Paumco Quick Spade 1100 - Heavy Duty Folding Shovel for Camping, Hiking & Emergency Survival Gear - Compact & Portable Outdoor Tool for Digging, Gardening & Car Snow Removal

For skidsteer/compact track loader equipment, this is about the best money you'll ever spend. The photo is of a ditch I dug that was 110 feet, through hard, very rocky soil. I'm not the best CTL operator, but the job is now done. There is somewhat of a learning curve to using these efficiently. Here is what I have learned:1. When ditching, it's usually easier to dig forward than moving backwards. It's a bit aggravating to straddle the ditch and not as easy to pile your dirt, but it turns out that it is more efficient than working backwards. You just end up pushing a fair amount of the dirt toward the end of the ditch.2. Part of the reason #1 is true, is that with my forks (and probably most), any negative torque on the forks can result in the forks coming off. In other words, don't push down on the bottom of the spade and cause the forks to go in the opposite direction of their intended design. The forks are heavy and doubly so when they are jammed into the spade. Trust me, you do not want that to happen. This means there can be no heavy back-dragging with the spade. Don't ask me how I know this.3. Periodically, you need to lift the spade up in the air and shake the dirt out of it. The forks can jam dirt into the ends of the spade and the only way you can get it out is from a powerful pressure washer. Again, don't ask me how I know this.4. A ratcheting ATV tie-down strap works well enough at keeping the spade from coming off the forks. You can often operate without this, but it has a tendency to pack dirt into the end of the spade as the forks shift around (see #3).Overall, this is a great product. If you have a set of forks, you will definitely want to get one of these spades.