CHILLINGTON HOES

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Using Chillington and Martindale Tools.

Assembly and using and caring for your Chillington Hoes.

Using and care of your Martindale products.

Chillington Ireland & UK Range

Chillington Hoes:

Firstly make sure you have been supplied with the correct wooden handle to match your Chillington Hoe.

Heavy Duty/Digging Hoe: This should have been supplied with a wooden handle with yellow paint on the end of the handle.

Canterbury Fork Hoe: This should have been supplied with a wooden handle with white paint on the end of the handle.

Ridging Hoe...Light Hoe...Baby Hoe...Trenching Hoes: These should have been supplied with a wooden handle which shows no paint at the end of the handle.

Double Headed Hoe: Should have been supplied with a shorter 900mm handle.

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ BEFORE ASSEMBLY OR USE:

The owners of this website are not responsible for any damage, injury or loss to yourself or any third party through the use of these tools and any information supplied here is to the best of our knowlege as being correct and we suggest that you obtain proper training and advice from qualified personel before you begin to use any tools.

Assembly:

Obviously remove the packaging, and then slide the Hoe Head down the handle with the Crocodile stamp and number stamps facing the thinner end of the handle (upwards towards you).........when the Hoe Head reaches the swelled end of the handle just push into place firmly, and then on a smooth but hard surface, tap the wooden handle (Hoe Head end) very firmly on the hard surface 3 to 4 times or more untill the Hoe head has firmly secured itself on the handle as tightly as possible. If for any reason your Hoe has been supplied ready assembled or the Hoe head has become loose then firmly secure your Hoe head on the handle before use. You should check for tightness and damage to your handle before every use and never use your Hoe if there is any sign of damage or looseness of the Hoe head.

Using Your Chillington Hoe:

Below is just a rough guide of what worked well for us, but like anything people will find their own different ways of using tools and doing jobs that suit themselves.

Heavy Duty / Digging Hoe.

Raise the Hoe at arms length away from your body so the Hoe Head is at no more than chest or head height, grip firmly then swing downwards to the ground and you will find the Heavy Duty/Digging Hoe head buries itself in the ground......lift the handle upwards while the head is still in the ground, this will break loose the soil and then pull towards you, which will break away a sizable piece of soil moving it towards you, so in effect the handle is acting as a lever to remove a sizable chunk of soil........Then repeat and repeat untill your ground has been dug into clumps of earth.........You can then change direction and chop all of your soil clumps into smaller pieces...or... you could then use your Canterbury Fork Hoe.

Canterbury Fork Hoe.

The Canterbury Fork Hoe is used to break up these clumps and seperate weeds and clumps of unwanted grass. Just keep stabbing and smashing your clumps of soil, so that they break down into very much smaller pieces and the the clumps of grass or weeds can be flicked out or picked up with the Canterbury Fork Hoe and deposited in your waste pile or wheelbarrow. Then when weed free rake over your broken soil with your Canterbury Fork Hoe or Rake untill all level and flat. The great thing about a Canterbury Fork Hoe is the length of the forks, because you can rake/disturb your soil to a much greater depth which not only prepares the already dug over soil much better ready for planting, but also gets to the roots of already established unwanted weeds. The Canterbury Fork Hoe is a must for preparing last years clean vegetable beds which do not require digging and just need the soil loosened up to planting depth

Trenching Hoe.

Put down your straight guide line using your garden string, then facing the string at right angles to it, dig in your Trenching Hoe and pull up the soil towards your feet, then move sideways to repeat the action and again keep repeating, so you have in effect dug a trench. Then turn around 180 degrees and repeat the action so ineffect you have now dug 2 trenches with a high wide potato/plant ridge in the middle. You can dig deep drainage channels this way if needed with the Trenching Hoe and also this same work can be done with the heavier Heavy Duty/Digging Hoe but could prove a little more tiresome to the less stronger people.

Ridging Hoe.

Then put a guide line of garden string on your ground for your straight lines, and then dig your Ridging Hoe into the ground and quickly keep pulling your Ridging Hoe towards you and move backwards at the same time so you are moving parralel along the length of your guide line string. This will give you your straight seed trench which will be a few inches deep, but if you require deeper trenches for potato ridges then use the Ridging Hoe at maximum Hoe depth and then repeat approximately 12-18 " (300mm-450mm) to the side of your first trench which will then give you your potato ridges and drainage channels. If your ground is heavy or wet then make your trenches in 2 stages by only doing a 3-4"(75mm-100mm) deep trench each time and then repeating the action untill the required trench depth is acheived.

Light Hoe.

The Light Hoe can be used for general Hoe work but because of it's sturdy design (which incorporates a centre rib for strength just as you find on the larger Hoes), the Light Hoe is stong enough to do light trenching work and moulding/earthing up of your potatoes

The other Chillington Hoes are used the same way as any other Hoe except instead of pushing which requires more force, you use these Chillington Hoes by pulling them towards you which is so much easier.

All Chillington Hoes are designed and supplied to be sharp and can easily be sharpened further with the Martindale file avaliable at our stockists. The reason for having a sharp Hoe, is so they can also be used for clearing the toughest of weeds and will easily chop straight through the thickest and hardest of weeds such as briars, and also will chop weed root systems so they can be cleared from your soil.

After use......give them a good wash and dry and then smear with a little oil to prevent rusting, and store in a dry place.

Martindale Products:

These products have been designed and are strong enough to be used in a chopping action aswell as slicing.

After use.......sharpen your blade to the required finish and wipe clean........then give a good wipe over with oil to prevent rusting and pitting and store in a SECURE dry place......AND NEVER LEAVE ANY KNIFE PRODUCT WHERE CHILDREN COULD GET ACCESS TO THEM.

Safety First at all times.

Copyright 2009 Chillington Hoes