Fiskars Deluxe Telescoping Weeder

This is a very good product. If you've been breaking these, you didn't follow the instructions. BTW, the instructions on the sticker do a terrible job of emphasizing what to do and why you MUST do it similarly to the instructions or you WILL break the thing! First off, here's the deal: when the shaft if vertical (pointing towards the sky/ground), the lever DOES NOT push down. It actually goes UP (though you don't want to push it up). Therefore, if you put the tines in the ground, and the lever is above the ground and parallel to the ground, then pushing down on the lever WILL BREAK IT. Bottom line, buy this product - it's awesome, but DON'T push down on the lever!!! Here's how it REALLY is supposed to work: ** NOTE: these instructions are long, but they will save you breaking the thing and filing a claim. They should re-assure anyone reading the one-star reviews that the Weeder can be used without breaking it. *** These instructions are long but once you get the hang of using the Weeder, removing a weed is QUICK. First, set up: within the D-handle, turn the twisty thing half-way, and adjust length of the long shaft to suit your height. Later on, after you've used it a few times, you may realize that you got the height wrong and will then re-adjust the height. Useage: 1. Ready position: a. Opitional, but best, imo: Hold the D-handle such that the 'foot lever' faces towards you. b. Pull the orange handle (that's a third of the way from the D-handle) toward the D-handle. This will pull a small slotted plastic plate (which surrounds the tines) as far as it can go towards the D-handle. Let's call this handle the 'Slide Handle'. 2. Locate dandelion (or other weed, I guess). Perhaps brush your fingers on and around the weed to clear the area and reveal where the exact center of the weed is. 3. With the weed in front of you, and foot lever between you and the weed, place the tips of the four tines on the ground surrounding the weed, which is centered within the tines. You're in training here -- so DON'T press the tines into the ground just yet. 4. Push straight down on the D-handle to push the tines directly and completely into the ground. this is the SAFEST way to insert the tines into the ground. If you wish, you can use your foot to assist, but YOU MUST BE CAREFULL or you could damage the foot lever. Here's how to do Foot-assist: Place the toes of one foot on the part of the Foot Lever closest to the shaft. ***IMPORTANT***: --> DO NOT push down on the part of the lever furthest from shaft. That would break it. NOTE that this lever hinges UP, not down. Therefore, were you to push down on the tip of lever, you would be pushing against/opposite of the way the hinge bends. bad bad very bad... I think this is how people are breaking the Weeder: they are pushing down hard on the tip/end of the lever, and breaking it. To summarize: if you use your foot to push the tines into the ground, your force is intended to push down on the part of the lever CLOSEST to the shaft. 5. Take your foot off the foot lever. 6. At this point, the shaft is perpendicular to the ground, and the foot lever is parallel to the ground; this is normal. 7. Stop and re-assess: Well, at this point, you have Four tines that are sort parallel to each other, driven into the dirt. If the dirt has a lot of clay, and it was difficult to drive the tines into the ground, I suspect you are putting the Weeder's plastic parts at risk. Maybe pull out and remove this weed by hand..>! 8. Now you are ready to pull out the weed. Pulling the weed out is actually three steps. I'll call them the Lean, the Pinch, and the Pull. Remember, you're in training, so watch and observe carefully what happens here. Here goes: a. The Lean: With your foot NOT on the lever, lean the shaft towards yourself about about an inch or two, i.e. until that the tip of the Foot Lever touches the ground. (the picture on the sticker on the Weeder's handle actually shows this: your foot is not on lever for this motion). (of course, if the lever is jutting out to the right, then you would be leaning the shaft towards the right) b. The pinch. Pull the shaft an additional inch or two. Here's what happening: If you look carefully, you will see that there is a semi-circular gap between the part of the lever close to the shaft and a piece of plastic that runs parallel to the shaft at that point. I'll call this 'Plastic Shaft Hugger" LOL). You are to pull the shaft until this gap is fully closed. At this point, you have successfully closed the tines together. If you would like a visual on this: pull the Weeder out of the ground, pull the orange handle towards the D-handle (hold it there), and reach down and pull the Foot Lever towards the D-handle and inch or two (i.e. until that little gap between lever and Plastic Shaft Hugger is closed up). You will see the tines neatly pull together (until they are like 1/2 " apart). c. The Pull. Place (or don't place) your foot on the TIP of the Foot Lever. This is only for stability. You don't really need to do this. Then, Pull the D-Handle until the weed has been extracted from the ground. ! You'll have the weed and a clump of dirt below it that contains the root. 9. Push the Orange Slide Handle away from the D-Handle as far as it will go (a few inches) This will release the weed.. 10. Pull the Slide Handle back towards the D-handle - the Weeder is not ready for your next weed. 11. Since it's your first time, pick up the weed and pull the dirt off of it. You should uncover a few inches of root. Success !! 12. If you DON"T see the root, then you missed it. Try again, or just be more carefull next time when centering the Weeder over a weed. Next: clean up time: 13. You can carry a bucket around with you to drop pulled weeds into. 14. Unfortunately, using the Weeder creates a fairly sizeable divot. Maybe someone can tell me how to avoid this. If you wish, carry around an additional bucket of dirt, and fill in the divots as you go. Let me know if these instructions help. - A Fiskars Fan