As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
It occurred to me today as I was pounding a fork tine into a handle just how ignorant you are my children concerning forks and I am about to give you the million dollar knowledge on forks, as nothing is worse than ignorance about forks as it makes work of the situation.
I will star this off with the solution in the best fork for your needs is a four tine fork, with a square back, as this is the type which will pitch hay, straw and shit to your hearts delight to the extent that you will not realize what you even are doing.
Forks are refined to exact needs. The 3 tine is the Bundle Fork, or from the day when farmers pitched bundles of wheat, oats and barley to be threshed. These are good enough forks for service in things, but they are light and the problem with them is they not up to pitching shit, too light of a great deal of hay work and too few tines for straw moving.
They also are round backed and your foot does not push on the back for leverage, which is not what they are for.
The four tine round back or Straw Fork is the same type of instrument. Great for straw and lacking for all else, as being light to break in pitching shit or heavy loads.
The 5, 6 and 8 tine forks do not part with hay or straw easily, and are a Manure Fork, built for heavy loads or soupy manure. They are specialty forks and unless you are pitching shit exclusively, you have no need for them.
The four tine is perfect in the hay or straw loads on the fork and then slips off the tines when you want to be rid of it. You do not have to battle the fodder which sucks when you have it in a pen and calves are pulling on it or running around trying to knock you in the head with it.
It also will serve enough for potatoes, but get yourself a potatoe fork too.....they work great for beets, carrots etc.....
That is about all the science you need in this......you do not need to know about silage forks as you are not cutting corn for feed, and a corn fork is built for moving corn on the cob, and you can not pitch hay with a fork turned 90 degrees.
Leave it at that, as some of you are turning farmer, and that is the fork to look for not so much in the stores, but in old farm sales and garage sales. I would be content forever if all I had is the one utility 4 tine as it handles everything pretty well.
agtG
