This traditional ash and stainless steel border fork is light, comfortable to use but very strong. Awarded a BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy it comes with an impressive lifetime guarantee.
What's it like to use the Burgon and Ball RHS Endorsed Stainless Border Fork?
This is largely a comfortable fork to use. Because it's a traditional design, the shaft and handle have no real ergonomics to speak of, but are made of breathable ash. It's well balanced and light at just 1.64kg (3.6lbs). However, we found that the finishing on this fork isn't perfect. There are a few scratch marks around the rivets in the handle, and the handle itself was a little rough on our bare hands towards the end of the test.
Is the Burgon and Ball RHS Endorsed Stainless Border Fork strong?
The whole fork is rated for strains of up to 90kg (198lbs or 14 stone). For reference, this is a little more than the average weight of a British man - you shouldn’t ever need to move this kind of weight or strain but it’s good to know that this fork is strain resistant to that level. It certainly isn't a gimmick - this is a strong border fork. Its stainless steel socket comes more than halfway up the shaft, and is triple riveted. The handle is double riveted at the fork of the Y and there’s another rivet running through the handle for extra strength. This fork has no weak points.
It easily goes through both compacted and wet soil. It turns over very well - its tines are wide enough to dig in effectively but not so wide that they can’t pick up soil. This is also true when transplanting. This fork cuts through soil easily without cutting through roots, picking up the plant unscathed for easy transplanting.
Is the Burgon and Ball RHS Endorsed Stainless Border Fork good value?
Although this fork is at the expensive end of those in our test it comes with an impressive lifetime guarantee. It's a strong, attractive fork and we think this is good value.
