Garrett Wade Exclusive

Garry's Back Saving Weeder

If you don't already know the story, Garrett Wade was founded back in 1975 by a visionary man named Garretson Wade Chinn (Garry). Garry can always spot a well-made tool we can all use. This weeder is a blessing to all who like to save... See More

Garry's Back Saving Weeder
12A04.18
Garry's Back Saving Weeder
$32.00
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Foot pressing the cast-steel lever — the moment that makes this tool work
An early-1900s design · Faithfully rebuilt by Garrett Wade

Meet Garry

A Design Worth Bringing Back

Garrett Wade was founded in 1975 by a man named Garretson Wade Chinn — Garry to everyone who knew him. The whole company began with a simple instinct: Garry could spot a well-made tool, and he believed other people deserved access to the same quality he was finding for himself.

This weeder is one of those finds. The original design dates to the early 1900s, an era when hand tools were engineered to last a working lifetime. We tracked it down, rebuilt it to match the original, and added it to the catalog because the mechanism is too good to leave forgotten. It is not nostalgia. The geometry is just right.

Design Origin
Early 1900s
Method
Step & Lean
Required
Zero Bending

Garry believed a tool was worth selling when it solved a real problem in a way the customer could feel the first time they used it. Step. Lean. Out comes the weed, root and all. You feel the difference in five seconds.

The Garrett Wade Garden Team

The Mechanism

Step. Lean. Out Comes the Weed.

The two cast-steel prongs straddle the weed at the crown. Your foot drives them into the soil using the steel lever. Then you lean the long handle in the opposite direction — not pull, not yank, just lean — and the tool pries the weed up from underneath. The taproot comes with it. There is nothing left in the ground to regrow.

The motion is gentle and the leverage is enormous. A 44-inch handle multiplies your weight against the resistance of the soil. The deeper the root, the better this tool works. Dandelions in lawn, plantain in the cracks of a brick path, thistle along a fence line — it all comes out the same way.

Close-up of the cast-steel prong head and foot lever — the working end of the tool

The Back

The Hour You Stop Losing to Your Knees

Most weeding tools are designed for someone kneeling. A trowel, a Cape Cod weeder, a fish-tail puller — all of them assume you are willing to spend the afternoon on the ground. For some gardeners that is fine for a season or two. For most, it stops being fine sooner than they thought.

This tool is what comes next. Stand upright. Foot on the lever. Hand on the bamboo. The weeding gets done in less time because you are not stopping every fifteen minutes to stand up and stretch. Gardeners who switch tend to say the same thing: they did not realize how much energy they were losing to the kneeling itself.

Lower half of the weeder showing the bamboo handle joining the cast-steel prong head

The Design

Four Parts. One Job. Done Right.

Garry's Back Saving Weeder dimensions diagram — 45.6 inch length, 2.85 inch prong width

Cast-Steel Prongs

Two parallel prongs cast as a single piece of steel, set 2.85 inches apart — tight enough to grip a taproot, wide enough to clear the crown of the weed without nicking it.

Steel Foot Lever

Welded to the prong base, sized for any work boot. Your body weight drives the prongs into the soil — not your arms, not your wrist. The mechanism does the work.

44″ Bamboo Handle

Strong, light, weather-resistant. Stamped with the Garrett Wade logo. The 44-inch length is the lever; it is also the reason you never have to bend over to pull a weed.

Leverage, Not Effort

The geometry is what makes this tool feel almost effortless. Your weight on the lever, the long handle as the pry, the prongs as the fulcrum. Even the deepest taproot has no choice but to come up.

The Routine

The Weekend Job That Stops Feeling Like One

For most gardeners, weeding is the chore you put off because of what it costs the next morning. The lower back. The knees. The wrists. A weekend spent crawling around the perennial bed and you are paying for it through Wednesday.

The change is real and immediate. You walk the bed, find the weed, step on the lever, lean, drop it in the bucket. Repeat. You can do an entire bed in the time it used to take to weed half of it, and you are standing upright the whole time.

Garry's Back Saving Weeder — full tool on a clean background

A good tool solves a problem you did not know you had ten minutes after you start using it. This weeder does that. Step on the lever, lean the handle, and the way you weed forever changes. Garry believed in tools like that. So do we.

The Garrett Wade Garden Team

Specifications

The Details

Overall Length45.6″ (handle plus prong head)
Handle Length44″ bamboo, stamped GW logo
Prong Width2.85″ (outside to outside)
Prong MaterialCast steel, single piece
Foot LeverCast steel, welded to prong base
Handle MaterialBamboo, natural finish
WeightApprox. 2.86 lbs
ColorNatural wood and silver steel
Best ForDandelion, plantain, dock, thistle, taproot weeds
MethodChemical-free, leverage-based
ShippingGround only — contiguous 48 states
SKU12A04.18
Price
Garry's Back Saving Weeder — full product reference

Common Questions

Frequently Asked

It pulls the root. Two prongs grip below the crown, the foot lever drives them deep, and leaning the handle pries the weed out from underneath. Snapping the top off and leaving the root to regrow is exactly what this tool prevents.
Best on weeds with a single taproot or tight crown — dandelions, plantain, dock, thistle, young burdock. For very large mats of grassy weeds, expect to make multiple passes. For weeds smaller than your thumb, the prongs work fine but a hand tool is faster.
Yes, with one note: in hard, dry clay, water the spot a few minutes before. The foot lever needs to drive the prongs in, and rock-hard ground fights every tool. In normal garden soil, lawn, or after rain, it sinks easily.
The handle is 44 inches long — designed so an average-height adult stands upright while using it. Taller users find it comfortable too; very short users may want a custom hand position higher on the shaft. Either way, no bending.
The handle is bamboo, finished smooth and stamped with the Garrett Wade logo. Bamboo is strong, light, and naturally resistant to weather — better than most hardwoods for a tool that lives outside.

Step. Lean. Done.

The tool that pulls weeds out root and all, without bending. A classic early-1900s design, faithfully rebuilt by Garrett Wade.

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