Mediaeval Tools

[Sane Max]

Hiya

simple question, but cant seem to find an answer. Would early mediaeval agricultural tools like spades, pitchforks etc be made of iron? I seem to remember seeing wooden pitchforks somewhere but can’t recall where, and it does seem that the agricultural poor might well have used wood wherever possible as it was a lot cheaper than getting stuff smithied

or am I hallucinating again?

[Geof Downton]

Wooden forks, rakes and shovels were (and still are) in common use down here in the west country. Malt shovels are always wooden (or possibly plastic these days) because they are less liable to damage the grain, and wooden hay forks and rakes are less likely to collect mud and muck with the hay.

One who puts on his armour should not boast like one who takes it off.
Ahab, King of Israel; 1 Kings 20:11

[Sane Max]

why thank you sir! wooden it is for my angry peasants 🙂

‘watch it with that torch, you will set fire to me pitchfork!’

[greg954]

Sane Max wrote:

‘watch it with that torch, you will set fire to me pitchfork!’

Who said that? Was it Wat Tyler?

[Not Connard Sage]

Except scythes. They’d be iron 😉

Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.

[Geof Downton]

Those of us who be from Wiltshire duz ‘ave to take care when raking cheeses from ponds, so as not to damage ’em…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonrakers

One who puts on his armour should not boast like one who takes it off.
Ahab, King of Israel; 1 Kings 20:11

[Ruarigh]

Here’s a mix of repro and original on the East Midlands Vikings site. As others have said, tools would be mostly wooden. Something like a spade would have an iron shoe because you need it to cut into the ground. Likewise, anything bladed like a scythe would have a metal blade. All the rest would be wooden.

Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

https://roderickdale.co.uk/
https://emidsvikings.ac.uk/

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