Broadfork for Sale in South Africa

ICM Heavy Duty Broadfork

The ICM broadfork makes it easy to loosen and aerate your soil before planting. It has two long handles and a heavy steel head with 5 tines that break through compacted soil and hardpan.

The broadfork is designed for leverage: you use your body weight instead of your back, so the work goes quickly with less strain.

Head size	About 50 × 28 cm (20 × 11 inches)
Tines	5 steel tines
Handles	2 long handles for leverage
Use	Loosening and aerating vegetable beds, small farms and market gardens

Why use a broadfork?

• Loosens without turning the soil over. Ploughing and rotary tilling mix the soil layers. A broadfork only lifts and cracks the soil, so the topsoil and the earthworms and microorganisms living in it stay where they belong.
• Lets air and water in. The tines open deep channels, so rain soaks in instead of running off, and roots can grow deeper to find water in dry spells.
• Fewer weeds. Weed seeds buried deeper in the soil stay buried instead of being brought to the surface to sprout.
• Builds better soil over time. Season after season, compacted soil becomes looser and richer in organic matter.
• No fuel, no tractor, no maintenance. A low-cost alternative to a rotary tiller for small plots, and easier on your back than digging with a spade or hoe.

How to use a broadfork

1. Stand the broadfork upright with the tines on the soil, holding one handle in each hand.
2. Step onto the steel crossbar and use your body weight to push the tines into the ground.
3. Step off backwards and pull the handles towards you. The tines lever up and crack the soil open.
4. Rock the handles back and forth once or twice to loosen the soil further.
5. Lift the broadfork out, move back about 15–20 cm, and repeat along the bed.

Tip: work the beds between crops, and add compost or mulch on top afterwards. Rain and soil life will draw it down into the loosened soil.

Broadfork or tractor and tiller?

For new ground that has never been cultivated, ploughing once may be the quickest start. After that, a broadfork is the better choice for maintaining vegetable beds and for rebuilding hard, worn-out soil, because repeated tilling breaks down soil structure.