Scared to buy a Sampson T-Handle because its aluminum...

[mr helton]

Scared to buy a Sampson T-Handle because it's aluminum...

I made my own shovel after breaking my last one but somehow managed to break it in the ice this last week. Broke right across the flat part somehow!

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/tool-shed/431499-made-myself-new-relic-shovel.html

So I have a trip in a week and a half to my grandparents in southern Ohio and want to make sure I have a good shovel before I go. They have a lot of tough clay there. In fact it's where I broke my FIRST homemade shovel.

I've always heard good things about the Sampson T-handle but then I just noticed it was made from aluminum? How can it possibly hold up? Surely the edge would roll over when you hit rocks, and it would flex and break when digging hard soil. I design and cut aluminum molds for a living, and know first hand how soft aluminum can be, but I haven't worked with aircraft grades.

 

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[cooper1841]

I have a Samson Mini 18" T- handle, and it is steel, and very durable!! You wont bend it or break it. Chops frost, roots, sun baked clay...........it is tough. I would not buy an aluminum one though.

 

[Fletch88]

Scared to buy a Sampson T-Handle because it's aluminum...

Get the 31". The mini is just that, mini. Both are heat treated chromoly steel

 

[mr helton]

Thanks for the quick responses. It must just be a typo on the page or something. This is the page I was looking at where I saw aluminum

Sampson Digging T Handle | BigBoysHobbies

And yeah I was planning to get the longer of the two for sure.

 

[RobRieman]

It's a typo Mr Helton, those suckers are heavy steel and built like a tank!

 

[OldNBroken]

31" T-handle. I dare you to damage it...you won't.

You also will never use anything else once you get it.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I have a 37" ball handle Dixie (little cousin to the Sampson) and I don't think I could break it unless I swung it overhead at rocks. Steel Shaft.

 

[Higgy]

I got the Sampson 31" and I don't think it would break if I wedged it between some rocks and jumped on it.

 

[McKinney_5900]

I have two buddies who have bent their 31" Sampsons.

 

[Phantasman]

From KellyCo "Made of aircraft-quality steel, super strong, rust resistant, smooth and perfect balance and weight.".

I've had mine 6 years. It's limitations are not met by digging but by actions not afforded to digging. (Like prying 2" tree roots out of the ground). It cuts through them though.

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

Any steel will bend if you put enough force on it. The Sampsons are very well made, a lot sturdier than anything you would get from a big box store.

Wayne

Lesche Sampson T-Handle Shovel - SERRATED ? Metal Detecting Stuff

 

[Jason in Enid]

I just alerted Bart to the typo. These are definitely made of steel! I love mine and will turn around and go back home to get mine if I forget it.