[puddleplasher]

I'm waiting to see Roomba's entry into this market niche, myself.

'plash

[Niennor]

If I'm going to own something that vibrates, it ain't gonna be a manure fork!

A ++++

[JanetEv]

I listen to the Horses in the Morning podcast and they seem to have a lot of users that call in about the Shake'n forks. And Jamie is taking all the time about how indestructible and light her PLASTIC Flex'n Fork is, in fact a couple of shows about she ran over the basket with her 1000 lb gator and it didn't break. I also read Horsenation, one of my favorite blogs, and Leslie also comments very favorably about a Shake'n Fork that she uses. The reviews are amazingly positive, so there must be something more to these than what one might expect.
Perhaps others that are using these can comment?

[Frank B]

It ranks right up there with the DVD re-winder.

[ezduzit]

Leave me with my purple fork and the birds singing; puppy dog lounging in the shade. I'm happy!

[MindyNash]

I love cleaning my ten stalls I crank up my music and no husband or kids distracting me. After two years my hand can barely move and my doctor says I have work related arthritis and the repetive motion of cleaning stalls has to stop. I try all kinds of cures and braces. My doctor wants to put me on steroids. I figure there has to be another way. I found a machine but it costs over 1300 dollars. The shakenfork seems expensive but if it can help me so I don't keep ruining my joints I figure it is worth a try, especially considering the damage the steroids can do. I work with a brace and use the shakenfork and within one month my hand is better and now I have little to no pain. My doctor is happy and I am happy. Plus the amount I save on my bedding is about 30/40 percent. It takes me less time to do stalls which leaves me more time to ride and do several other barn chores. I love my barn time!

[MindyNash]

BTW read this after my previous response someone gave me a roomba and that thing is back on the shelf at Costco! Unlike the Roomba the shakenfork does not suck. Thanks again to the inventor for helping me stop my work related arthritis, giving me more time to ride and saving me money!

[AliCat518]

Hmm mindy do you work for shakenfork?!?!

Also, is it sad that the first thing I noticed in the ad was that they spelled 'paddock' wrong?!

[Sannois]

Leave me with my purple fork and the birds singing; puppy dog lounging in the shade. I'm happy!

No Doubt!!

[S1969]

As I deal with my annual bout of elbow tendonitis (from carrying water buckets because it's too cold to use the hose)...I can see some value in these gadgets. However, the shaking fork sounds like it might be hard to work with; not sure if the handle vibrates or not but if it did, it would be worse (for my injury, e.g.) than a standard fork.

The shaker belt, though, that sounds like it could be useful. I know a lot of bigger barns don't use pellets because it can be more labor intensive than shavings, especially if you have horses that track their manure around. But I could easily see how this could work in a larger barn. For my 3 stalls, it's a little overkill.

[GotGait]

Something tells me the shakenfork PR folks have found this thread...

[Shine]

And I thought this was odd.

The Horse Hockey Stick- Trailrider's Pooper Scooper is available at Barn Buddies Boutique (http://www.barnbb.com)! Equestrian riders can swiftly and easily knock manure right off of the trail without dismounting.
- Easy to use
- Durable
- Hygienic
- Lightweight
- weighs less than 2 pounds
- Collapses from 5 feet to 18 inches
- Resistant to heat/cold/rain/sand/dust/mud
- Two fully adjustable straps make it a breeze to store your Horse Hockey Stick on your saddle

I'll take 2. One for each hand. Or 9. One for each saddle!

[danceronice]

Great point!! When and why did plastic manure forks appear? In cold weather they snap, they snap when you step on them....they are STUPID so why are they often my only option when I go to a tack store?

Heck, we've got an ordinary plastic 'apple picker' and I have no idea how old it is. Still works fine, nothing's ever broken on it. The big pitchforks (for moving hay and straw, not manure) the tines stay good but the wood handles wear out, but you can always get new ones...what are people DOING to their manure fork that the idea of it lasting 2+ years is a novelty?

Given my issues with cleaning stalls lately is more tendinitis/carpal type pain and numbness, I doubt a vibrating fork would do anything but make it hurt MORE....

[MindyNash]

I probably could I like the product so much. In any case, it works for me not saying it is going to save the world. You should let them know they made a mistake with the spelling nobody is perfect and am sure they would want to fix it. Anyways, stalls are cleaned so I have to go ride my horses and put out more feed. Wish ya all a great day.

[Long Spot]

I probably could I like the product so much. In any case, it works for me not saying it is going to save the world. You should let them know they made a mistake with the spelling nobody is perfect and am sure they would want to fix it. Anyways, stalls are cleaned so I have to go ride my horses and put out more feed. Wish ya all a great day.

Riiiight. Bless ya, Mindy.

[HeartsongHorses]

I would like something like this for the couple of horses who grind their poops into little pieces. It's hard to pick the pieces from the shavings. The other ones it doesn't matter.

[jaslyn1701]

My local tack store sells manure forks that come from the changes in the dye lots at a discount.

On the weekends, I work with others and clean a barn of 16 horses. Looking at the ad, I would think the shakenfork assumes that horses poop in neat little piles cozily nested in clean shavings that you want to preserve. The reality is that my horse, along with several others are complete stall pigs - not much left to shake.

Shaking is an art - too little and it doesn't work, too much and the "balls" fall apart.

[jaslyn1701]

My local tack store sells manure forks that come from the changes in the dye lots at a discount.

On the weekends, I work with others and clean a barn of 16 horses. Looking at the ad, I would think the shakenfork assumes that horses poop in neat little piles cozily nested in clean shavings that you want to preserve. The reality is that my horse, along with several others are complete stall pigs - not much left to shake.

Fork shaking is an art form - too little and you keep the shavings; too much and the "balls" fall apart.

[MindyNash]

I have the neat poopers and the stir and grind it up poopers (most of them TB). I use shavings in some and Pellets that have been broken up by wetting in others. I use a shovel for urine spots. I find I do most of the work with the ones that bury the poop. The fork vibrates and the good stuff falls through and the balls remain in the fork. I put a wire net on my fork for the ones that grind so that the small pieces don't fall back on floor. The vibration does not bother my wrist it was the constant side to side motion that hurt my wrist. I have just been lucky that this works for me because with my sudden arthritis at forty I would hate to have to give up caring for the horses. Even if I did not have Arthritis now that I know I can clean faster and painlessly well it like this "I can wash dishes by hand but I am still going to use my dishwasher and if that makes me lazy then call me LAZY".

[merrygoround]

How very kind of you Mindy to go to all the trouble to join the COTH just so you could tell us about this.