Fiskars Tiller Cultivator for Garden and Lawn, Extendable (40″- 60″) Gardening Hand Tool, Telescoping Rotary Hand Cultivator Tool for Soil or Reseeding Grass by Fiskars

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Very sturdy construction, I love the spot for your foot to help push the tool into the ground. Better than the original “Claw”

This is the first time I have used this post hole digger design and I must say it works very well for my current post hole digging project (32 holes at 4 feet deep and 10 inches in diameter – no more or less. In the past I have been able to get away with the tried-and-true conventional post hole digger-style boring holes no more than 2 feet but with my current project’s diameter constraint of 10 inches and 4 feet deep the conventional style diggers just won’t cut it as the hole diameter would obviously have to be much wider to accommodate the spread of the handles while ‘trapping’ dirt.

~ The pivot is completely welded to the handle so no dealing with loose bolts/nuts which is a nice change! However, for me I immediately put my digger in the ground from taking it out of the box and realized that it was extremely difficult to move the handles to dig – very stiff! After about 15-20 minutes of continuous use it loosened up nicely (NOTE: obviously this is highly subjective. I’m a big guy so what I find as being suitable in terms of how ‘difficult’ it is to open-and-close this digger may not work for you. It is still slightly stiff for me to use but I find it suitable). If you would rather start your digging with a conveniently usable digger I highly recommend spending a few minutes opening and closing the digger to wear it in so hopefully it is much easier to use. I will say that opening and closing will still require more ‘work’ than your typical nut-and-bolt hinged digger so be prepared to exert more energy when using this!

~ Another great thing about this digger design is the fact that the handles do not come together; I have experienced no knuckle-smashing with this one. That’s great seeing as I have a huge tendency to bring the handles together aggressively and bash my knuckles while digging with the conventional digger design.

~ With the all-steel construction this digger is much heavier than my conventional fiberglass-handled digger! I’m not complaining but just something I personally noticed. It may be a little heavier as mentioned but I’ll take the quality of the construction over the fact that I have to take an extra break here-and-there. I have read old reviews of their Fiskars diggers bending and breaking but I can at least say that after digging 3 holes to 4 feet deep I haven’t experienced this. Did Fiskars update their design to accommodate for this? Not sure. If I experience any of this I will update my review to let others know.

~ Lifetime warranty

~ This obviously has the same straight-blade design as with many diggers – the ends of the blades leave an opening when fully clenched which means dry, loose soil will be difficult to grab and retain. Not sure why I have read other reviews of people complaining about this when this has been the case for decades. For my projects and if your project permits just add a little water to the hole.

This digger has performed well for me thus far. If I experience any issues I’ll update this review accordingly. I highly recommend this digger if you are particularly in need of digging deep holes and don’t feel like renting/buying a motored post hole digger.

——————- UPDATE 10/22/14 ————————

I dug 22 holes at 4’+ deep in very rocky ground and this digger took a beating let me tell you! The digger looks like it went through a war zone. After using the digger for awhile the ‘stiffness’ of opening and closing it became MUCH easier over time; it even now squeaks when I open and close mine – no big deal. The ‘stiffness’ of opening-and-closing the digger does have an advantage in that you don’t have to aggressively keep the blades together when trying to bring your payload up from 4′ deep! Just close the blades and bring up the digger from the hole. After having completed 22 holes, how it stood up to a beating and how it made my life easier I highly recommend this digger!

—————— UPDATE 11/25/14 —————————

I have completed my project; 32 holes each 4′ down and ~10″ in diameter in very rocky ground. This post hole digger stood up to a huge beating. Everything about this digger is in good shape and is still working. Very impressed!

While the product itself works well, the telescopic handle tends to collapse with too much down pressure. What I suggest is to make sure the soil you are working gets watered the day before. You should be able to lightly cultivate the lawn easily with little down pressure.

I was about ready to return the product because the handle kept slipping. No instructions were included explaining how to tighten the adjustable handle and I assumed it was a product defect. Then I saw a review that said to turn the handle (top and bottom sections in opposite directions) to tighten (not the orange sleeve). This made all the difference and now the handle is secure and can be adjusted to any length. The cultivator works well. My only complaints are that instructions were missing and the Fiskars customer service number directs you to a website and offers no option of speaking to a representative.