5 Best Uses for a Pick Axe

You will find that a pick axe can make tasks which are ordinarily difficult significantly easier. Understanding the types of projects that it can be used for can help you to determine whether it is a useful tool to have as part of your collection.

1 – Landscaping

A wide range of tasks that fall under the remit of landscaping can be undertaken with the use of a pick axe. Normal soil that has become dry and hardened can normally be broken up with a shovel. However, this will be more difficult when it comes to hard clay and hard rocky-type soils. Using the sharp end of the axe will enable you to break up the materials so that it can be removed as necessary.

While it is easy to simply chop down a tree, it can be more difficult to remove the stump if the mature roots are deeply buried. You will find that they are easier to remove after loosening the soil around the base of the tree with a pick axe.

The axe can also be used as a cutting tool when it comes to creating edging in a garden or removing turf. It can also help in the process of leveling work to break up material that forms part of a mound to enable it to be taken away.

2 – Ice

In severe wintry conditions, ice can pose a number of problems and result in damage to property as well as harm to humans. When ice forms on surfaces that are used as pathways, this can easily create a slipping hazard and will need to be cleared as quickly as possible. If you do not have a substance that will melt the ice, a pick axe can be used to break it up before it is scraped away. Roofing and guttering can be damaged by ice that has developed on it and an axe can be used to remove it.

3 – Cement

Whether you have a cement structure inside or outside the home, you will find that it can be broken up in a more precise manner than you would get when using a sledge hammer or similar tool. For example, if a foundation has been formed with cement but a foreign body has become stuck in it, an axe can be used to break up the area just around the item. This will allow you to remove the object and rectify just a small section rather than the entire surface. This method can also be used for brick.

4 – Paving

Uniform paving slabs or tiles can look rather mundane when they are set out as they are intended, but an axe can be used to help create a unique design. Breaking up the tiles or slabs with the axe will result in random pieces that can be fitted together like a jigsaw to decorate your driveway and/or paths.

5 – Farming

The axe can be used as a tool to help with lifting items that are necessary as part of the farming process. Lifting and dragging items such as hay bales and sacks of feed can be made easier with the leverage that can be provided by the axe.