Weedlance Tool
by Doug
(In His Garden)
The Weedlance was such a creature - arriving in 2 different models - I tucked it away in the garden shed until last weekend when I took it out to put it through its paces.
Let me cut to the chase rather quickly on this one. It doesn't have too many paces.
The premise is the blade will slide below the surface to cut off the roots of weeds. You can then pop the weed out of the ground (leaving part of the root) The weed will regrow and you do it again. Most weeds won't live through 3 such cuttings and it's a time honored method of eliminating weeds such as dandelions from your backyard
But here's how this tool misses the mark. Check the picture above - it shows my grandfathers weed spud and the Weedlance
You'll see the old tool has a long narrow blade with a sharply-defined "v" on the cutting edge. This v-shape fits nicely and easily to most weeds and cuts effortlessly. The v-shape on the new tool is small although the blade is sharper (reminds me I have to sharpen Grandpa's tool).
The problem comes with the cross bar on the new tool.
In theory, you're supposed to step on it to drive the tool downwards to make it easier to cut the weed. In practice, the bar stops the blade from going very deeply into the soil And given the short handle on this tool, you have to be working at a very disagreeable angle to get the short blade available over to the weed root. Contrasting this with the older tool with a long handle and angled blade that is easy to both use and find the weeds.
Bottom Line
Both models of the Weedlance had the same problem and I now have 2 of them in my toolshed that will never be used again.
Not recommended
Sources
Weedlance Website
A more modern version can be found here -Ames True Temper Weeder
. It's not the same weight or heft as the older style but it does work on the same principle. 
