In spite of owning a fleet of Case GT's and a tiller, there is still a need for hoeing garden. In my formative years, not long ago, mom would take me and my 4 siblings out to hoe weeds in cotton and milo every summer. The routine was up and in the field at sunrise, hoeing until heat set in around noon. A nap would be in line until late afternoon or when ever the evening temps began to drop, then it was back in the field until dark. A hoe and its maintenance are second nature.
A few days ago I purchased a new hoe with the intent of having a clean and chemical free garden. This is what was available,
A hoe with unfinished edges an ALL sides.
Not even a beveled edge to start with. 15 minutes on the grinder and
3 sides beveled. Now a hog weed with a 1" stalk wont' stand a chance when hit with the hoe point. (Memories of yester years.)
After a short moment of joys with a new tool, it became clear that the head angle was anything but optimum so
a quick trip to vice and that issue was corrected.
Garden cleanup finished and hoe is put away, case closed, until the wisp of a wife came in and said, "The end came off of the hoe and the handle is split." Well, bless her heart, she put it back together. Now I am mad, feeling violated, and fleeced by the manufacturer and the retailer.
On inspection the hoe handle wasn't split, it was cut and a
sleeve was slid over the handle as a way to hold the blade on the handle during shipment and until said tool is used by my 68 year old 105lb wife. She is a brute.
My anger took hold, the blade was put back onto the handle with the sleeve hammered down as far as it would go, then
using the proper method of attachment, a hole was drilled through the handle and blade shank. Wanting a tight fit in the shank the hole was tapped for a bolt.
The tap was also a "looks like a tap but aint" and needed the shoulder ground down to chase the drilled shank hole.
No respectable cotton chopper would be without a file. At the end of each 1/2 mile round of chopping the hoe was touched up and a drink taken from the 5 gallon jug. (Throw away water bottles didn't exist at that time and we hadn't been brain washed into thinking that water from a plastic bottle was the only safe water to drink.)
Now the beveled hoe edges can be hand filed and sharpened. No surprise here, the steel is so soft that the file planed it off in strings. A pile of filing lay on the vise.
An hour of modifications and now the hoe needs to be heat treated to hold and edge, I give up.
No wonder my 40 year old case backhoe isn't restored yet, there is always new junk to fix at the starting gate.
Spike
Spike Colt - 9 & 10, Case - 108, 118, 444, 446, 448, 646, 646bh, Ingersoll 4016, 4118AH
let's go, it's finally time to blow. 
