Spade and Shovel are used for completely different purposes, but they look similar, due to which it gets confusing to identify them or even use them as their purpose.
A spade is used for digging purposes, but Shovel is used for scooping the ground. They have blades, but it has different type of blades.
Key Takeaways
- A spade has a flat, straight blade and is used for cutting through sod or soil, while a shovel has a curved blade for digging holes and moving loose material.
- A spade is used for precision work and creating clean edges, while a shovel is better suited for heavy-duty tasks and moving larger quantities of material.
- A spade is more expensive and less versatile than a shovel.
Spade vs Shovel
The difference between Spade and Shovel is Spade is used to dig the ground and move the soil from one place to another, but a Shovel is used to scoop out the soil from one place. Spades and Shovels both have blades but with different properties. Spade has a heavier higher-stress blade than a Shovel.
A spade is a tool that is mostly used in gardening. It has a blade that helps in digging the soil. It has a long handle which is useful as it adds grip.
This tool made the work very easy as initially, laborers used to dig the ground manually, which took a lot of time, and even the work was not fruitful.
A shovel is a gardening tool as it helps in cooping and moving any material from one place to another. It is made of sheets of steel.
They are not very long like a spade, but it has a medium length. It can be made of wood or fiberglass. They are generally
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Spade | Shovel |
|---|---|---|
| Usage | Digging | Scooping |
| Edge | Sharp flat | Sharp curve |
| Blade length | Short | Long |
| Stress | High | Low |
| Scoop | Low | High |
| Benefit | Leveling of soil | Moving bulk material |
What is Spade?
A tool that is used for digging the ground. It has a curved blade.
The tool helped a lot, as in earlier times, the digging was done manually.
The process was slow, and the work was also not so efficient. The spade helped in this process of digging.
It is made of steel. It increases the efficiency of the work. There are varieties according to the different shapes and sizes.
The designs change according to the manufacturing company. The edges are made sharp so that it is easily digging the ground.
The edge is made slightly curved to be more efficient.
Spades have a variety like garden spades, turfing iron, Irish spade, sharpshooter, and digging forks. The garden spade has a very long handle for the grip. Irish spade is also used while gardening, but this has a thin head.
The narrow spades are referred to as sharpshooters. There are many more spades.
A digging fork is also another type of spade, but it looks like a pitchfork. It is also known as grape.
It helps to move the soil and move to another place. It helps in loosening the soil.
The spades are made for children, are small and colorful, and are mostly sold as toys.
What is Shovel?
A tool that is used to lift things from one place to another. It is used especially for soil, coal, ore, and gravel moving.
It is used majorly in snowy places as the roads get filled up with ice, and it is dangerous to drive on icy roads. The shovel is used to throw away the snow from the roads.
It is made of a sheet of steel. The handles of the shovel are made of wood. They can also be made from fiberglass.
The seam is folded from the back. It adds extra rigidity to the blades of the shovel.
The tool is a t-shaped piece. There are shovels that have different designs from period to period.
Shovels are used in construction for excavation. There are steam and power shovels.
It helps in mining and quarrying. The truck carries the bulk materials from large distances, and the shovels help it to unload the bulk materials from the truckload.
The trucks are mechanized, and nowadays, this thing happens very little.
The shovel had to be used by laborers in work, so the whole work cost was high. Due to this, science was used to make changes, and then machinery was introduced to make the work more efficient and take less time.
Main Differences Between Spade and Shovel
- Spade is used for digging purposes, but Shovel is used for scooping purposes.
- Spade has a sharp edge, but Shovel has a curved edge.
- Spade has a smaller blade than a Shovel.
- Spade has higher stress than Shovel.
- Shovels have a higher scoop than a spade.
- Spade also helps in leveling the soil, and Shovels also helps in moving the soil.
- https://academic.oup.com/nar/article-abstract/45/W1/W495/3796338
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0169814194001057
Last Updated : 25 July, 2023
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Emma Smith holds an MA degree in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a Journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, Sports, and Law. Read more about me on her bio page.
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