The 7 Best short spades (2023 reviews)

We consider a short spade to be a worthy investment in the long run. We are here to help you choose the right one for your purposes from all the best available products in market today.

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Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Spear head Spade short Spade READ REVIEW

Best For using two hands: Buy: Fiskars short Spade READ REVIEW

Best For bug out bag: Buy: Gerber gear short Spade READ REVIEW

Best Heavy duty Spade: Buy: am Leonard short Spade READ REVIEW

Best For planting gallon nursery pots: Buy: Tierra Garden short Spade READ REVIEW

Best For keeping cheeky rascals: Buy: BIGJIGS TOYS short Spade READ REVIEW

Best ergonomic: Buy: Truper short Spade READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Spear head Spade short Spade

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The look and feel of this spades are consistent with the high quality we're used to from the rest of Spear Head Spade's lineup. It is great gardening tool for so many tasks which requires more precision than a straight edge shovel. It is easy to dig something in an established garden without disturbing other plants. It is designed to make it easier and more comfortable when doing tough digging. It works great getting into impossibly hard and rocky soil.

It comes with this smaller spade shovel, you can get between plants and dig deeper to plant new ones in smaller places. It easily digs up shrubs and perennials for transplanting and makes perfect holes effortlessly. These are also highly weather resistant, low maintenance, and non-conductive. It is great for digging or transplanting items.

• Best ever for digging in compacted, clay soil and dividing plants
• Works very well for digging holes
• Cuts through roots with ease and loosens rocks with no effort
• Cuts through the dense soil with minimal effort

Best For using two hands: Fiskars short Spade

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Not everyone likes to purchase spade for their daily purpose, but the fiskars short spade would be an anomoly. This shovel is perfect for digging a small deep hole for a transplant. It cuts a precise hole in plantable ground which allows you to extract a plug of dirt that won't fall back into the hole. It is great for transplanting, especially in hard soils. It offers two-handed grip, and a teardrop-shaped shaft profile provides exceptional comfort and control. The blade features an oversized step for additional leverage and comfort, and is pre.

The tool is light weight and ergonomic in design. It is designed for using two hands. It is great for digging up plants or digging smaller holes for new plants.

• Great heavy duty strong planting shovel for quick holes and good depth
• Perfect size to take metal detecting
• Fantastic for digging up garlic bulbs, roses, berry bushes and such
• Excellent for anyone with a large garden who needs to do lots of digging

Best For bug out bag: Gerber gear short Spade

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The gerber gear short spade might be a relatively new release, but it's still nothing short of impressive this year, thanks to multiple price cuts and added new features over the past few months. This is a very useful and sturdy shovel that folds down into a convenient camping size. It looks great, appears tough, very well made, nicely finished, convenient, and GREAT SIZE. It's small, compact, and solid. The pick position is awesome for carrying the end of a big log, digging the weeds from under your tent or removing a friend's limb.

Its a good size feels good in your hands and has a tightening handle so it won't close up on you when in use. The plastic grip is strong and easy to hold. It folds up nicely and fits in a seatback pocket.

• Folded, the size is perfect for throwing in you pack on a hike
• Excellent build quality, super packable, lightweight, a must for backcountry travel
• Folds up nicely and locks into place when in use
• Tough and sturdy with good locking mechanism

Best Heavy duty Spade: am Leonard short Spade

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We would, of course, be remiss if we didn't mention am leonard short spade for regular usage. It's a digging spade that can chomp through roots, pry out rocks, and last forever. It has high quality steel construction with a powder-coated handle to resist rusting. It makes short work of roots and dense soils. It's not a light weight shovel, or a shovel designed to move dirt or mulch.

The blade is just over 12 gauge (.112") thick, which is as strong as you'll find anywhere. It allows for maximum control during use. The handle shaft is slightly oval to prevent any bending, not that it would anyway.

• Easy to use, well balanced, sturdy edging shovel
• Transplant perennials, dig out weeds, or work in organic matter to the garden
• Lot of satisfied buyers

Best For planting gallon nursery pots: Tierra Garden short Spade

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate spade. The tierra garden short spade is exactly that - it's a simple spade that hits all the right notes. The Dewit perennial spade is the ideal bulb planter tool for garden tasks that require a narrow, deep hole, like planting perennials, small shrubs. It is a great garden tool for digging up small holes for a 1 gallon plant. It is constructed of hand-forged, tempered boron steel with an ash handle. It reduces strain on the wrists and hands, even during extended use.

The spade’s t-shaped handle offers superior control, allowing you to easily navigate through tight spaces and intricate garden beds. It has a sharp, curved blade to easily cut through roots and hard soil. It is perfect for planting gallon nursery pots, edging and removing sod.

• Awesome for edging and all other outdoor gardening needs
• Perfect size for children as well as adults
• Heavy duty well made garden spade

Best For keeping cheeky rascals: BIGJIGS TOYS short Spade

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The bigjigs toys short spade is suitable and reliable and fits well with your daily purpose. Aspiring green fingered gardeners can pick up their sturdy short handle spade and help the grown-ups out in the garden. This bright garden spade features a long and durable wooden body and an easy-to-grip handle for little hands. It has a sturdy green shovelhead that can withstand lots of enthusiastic digging. It is great for keeping cheeky rascals entertained and enjoying the great outdoors. It can also be used to help shovel snow in the winter.

• 3 years + short handled shovel product features
• Made from high quality, responsibly sourced materials
• Conforms to en71 toy safety standards and has non-toxic paints and lacquers
• Child friendly paints, stains and lacquers

Best ergonomic: Truper short Spade

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The truper short spade's superior materials makes sure that it ages well with use. Truper relies on the most advanced modern and efficient technology to guarantee the optimum quality and value of its products and demanding service needs of the company's global customers. The Tru-Pro products features the heaviest gauge heads available, tab sockets or steel collars, along with a select choice of white ashwood handles for the optimum ratio of resistance and flexibility. It is also geared at the consumer who wishes to step up to high-end tools.

The blade is 16” long and the fiberglass handle is. It is a premium line true to the specs of contractor-grade tools.

• Short and effective so there is not wasted energy in the handle
• Delivers what they promise