There are many types of shovels commonly used for digging, lifting, and moving soil and bulk materials in construction and gardening works for jobs like digging trenches for irrigation, piping works, and shoveling snow from sidewalks and driveways. Choosing the right shovel can make the digging and lifting work easier for laborers and save plenty of time and effort for the work. The 10 of the most used types of shovels with pictures and uses for different works are:
- Digging Shovel
- Trench Shovel
- Power Shovel
- Edging Shovel
- Post-Hole Shovel
- Tree Planting Shovel
- Mini or Handheld Shovel
- Scoop or Snow Shovel
- Folding Shovel
- Flat Shovel
A shovel is a hand tool for lifting, moving, and digging bulk material like gravel, soil, sand, any loose material, coal, and snow. The shovel offers a wide and broad blade fixed to a medium-length handle.
These shovel blades are made up of hard plastic and steel and handles are made of wood, plastic, and glass-reinforced. There are different types of shovels but you can buy or hire according to you’re working task and environment.
Types of Shovels with Pictures
The 10 types of shovels used in gardening and construction works are:
1. Digging Shovel
As the name suggests Digging Shovel is used for digging up soil for gardening purposes, construction purposes, and other purposes.
These Digging Shovels are highly functional, due to their sharp edge blades are easy to cut the soil and other obstruction objects which is present on the ground surface or working area.
Also, sharp blades with a high grip collar handle digging shovels are easy to use for moving soil, digging, or cutting an unwanted plant.
The digging shovels have a further three different types of shovels based on their shape of blade option:
- Square Digging types of Shovels
- Pointed Digging Shovel
- Round Pointed Shovel
1.1. Square Digging Shovel
As the name suggests Square Digging Shovels have a straight and flat blade end which adds workability for making trenches and edging the trench.
Also, you can use this square digging shovel for moving unwanted plants and shrubs if needed.
This square digging shovel’s blade is completely rigid and straight so it can be a great choice for digging hard and rocky soil.
1.2. Pointed Digging Shovel
Pointed Digging Shovel is used for tight spaces and as well as in a part of the soil that has a lot of rocks and roots.
These pointed digging shovels have a curved shaped blade at the front portion so that you can easily scoop up
loose soil as compared to square digging shovels.
1.3. Round Digging Shovels
A Round Digging Shovels have a dome-shaped blade at the end portion, which is commonly used for gardening purposes.
In case you want to move shrubs, flowers, and tiny plants then this type of blade is more suitable.
The round digging shovel is more ideal for loose soil as compared to a pointed shovel.
2. Trench Shovels
As the name suggests, trench shovels are used for creating a trench in the backyard gardening area. Before making a trench in any place makes sure an alignment of the trench might be straight and deep always.
The trench shovels have narrow and long blades, which blades are sharp in nature, and the end portion is concave in shape.
Also, these angle design trenches shovels allow moving lots of soil from one place to another place.
3. Power Shovels
The Power shovel is a hand tool and it is ideal for heavy work, where a hand shovel is not suitable for digging at that case power shovels are used, for hardening soil, hardening snow, and rocky substances power shovel is a unique combination of snow blower and scoops shovels.
4. Edging Types of Shovels
Edging shovels create an edge in the soil strata, this is commonly used for gardening propose where you want to distribute the solid material of your gardening.
The edging shovels have a very unique blade, which looks like the shape of a half-moon.
Also, you can use fences work, gardening border, sidewalk work, driveways, and other places where you want to achieve sharp edges.
5. Post-Hole Shovels
Post Hole shovels are also known as Posthole diggers or Posthole pincers this type of shovel has two heads onto a single shaft which can be entered together into the ground and then when you pull the blades the dirt will come out and make a post hole.
6. Tree Planting Shovels
Commonly Tree Planting Shovels are used for planting a tree in a backyard or garden area. Because it is specially made for a planting purpose so that it is digging more than any type of shovel.
In the market different types of tree planting shovels are available but you can choose according to your planting tree and the required depth of holes for different plant sizes.
7. Mini or Handheld Shovels
A Mini shovel or Handheld Shovel is quite smaller in size and is commonly single hand usage and also used for planting a flower in a pot.
8. Scoop or Snow Shovel
Snow Shovels known as Scoop Shovels, who live in a colder area might have to face a lot of snowfall during the winter season, and to survive that area you can rid of the snow from your walkway, driveway, parking area, backyard, and many more.
During that time you can use a snow shovel for scooping up snow, this shovel consists of a large curved blade so that you can easily move a large amount of snow from one place to another place without spending too much time.
Also, this snow shovel is used for gardening work such as moving debris, unwanted plants, and moving gravel, soil, and sand.
9. Folding Shovels
Folding Shovel is one type of portable shovel, the folded shovels are similar to the standard shovel but the main difference is, that they can be folded easily and are more workable, and compact.
The folding shovels further have two more types a collapsible shaft and a bendable shaft, so that you can choose according to your needs.
10. Flat Shovels
The flat Shovel function is similar to the snow shovels and square digging shovels. When you want to move or dig a large amount of soil at a one-time then a flat blade shovel is a perfect choice for this.
Parts of a Shovel
There are various parts of shovels you must know so that you can use it effectively as each part has its own purpose in the shovel. Knowing the parts of the shovel will also help you choose the right shovel for your work while buying the shovel. There are six major parts of a shovel. Knowing these parts and what they do makes it easier to find a shovel that’s right for your needs.
1. Handle
This first part of a shovel is the handle which provides grip while holding and using the shovel for controlling the shovel for a specific purpose during the work. The handle is of four types i.e. D-handle, standard, T-handle, and triangular.
2. Shaft
The shaft is mostly made of wooden and it provides the required length for the shovel. This is a non-grip part and can be long or short, depending on the type of shovel for a specific job. Long-handled shovels often round the shaft instead of adding a shaped handle. This is known as a standard handle.
3. Socket
The socket is the junction between the blade and the shaft which is connected to the blade while the shaft is inserted from one end.
4. Blade
This is the main part of the shovel which is used for the specific type of job. It is located at the end of a shovel and is used for digging. The shape of the blade can be squared, curved, or pointed. A blade can also be a curved or flat surface.
5. Cutting Edge
The cutting edge is the tip of the shovel blade that makes the digging and lifting part easier. It makes the breaking of hard surfaces, excavation of soil, or lifting of loose soil and bulk material easy. It is mostly sharp, but sometimes it can be dull based on the purpose of the job and the type of shovel required for it.
6. Step
The back of the blade which is mostly a flattened surface is called a step. This is used to put more pressure by putting the bodyweight by placing shoes on the step while exerting force for penetrating the hard soil or surface.
How to Choose the Right Shovel for Your Job
Picking out the right shovel for your specific job is important for easier digging, lifting, and time-saving during your work with less effort. Here is how to determine what shovel is right for you:
1. Choose Your Need
Determine what is your need for the shovel such as digging, gardening, scooping, or removing snow. Once you know this, then shovel selection becomes easier.
2. Check The Types of shovels and their uses
Now go through this article and know which shovel will be best suited for your shoveling work. Once you know that, you can move to step-3.
3. Read Reviews and Buyer Guides
Before buying any shovel, read reviews online on amazon or other websites and go through a buyer’s guide of various types of shovels from various manufacturers. This will help you to find a shovel for your specific job need which are durable, efficient, and comfortable to use.
Where Can You Buy Shovels?
Shovels are generally sold at hardware shops or construction material stores in markets near you. You can find a variety of these types of shovels and now you know which type of shovel to buy from the store, it will be an easy task for you. If you’d like to buy shovels online, then it is available on online retailers like Amazon.com, Lowe’s, and Home Depot which have a wide range of shovels to choose from.
