Best Broadforks (2026): 4 Picks

A broadfork loosens soil without turning it over: you stand on its crossbar to sink a row of long tines, then lean back on the handles so the tines lift and crack the ground. The four below differ in tine length, in their handles (steel, fiberglass, or one short handle for a raised bed) and in weight.

How we chose these: every tine length, width, handle and weight below comes from the fork's own maker.

Start here: match the fork to the gardener and the bed

• Under about 5 feet 5 inches, over 50, or wary of a heavy tool: Meadow Creature People's Broadfork (pick 1).
• Taller and strong, with sod, hard-packed ground or new beds to break: Meadow Creature Tall Broadfork (pick 2).
• Raised beds and other small spaces: Meadow Creature Raised Bed Broadfork (pick 3).
• Little room to store tools, so a fork that comes apart helps: VEVOR 5-Tine Broad Fork (pick 4).

By the makers' list prices, the VEVOR is the budget pick, the raised bed fork is mid-range and the two full-size Meadow Creature forks are premium.

Four broadforks, each for a different gardener

Sizes and weights come from each fork's maker, and a table after pick 4 sets them next to each other.

1. Meadow Creature People's Broadfork: our pick for most home gardens

Four tines, each 12 inches long, welded to two steel handles 46 1/2 inches long. The fork is 19 inches wide and weighs 15 to 16 lb (its maker gives both figures on different pages). Its maker builds it in the USA from 90% recycled steel.

The case for it: Its maker says it is likely the right fork for anyone under 5 feet 5 inches, over 50, with shoulder trouble or with concerns about a tool's weight, and says it is more than enough fork for most home gardens. It digs a full 12 inches into the soil. It ships as one welded piece, with no bolted joint between handles and tines to work loose, and its maker guarantees it against mechanical failure for life on purchases shipped within the continental US.

Keep in mind: The lifetime guarantee covers normal use only. It leaves out prying up rocks heavier than a pound, pulling roots thicker than 1/2 inch, wrenching out large shrubs, lengthening the handles, two people working it at once and levering on a single handle: the fork is not a pry bar.

2. Meadow Creature Tall Broadfork: our pick for taller gardeners and new ground

Four 14-inch tines welded to two steel handles 50 inches long and 20 inches apart. The fork is 20 inches wide and weighs 22 lb.

The case for it: Its maker sizes it for most adults 5 feet 5 inches and over, and for breaking new ground calls it the tougher of its 12- and 14-inch forks, the one that resists bending under full effort. Its tines measure a full 14 inches from the tip to the bottom of the crossbar, and the welded frame is meant for compacted soil, established beds and loosening the ground around perennials alike.

Keep in mind: At 22 lb it can be hard work to carry and takes more strength to use well; if the weight gives you pause, its maker points you to the 12-inch fork. The guarantee and its limits are the same as for pick 1.

3. Meadow Creature Raised Bed Broadfork: our pick for raised beds

Tines 9 inches long on a head 12 inches wide, one handle 25 1/2 inches long, and 8 lb in all. Its maker calls it the baby fork.

The case for it: It is built for tilling, aerating and cultivating small spaces, with tines sized for a raised bed and a single handle for loosening compacted soil. It also helps lift root vegetables at harvest.

Keep in mind: At 12 inches wide against 19 to 20 inches for the full-size forks, it loosens a narrower strip with each bite, so an in-ground garden goes faster with pick 1 or 2. Its maker does not give the number of tines.

4. VEVOR 5-Tine Broad Fork: our budget pick, and the one that comes apart

Model FT117-5: a forged manganese-steel head with five tines, two fiberglass handles in a U shape with a non-slip grip, 53.94 inches long and 20.28 inches wide overall, and 13.67 lb with all its parts. The handles and head come apart, and go back together, without tools.

The case for it: It is the budget pick by its maker's list price, and the only fork here that comes apart, so the pieces fit small spaces such as a garage, a tool box or a wall rack. Its maker heat-treats each tine and says the fiberglass handles will not rust, splinter or swell with water the way wood can.

Keep in mind: Its maker gives no tine length, only a fork head of 20.08 by 12.60 inches, so how deep it reaches is not stated. The head and handles join at a steel fitting rather than a weld, and the maker's store lists a 12-month warranty.

How we chose these

A broadfork is a crossbar carrying three to five long metal tines, with handles to lever them back through the soil. We searched Amazon's catalog for that tool, then looked for each fork's specs where its maker publishes them: tine length or head size, width and weight. A fork earned a place only when its maker's own page backed every figure on this page, and most of the candidates had no maker page we could find, so they fell out.

From the rest we took one fork per kind of gardener and bed. Three of the four come from one maker because its sizes are built for different bodies and beds, and its sizing guidance says so. The 12-inch fork ranks first because its maker sizes it for the widest range of gardeners and calls it enough for most home gardens; the taller fork follows for bigger gardeners and new ground, then the raised bed fork, then the fiberglass-handled fork that comes apart. We left off the same maker's Farmer's Broadfork, with 16-inch tines at 25 lb: its maker calls it heavy and harder to use than its other forks, and says you probably do not want it unless you are a professional farmer growing root crops. We did not dig with these forks ourselves.

Our editorial policy says how we find, check and number the picks in every buying guide.

The four broadforks side by side

Fit the fork to your height and strength

Fit to your body comes first, then the job. Longer tines loosen deeper, but a heavier fork can be more of a chore to carry and take more strength to use well. As a rule of thumb, the handles should come up to your chest. For the 12- and 14-inch forks here, their maker says the 12-inch is likely right for anyone under 5 feet 5 inches, over 50, with shoulder trouble or with concerns about a tool's weight, and the 14-inch may be right for a taller, younger, stronger gardener who wants the toughest tool.

Check how a maker measures the tines, too. The 12 and 14 inches on picks 1 and 2 run from the tip to the bottom of the crossbar. Some makers measure tines from the top of the crossbar instead, and a 12-inch fork measured their way has only 10 inches that can dig.

Steel, fiberglass or wood handles

Steel handles give strength and leverage, and suit hard-packed or rocky soil; welded on, as on picks 1 and 2, they stay stiff, so less of your pull is lost to flex. Wood handles weigh less and are easier on the hands, and suit softer ground. Fiberglass, on the budget pick, will not rust, splinter or swell with water. Whatever the handles, pull back on both together: levering on a single handle is outside the guarantee on picks 1 and 2.

How to use a broadfork

1. Start at one end of the bed and work backward. Moving backward keeps you off the soil you just loosened, and each new bite lifts into ground that is already loose.
2. Step onto the crossbar. Your weight drives the tines in; rock and wiggle gently until the bar is nearly at the soil. In hard or compacted soil, you may have to rock your weight from one foot to the other.
3. Lean back on the handles. Pull them toward you, using your weight and the fork's leverage, to lift and crack the soil without flipping it. How far back you need to pull depends on the soil.
4. Lift out, step back and repeat to the end of the bed.

Worked straight down the bed, a fork loosens a row about 24 inches wide; weaving from side to side by half the space between two tines makes it about 30 inches. For a bed much wider than 36 inches, make more than one pass. It is a push and pull with the upper body that takes some strength, but it can spare your back next to a shovel or spading fork: you bend less at the waist, twist less and never lift soil.

Wait for soil that crumbles

Working soil while it is wet, with a tiller, a plow or just a spade, can badly compact it, and the harm will last for many years. Wet soil packs into tight clumps that turn rock-hard as they dry and leave less room for air and water, and compacted soil tends to drain more slowly. Before you fork, squeeze a trowelful of soil in your fist. If it crumbles through your fingers, it is ready. If it forms a muddy ball, give it a few more days to dry and test again.

Broadfork or tiller

A tiller breaks soil into small pieces. Healthy soil forms clumps of soil particles, air, water and root fragments, and intensive tilling breaks them up; over time that leads to compaction, less water held in the soil and erosion. A broadfork eases compaction without breaking those clumps up, and it aerates without turning the soil over. That suits it to soil that is already fairly workable and to compaction in an existing garden. In a new garden on extremely compacted ground, one round of tilling may be the better first step; on a small plot, grass comes off with a sod ripper or a sharp shovel with a flat edge.

Related guides

• Garden tillers and cultivators, for breaking extremely compacted new ground or a large plot.
• How to build a raised bed, which starts by clearing and loosening the ground where the frame will sit.
• Raised garden beds, ready-made beds for the raised bed fork to work.
• Start a garden, the first steps, including how to tell when soil is dry enough to work.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best broadfork?

For most home gardens, the Meadow Creature People's Broadfork: four 12-inch tines welded to two steel handles, 15 to 16 lb, with a lifetime guarantee against mechanical failure in the continental US. Taller, stronger gardeners breaking new ground should look at its 14-inch Tall Broadfork (pick 2), and raised beds suit the Raised Bed Broadfork (pick 3).

What size broadfork do I need?

Match it to your body first. Under 5 feet 5 inches, over 50, or with shoulder trouble, a 12-inch fork is likely right; a taller, stronger gardener who wants the toughest tool may want a 14-inch fork. As a rule of thumb, the handles should come up to your chest.

How deep does a broadfork loosen soil?

As deep as its tines go in: 9 inches on the raised bed fork, 12 on the People's and 14 on the Tall. Check how the tines are measured: a 12-inch fork measured from the top of the crossbar has only 10 inches that can dig.

Is a broadfork better than a tiller?

For soil that is fairly workable, or compaction in an existing garden, a broadfork eases compaction without breaking up the soil's clumps or turning it over, which intensive tilling does. On extremely compacted new ground, one round of tilling may be the better start.

When is soil too wet for a broadfork?

When a squeezed handful forms a muddy ball. Working wet soil can badly compact it, with harm that lasts for many years; wait until it crumbles through your fingers.

Can you use a broadfork in a raised bed?

Yes. The Raised Bed Broadfork is made for it: 9-inch tines, a head 12 inches wide and one 25 1/2-inch handle, at 8 lb.

Sources

• "Meadow Creature: People's Broadfork, 12" tines"
• "Meadow Creature: Tall Broadfork, 14" tines"
• "Meadow Creature: Raised Bed Broadfork"
• "Meadow Creature: Farmer's Broadfork, 16" tines"
• "Meadow Creature: FAQ (sizing, row width, strength, why use a broadfork, build)"
• "Meadow Creature: Satisfaction Guarantee, Return Policy and Warranty"
• "VEVOR: 5-Tine Broad Fork, Dual Fiberglass Handles (FT117-5)"
• "Neversink Tools: How to Use a Broadfork (and Why Your Garden Needs One)"
• "University of Minnesota Extension: Reducing tillage in your garden"
• "Purdue Extension, Indiana Yard and Garden: Resist the Urge To Work Wet Soil"