In 2018, we took a fresh look at the shovels available from Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and more, but none of them stood out enough to test against our current picks. We were most intrigued by the Root Assassin OS-002 One Shot Shovel, which has a special “winged” head with a larger step that extends around the sides and sets it apart from other round point #2 shovels. While we don’t think this new design can stand-up to the tried-and-true function of the standard round point shovel head, there are some people who might enjoy it, and the reviews so far are great. The fiberglass handle is also a dealbreaker for us.
The Razor-Back 2593600 is the company’s flagship heavy-duty shovel. It’s extremely robust, with its trademarked extended SuperSocket, and the traditional wood handle is comfortable and shock-absorbing. But the seam at the back of the socket (at least on our test unit) was splayed open and not flush to the handle, resulting in a pair of sharp-edged ridges that dug into my hand. And the two rivets that attach the socket to the handle are large and exposed—as with the Bully Tools 82515, not really a problem for righties, but potentially uncomfortable for lefties. The socket, where your lower hand grips the shovel, is also notably thick—a sensible design decision given that the shovel is aimed at the male-dominated construction trade, but a liability for most women and for smaller men.
The Corona SS 60020 gets high marks for build quality: The seam of its socket is neatly welded shut and ground smooth (making it very strong and also comfortable to hold), and its twin rivets are low-profile—comfortable whichever hand you use. It has a robust coating to deter rust, and its steps are crisply formed. But they are narrower than the Bully 82515’s, and the solid fiberglass handle, while ergonomically shaped and confidence-inspiring in its strength, also suffers from fiberglass’s tendency to transmit shock to the user’s hands.
The Wolverine SL600, an ultra-heavy-duty model, is almost comically burly and is also beautifully made. It lost out to the ultra-heavy-duty Corona for the minor reasons given above—no padded grip or rubber step—and because its 6-inch lift, compared with the Corona’s 4 inches, makes vertical digging a bit more cumbersome.
The Wolverine FL500 is another terrifically constructed shovel; its closed back is the most neatly formed of all the models tested, its rivets are unobtrusive, and the socket seam, though not welded shut, is flush to the handle. Its shortcomings match the Corona SS 60020’s: a crisp but relatively small step and a shuddering fiberglass handle.
The Fiskars 96685935J is certainly a very well-built tool. It’s made entirely of steel, and the welds and painted finish are flawless. And Fiskars stands behind it unconditionally: They’ll replace it for free if it ever breaks. But the all-steel construction is heavy for a general-purpose shovel: Mine weighed 94 ounces—almost 6 pounds. It’s very strong, but Fiskars creates that strength bizarrely, by running the handle-blade connection almost halfway down the blade. That means the handle gets in the way when shoving the blade into the ground and takes up valuable real estate when transferring loose material. The handle is ergonomically shaped: In cross-section it resembles an egg, with the narrow end facing the ground. It felt very comfortable at first, but under repeated loads the relatively narrow underside created a pressure point on the first joint of my fingers. And the extremely generous step—full-width and more than an inch across at its widest—meant that my foot could be placed at only a perfect perpendicular to the handle. It’s a subtle thing, but when digging you often want to be able to tilt your foot fore or aft to direct the blade in a certain way, and the Fiskars design makes doing so awkward or even impossible.
The Razor-Back 45020 is one of two solid-shank shovels tested. A solid shank is exactly what it sounds like: a solid-steel bar instead of the more common hollow socket. It’s exceedingly strong. It’s also very heavy, and tilts the balance of a shovel toward the blade end. Unless your digging requires an inordinate amount of prying (as it might if your soil is full of rocks or roots), you don’t need the added strength, and the added weight becomes a liability when you’re transferring material. Additionally, the 45020’s rivets are mounted with the heads to the left, the opposite of most shovel designs. They pressed against my palm—not hard enough to cause pain, but enough that I noticed. (Of course, lefties might appreciate this quirk.)
Finally, there’s W. W. Manufacturing’s LHV-PT-R ($80), “the King of Spades.” Refined over the course of decades, it enjoys an enviable reputation among professional gardeners, orchardists, and nursery workers, and understandably so. It’s light for an all-steel shovel at 5.75 pounds, its keenly sharpened edge slices through soil and roots, and it has a five-year guarantee even under the abusive working conditions it generally faces. The materials and construction are top-notch. But it’s a specialist tool. That keen edge is more easily dulled by rocks than the other ultra-heavy-duty models. And though lightweight for its type, it’s still too heavy for general use, and its 4-inch lift is designed chiefly for digging, not transferring loose material. Highly recommended for specialists; not the best choice for backyard generalists.