David Goodman ReviewsThe Planet Whizbang Wheel HoeAt Florida Survival Gardening

Dateline: 1 August 2013

David Goodman with his homemade Planet Whizbang wheel hoe.

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David Goodman has posted an excellent review of my Planet Whizbang wheel hoe at his Florida Survival Gardening web site. Check it out.

I think it may be the first review anyone has done of my wheel hoe design. I sent a whole hoe, with handles attached, to Mother Earth News several years ago, suggesting that they publish the specifications in a how-to article, or just review the tool. They gave it a brief mention in the magazine, along with other wheel hoes, but that was it.

Long-time readers of this blog will remember when I announced the development of my wheel hoe here back in March of 2009 (Click Here to Read). A couple months later I had The Web Site up and running, and I started selling bolt-together parts kits at that time—kits just like David Goodman bought and assembled for his review.

To help spur some interest and sales in the new wheel hoe, I issued a Planet Whizbang Pioneer Certificate to the first 250 hoe buyers. I suspect that some of you reading this now are officially-certified Planet Whizbang Pioneers. That was a lot of fun.

Very shortly after I introduced my wheel hoe design, the HOSS wheel hoe came onto the market. That wheel hoe got a lot of attention while mine didn't. So I haven't sold an enormous number of Planet Whizbang wheel hoe parts kits since 2009, but I continue to send the kits out, and I continue to get a lot of Great Feedback.

I recently received this comment from John-Erik Schellenberg at La Finka Farm:

"I ordered a metal parts kit from you three years ago. This wheel hoe has been an indispensable tool on my farm since then. No other design comes close. I've made a few other attachments, but the stirrup blade is absolutely fantastic." 

Another man recently e-mailed me with the first negative comment on the Planet Whizbang wheel hoe. He thought his Glaser wheel hoe had a little bit more oscillation range and that served to buried the weeds better when hoeing. He also thought the Whizbang design would be better if it had adjustable height on the handles. But he ended his letter by saying...

"Overall I like the Whizbang. It feels sturdier than the Glaser and I think it will require less retightening and adjusting as well--The nuts are always loosening up on the glaser. Admittedly we are pretty tough on them, though."

Unlike anything else I sell at Planet Whizbang, I have kept track of every person who has bought a wheel hoe kit from me. Thus far, I've sold 546 kits. I include a note with each kit, thanking the buyer, and letting them know what number of Whizbang Wheel Hoe they have purchased.

I've sent kits to most every state in the Union and many kits to Canada. I've also sent kits to Norway, England, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Australia, Finland, India, Taiwan, New Zealand, Japan, Romania, and Vanuatu. 

At one time, I sold a parts specifications package so other people could make the hoe without buying my metal parts kit. But I no longer do that because complete specifications are now in The Planet Whizbang Idea Book For Gardeners.

One of the neatest things about the wheel hoe is that I took the name I gave the hoe—Planet Whizbang— and the funky leafy beet logo I designed, and applied both to my home business, which was formerly named Whizbang Books, and had no logo.

So there's a little Whizbang history for you newer readers, and some updated information. Even though I don't sell a lot of them, I expect to be selling Planet Whizbang wheel hoe kits for a long time to come.

Thank you, David, for the nice review at your great web site.