I've used my Rankin pin-on forks to do something I think very few have done. For three decades I had a severe infestation of Canada thistle. If you have it on your property, you should appreciate this. Canada thistle has a vast network of underground offshoots. The average infestation contains many square miles of roots. As far as I know, it is the only thistle which spreads from pieces of its roots. In many states it is mandatory for property owners to eradicate it. It is one of the most destructive of the invasive weeds.
If you are considering an attempt to dig out this devil, it is imperative to not leave a single trace of viable root structure. Manual labor will not do the job, and may possibly contribute to the spread of the evil one. Knowing what I was up against, I decided to put my forks to a new use when I realized I could put them into the ground far enough to reach the tip of the root structure of the plant. Even the smallest of remnants is able to spread the infestation. Much of my time was spent combing through every clod of dirt which might contain a piece of a root.
I raised my loader high enough to insert the forks deeply into the ground. I had them spaced fairly close together. They are 42" long. With the forks pointing down, I pushed my joy stick all the way forward, lifting the tractor from the ground. The weight of the tractor was enough to force the forks deep enough, (24"-30") to reach near my goal, the bottom of the roots. Then, I used the curl feature to gently pull the soil and roots from the ground. This took quite a bit of time because I had to get off of the tractor every time I made a new excavation in my approx. 500 sf. area of invasion. When I bought my forks I never dreamed they'd be the one tool to help me conquer this nasty invader.
I hope I clearly explained this.
