Fig. 74.
Narrow Spades for Tiles.
We have thoroughly tested the matter; and in all kinds of soil, give a decided preference to spades as broad at the point as at the heel. We have used common long-handled spades, cut down with shears at a machine-shop, into these shapes.
The spade of equal width, works much more easily in the bottom of a trench, because its corners do not catch, as do those of the other. The pointed spade is apparently nearer the shape of the sloping ditch, but such tools cannot be used vertically, and when the heel of the pointed spade is lowered, it catches in the side of the trench, before the point reaches the bottom.
Very strong spades, of various width, from three to eight inches, and thick at the heel, to operate as a wedge, will be found most suitable for common use. The narrowest spades should have the spur, as shown in Fig. 64, because there is not room for the foot by the side of the handle.
The various tools for finishing the bottoms of drains, as figured in Morton, are the following:
