Find Tool Editorial Team

A Dutch hoe has a flat blade set almost in line with the handle, pushed forward just under the soil surface to slice weed roots as you walk backwards. A draw hoe has a blade set at a right angle to the handle, pulled toward the user to chop and drag soil. The push-and-slice action … Read more

A soil auger is a drilling tool with a large spiral bit, designed to bore neat, deep, round holes into soil rather than wood or metal. Gardeners and smallholders use it to plant bulbs, shrubs and posts, take soil samples, or sink markers, without digging a wide hole by hand. What does a soil auger … Read more

A lawn scarifier is a machine or hand tool that drags blades or tines through the surface of a lawn to pull out thatch, moss and dead grass matted between the soil and the living grass. It doesn’t loosen the soil itself — it clears the layer sitting on top of it so air, water … Read more

A rotary mower cuts grass by spinning a horizontal blade fast enough to slice through it on impact, like a machete. A cylinder mower cuts by trapping grass between a spinning set of spiral blades and a fixed bottom blade and shearing it, like scissors. The shearing cut gives a finer, more even finish; the … Read more

A two-stroke engine completes its power cycle in one up-and-down movement of the piston instead of two, by combining intake, compression, combustion and exhaust into fewer mechanical steps. Garden tools still use them because the design is light, simple and works in any orientation — which matters for handheld equipment. How does a two-stroke engine … Read more

A strimmer uses a spinning nylon line to tidy grass and light growth around edges and obstacles. A brushcutter is a heavier-duty version of the same idea, built to swing a metal blade through tough weeds, brambles and saplings. A lawn edger uses a fixed rotating blade to cut a clean vertical line between lawn … Read more

A hedge trimmer’s blade gap is the small space between the moving cutting blade and the fixed blade beneath it. Too wide, and stems get pushed and torn instead of sliced, and the motor strains. Too tight, and the blades bind, overheat, or wear out fast. The gap is a running health check on the … Read more

Bypass secateurs use a sharp curved blade that slides past a lower jaw, cutting like scissors — best for live, green stems. Anvil secateurs use a straight blade that closes onto a flat plate, crushing through the stem — better suited to dead or woody wood. The stem type decides which is right. What is … Read more

Secateurs, loppers and a pruning saw are three sizes of the same job. Secateurs cut thin stems one-handed, loppers use long handles for leverage on thicker branches, and a pruning saw handles wood too thick or too hard for either. The right choice mostly comes down to branch diameter. What is the actual difference between … Read more