the woods moving logs because I want to save all pines. Works great. I imagine they are great for gardens as well. Thank you for another great video. Stay blessed and I wish everyone a great new Year!
I keep a D handle round nose under the back seat in my truck in case I ever get stuck anywhere. You only get stuck in the snow once to learn its a good idea to have one.
Used a D handle round nose today while repairing a 6" teracotta drain pipe four feet in the ground. God bless you and may you have a happy New Year!
GREAT Job.
Ive tried to train several young men in the proper selection and use of basic hand tools, as well as trade skills.
The last guy told me I should start a ytube chan. Glad you are out there so I dont have to.
D handled short spade style shovels work the best for mixing concrete by hand in a wheelbarrow. As a 30 year fence installer I’ve had time to try them all.
Great knowledgeable videos on this channel. Thanks for putting the time and effort into making them.
This channel is SOLID GOLD.
Hey this is great. I suffer from chronic back pain, and the thought of shoveling anything makes me sweat-I'll remember this if it ever comes down to it, and my back will thank you. ❤
Fantastic tip! Ive heard and had good use with using a mattock for starting the hole or breaking up the hard material before switching back to the shovel to move it
ive been a follower for more than 5 years easy, and i still love the videos as the first video i saw with you in it, here in México ppl cant think is possible to have a house made out of wood and thanks to you i not only can tell them it is true, i also have an idea of how they are made and show practical videos from your channel, i love the most this kind of videos that you kinda go off topic, thanks for all the info you have shared with us, and thanks to youtube to make it possible,
This dude's the GOAT
Never knew there was so much to know about shovels, it was a watch worth while and will try to pass this knowledge on :)
Holstein sand shovel is the best “ transfer” shovel I’ve come across . The handle has a particularly shape to it as well.
Great advice thank you. This type of video will serve many for many many years.
After taking a gander at these comments I think you could absolutely make an in depth video (if not series!) about digging techniques, materials, stone sizes, soil grades, tools used, etc.
There are a whole lot of people who haven't spent nearly enough time on a shovel to share their "wisdom."
I think it would surprise many of your viewers to learn how intricate something as simple as shoveling can be.
Love this. As an ol' lady, I need help to avoid back damage. Mr. Sweetie watched with great interest. I will try hard not to tell him how to shovel...
My favorite digging tool is a post hole digging bar, a long heavy black iron bar with a wedge at one end, you pound into the ground, wedge back and forth a little, then pound it in again, loosening the dirt. Periodically, use any shovel to easily remove the dirt. Absolute fastest way to dig a hole w/o electricity.
Love the LOTR reference!
What a treat to watch! Thanks for the tips. I don't dig, but I think I will start for exercise and fun.
I learned early in life that working a shovel might be the hardest job out there.
We would all do good to mentor a youngin’ to “raise a blister” now and again. I learned a new tip today. Thank you!
The very best show on UA-cam !!!
My brother who had been a helper on house construction sites as a late teenager in the early '70s and a master carpenter after college in the late '70s taught me decades later how to work down a pile of loose material. I had some leftover dirt I was using for a project when he was up. Tendency is to walk in and dig in the deeper slope. He showed me to work the pile flat from the edge then as you moved in, you didn't pack the material. And bonus, when it was used up, the site was already mostly flat. Of course, I learned it with the harassment typical of a brother 8 years older than you.
That made me realize some of the old efficiencies used on sites before equipment was common are being lost. Now when I use a pile, I end up with a flat instead of a crater.
If your back is in shape, maybe you can do a video on the best way to load and maneuver the wheelbarrow and perhaps some pickaxe swinging.
😊
This guys videos need to be mandatory lessons shown in high schools nowadays.
That Shire Shovel comes in handy for digging out clay sewer pipe in a crawl space. Laying on your belly, questioning your life decisions - that shovel, plus a couple old garden spades, come in pretty handy.
The last shovel you used, we used in german coal mines too.
Was perfect for cleaning the low space underneath conveyor belts and stuff.
Great video - loved the LOTR reference haha
I would have never thought I’d be excited to watch a video about shovels! lol
Hi from the UK. We dig with a spade (what you’re calling a round nose spade) and shovel with a shovel 😂
Let's call a spade a spade
@@CarlTelama😂
Same in sweden spade is a spade but shovel is a skyffel
@@CarlTelama😂
Wait until you find out we don't call our leaders king or queen and brush our teeth.
I'll be trying out that shoveling technique soon. Should help out a lot.
I love this video. The modified shovel you called a spade, the owner of the first company I worked for called that shovel a “sharpshooter”.
I picked up all sorts of weird names for tools from Mike.
Merry Christmas to the EC family.
Thanks for sharing this technique to maximize leverage. I’m gonna give it a try, especially when I need to backfill my next culvert pipe. Anything I can do to save my back while getting the job done faster is worth a try. Thanks too for explaining the various shovels and their specific uses. I intend to use this as evidence when justifying to my spouse why I own at least 5 different types of shovels….
Good techniques and "hacks" thanks! I like the leg support trick. Might have to break out a long-handle transfer shovel when in the US to try that. And there are definitely good techniques with a D-handle that you might be missing.
I actually enjoy shoveling when things aren't too crazy. I have done my share, still do at 68. You learn to be efficient and use sustainable movements, engage your stronger muscle sets, spread the load, change up sides etc. I get my own work done promptly when I want, and don't need to pay a gym membership!
Having worked and built in the US and Mexico, we can learn a lot from the Mexican crews. Most have never used a spade. They use only D-handle flat shovels for construction and then sometimes, for site work you'll also see a long handle small flat nose used for farming called a Koa. The Koa can dig a ditch as well as weed, turn soil etc. I guess it's their spade, but small and square not pointy and big. For actually breaking ground, a digging the bar is the tool, with a point on one end and small clay spade on the other. Works well. Throw the weight of the tool sinking it in, then lever off a flake. Steel doesn't break levering like wood handles. Then the flat shovel transfers the loosened material. Often two guys working. The scenario you have of moving mud is rare where I've lived but yep, a spade seems best when material is moist and not too dense. Sod. Whereas caliche (most places) or worse wants a digging bar.
These basics videos are great. Thank you!
D handle round nose shovel is great for gardening, we call it a spade in my part of New Zealand. Great video!!! Thank you
In the UK we mostly use square-ish spades for digging and square shovels for shovelling, both with D handles, along with all the various specialist spades and shovels of course. I've used a long handled square shovel in the past and absolutely loved it but have yet to buy one myself, but I did recently buy a D handled large square grain shovel which massively increases the quantity of most materials I can shift per movement... while my body lasts, that is!