Canarian wataca - half moon hoe

This is the local universal tool, and I Will post when ever I can, a Little video of the way to use it, because here, it even replaces a shovel !

It is said wataca, all with ah, spanish way, but it is written guataca, lol spanish way as well!


The best point is that you enter the soil with the pick and then you let it turn and pull with the flat part. I Will edit with the video later...

Here is a use in construction, when you want to fill a basket to throw the sand in the concreete maker….

1st photo is compared to the size of the shovel, and you see one angle of use
Then you see the 2nd angle of use and pulling in the basket. the technique is to have is on your feet.

lol I forgot to say that some tourists go away with the tool part in their luggage! Then you just buy the handle.

I also wanted to tell the difference between Wood or iron handle. A lot of guatacas are sold already welded. They are a bit more heavy and they transmit more vibration, so there must be a reason… Actually you can see on the pics that the 1st is a new one, as the angles are still Sharp. The metal one is old and rounded by use in a stoney ground.

- We have a lot of stones, and one of the uses of the guataca is to remove stones, so they are very much used as a lever, which causes a lot of pressure, up to the point of breaking the welding after a few years.  

- You can change the form of the iron handle easier, and the straight handle is not the best. When you bend it, you have a more opened angle, so you can have a better attack angle without bending yourself more. Entering the soil at 90º allows you a better effect with respect to the strength you use, and avoid some rebounds.

- It is the usual tool to mix cement in a Wheel-barrow!
So this means that it stays wet during all the time you work. Not good for the Wood handle.
The iron handle being a tube, it takes some care to wash it after use, and I am still angry at people leaving my tools heavier, so I bought the one for the garden, with a wooden handle, so that they leave it for my garden use!