We love to find gadgets which are both cool and practical which is why we so thrilled to get our hands on the Fiskars weed puller, aka W52. You’ve probably seen the adverts (which are a little cheesy) of two men in the garden with one showing off his new weed puller and the other begging to have a go – despite the cheesiness it makes it look really cool. But is it any good? We’ve reviewed it in text, photos and video below and welcome your opinions in our comments section too. Enjoy!
Fiskars Weed Puller Design
The first thing that strikes you is the size as it measures just under a meter in length and looks like a mini jaws of life, apart from this tool is used to extract weeds with gusto. It’s made of ultra durable plastic which makes it strong but at the same time extremely light which is important when it comes to stepping on the ample sized foot plate, pulling back on the handle and then ejecting the weed like a shotgun shell.
Packaging and storage
Packaging is minimal but you will need a philips head screwdriver to remove it. Alternatively you can remove the cardboard and keep the handy plastic hanger to hook the weed puller up in the shed once you've finished.
How it works
The jaws are held open by a plastic guide. You push the jaws into the ground using the plastic foot plate, arch the handle back to close the jaws then pull it out. Finally you cock the handle like a shotgun to fire the weed out like an green fingered Terminator.
Video
The photos above don’t really do this garden gadget justice. Here’s a 21 second video we took quickly using an iPhone to show just how easy the Fiskers weed puller is to use. This was taken around ten minutes after getting home and i’m no gardener which just goes to show how easy it is to use.
Is it worth the money?
There aren’t too many garden gadgets which are as useful as this one. It’s very easy to use, robust, eco-friendly compared to weed killer and doesn’t leave a huge hole in your lawn like a spade would. The RRP is £39.99, although you can get your hands on one for a great deal less if you shop around (Amazon have it for a shade under £29) and we’d say that’s a great price for the convenience it brings. What do you think?
A great concept that needs completely rebuilding. The packaging is a card fixed to the handle with a self tapping acre – take this out and you a left with a sharp edged hole on the handle. The instructions are minimal – tiny 1/2" square pictures that are useless. In use, unless the ground is soft it's very hard to push into the soil. If you don't get the weed exactly centred it won't pull out. If you don't get the tool exactly vertical it doesn't work. If the weed is not carrot-like in its root shape it doesn't work. If it is carrot-shaped it will snap off and regrow again. Tried out in a lawn and it leaves a hole every time. Tried out on dock in a paddock and on average it took three to four attempts to partially remove the plant . Thistles are too soft to withstand the grip and just breaks off. It can't cope with nettles.
If Dyson had invented it, it would have cost four times as much but at least it would have worked. As soon as i can be bothered it is going back to the shop.
Thanks for your review. I used the plastic hanger to hook it up in the shed, but can see how the screw might leave a sharp edge if removed.