Noble Outfitters Wave Fork: review

Our reviewer thought that this was a fairly sturdy bit of kit with some great features, but not enough to make him stop using his old favourites

The Wave Fork is a substantial fork for mucking out stables, as any other shavings fork would be used. However, it has had a makeover as far as shavings forks go, it is constructed of multiple individual tines that interlock with a raised flat sided prong on each side of the fork to create a basket like base to collect the maximum amount in each forkful.

The individual tines are designed to bend instead of break but should there be any problems, the tines can be changed by removing a clever end clip from the side of the fork and replacing only the damaged tines, instead of the entire head. This feature has also allowed the fork to be sold in numerous colour combinations to suit yard/club colours or just to combine your personal favourites.

The handle is ‘aircraft grade’ aluminium to add strength and durability to the fork without compromising the need for it to be lightweight for the user. It has a plain handle at the end and a moveable foam hand support on the shaft for comfort.

To begin with all of the above features sounded great, we have all suffered from broken tines or broken handles and had to throw the whole fork away when only one part was faulty, however, in practice with a number of users at our premises we all found the fork to be a little ‘clunky’ to use. Whilst it is not at all heavy, it can feel cumbersome compared to the forks we were used to and the heads felt a little loose on the shaft. This may be a very personal thing as I think we become slightly attached to the ‘familiar’ or ‘our old favourites’.

One place the fork did perform quite well was in the process of tidying the muck heap/throwing muck up. It will hold a substantial amount of waste bedding to move in one go allowing you to move quickly and get the job done.

After some time, we also found the end basket style tines developed a habit of separating from the rest of the fork with considerable ease. While never completely detaching (and pushing simply back into place), we found this happening more and more frequently, to the extent that it was eventually wearing the plastic lug that the tine should locate on to. So much so on one fork that our staff decided to remove them altogether. Now, presuming this is all covered under the 5-year guarantee this is great, however it can be very frustrating and time consuming when you are rushing through a bed and keep having to stop to realign things. That said, after continued heavy use we have had no tine breakages or wear and tear to the handles, but I don’t think at this stage our staff will be rushing to give up their ‘old favourites’ just yet.

Verdict

A fairly sturdy bit of kit with some great features, but not enough to make our reviewer stop using his old favourites