If you're shopping for a root cutting shovel, you've almost certainly run into two names: the Radius Garden Root Slayer and our Spear Head Spade. Both exist because ordinary shovels are terrible at roots. Both have loyal followings. And since we make one of them, you have every right to expect bias here.
So let's set the ground rules: we'll use published specs, we'll tell you plainly what the Root Slayer does well, and we'll tell you which gardeners we think are better served by each tool. The Root Slayer is a genuinely good product made by people who care about gardening. It's just built around different choices than ours.
The Two Designs in One Paragraph Each
The Root Slayer (Radius Garden) uses an inverted-V "ripsaw" blade tip with serrated edges along the V. The idea is to trap a root in the notch and saw-cut through it. It has Radius's signature round O-handle in ergonomic thermoplastic over a polypropylene-encased carbon steel shaft, and a tempered mid-carbon steel blade.
The Spear Head Spade uses a smooth spear-pointed blade, beveled and pre-sharpened from tip to tail at a 35 degree angle, in high carbon manganese steel that's about 33 percent thicker and 25 percent harder than standard shovel steel. The point concentrates your foot pressure to penetrate, and the sharpened shoulders slice roots as the blade sinks. Handles are steel-reinforced fiberglass with a cushioned D-grip (40 inch) or a 58 inch long handle.
Same problem, two philosophies: saw teeth in a notch versus a continuously sharpened point.
Spec Table (Fact-Checked)
Specs below are from each company's product listings as of mid-2026. Retail prices vary by store and season.
| Spear Head Spade SHFD3 | Radius Garden Root Slayer | |
|---|---|---|
| Price (direct) | $60 | $59.99 (often more at big-box retail) |
| Blade material | High carbon manganese steel, tempered; approx. 33% thicker and 25% harder than standard shovels | Tempered mid-carbon steel, 2.5 mm thick |
| Blade shape | Spear point, 9" x 11", smooth beveled edge sharpened tip to tail at 35 degrees | Inverted-V tip with serrated "ripsaw" edges, 13" x 10.5" blade |
| Handle | Steel-reinforced fiberglass (60% stronger than the EN-3388 standard), cushioned UV-resistant D-grip | Carbon steel shaft encased in polypropylene, O-handle with elastomer grip |
| Overall length | 40" (SHFD3); 58" long-handle version available (SHLF2) | 44.5" |
| Weight | 4.5 lb | Listed at 5 lb 8 oz |
| Footrests | Forward-bent footrests on both shoulders | Standard step at top of blade |
| Track record | ~600,000 sold; passed QVC drop testing | Multiple garden-industry awards |
What the Root Slayer Does Well
Credit where it's due.
The O-handle is clever. It gives you multiple grip positions and lets you push or twist with both hands anywhere around the ring. Gardeners with wrist arthritis often like being able to keep wrists neutral.
The serrated V is satisfying on a trapped root. When a mid-sized root lands square in the notch, the sawing action chews through it reliably, even if your technique is casual.
The lifetime guarantee is real. Radius stands behind the tool, and that counts for something on any purchase.
It's widely available. Big-box stores stock it, so you can hold one before buying.
Where the Designs Part Ways
Serrated teeth versus a sharpened edge. Serrations work by tearing, and they only cut where the teeth are. Between root encounters, those teeth add friction on every plain digging stroke, and serrated edges are difficult to resharpen at home once they dull. A smooth 35 degree bevel slices roots anywhere along the blade's edge, digs cleaner between roots, and touches up in a minute with an ordinary mill file. Our blade coating even wears away with use to keep exposing the pre-sharpened steel.
The point versus the notch. The Root Slayer's inverted-V has to catch a root to saw it. A spear point doesn't need to catch anything: it penetrates first, then the sharpened shoulders cut whatever they meet on the way down. In rocky or heavy clay soil, the point also slips past stones that stop a wider tip cold.
Weight and effort. At a listed 5.5 pounds, the Root Slayer is a hefty tool, and you feel that by the twentieth planting hole. The steel-reinforced fiberglass handle keeps the Spear Head Spade lighter in the hand, which matters most to the gardeners who dig the longest.
Foot comfort. Our forward-bent footrests give your boot a real platform. If you dig by foot pressure (and with a sharp blade, you should), that comfort adds up.
Handle choice. We offer a true 58 inch long-handle version the SHLF2 long handle spade for gardeners who want maximum leverage and minimal bending, plus a 30 inch precision mini the SHMini for close work in established beds.
When to Pick Each
Pick the Root Slayer if: you love the O-handle grip after trying one in a store, you want a lifetime guarantee in writing, or your digging is mostly occasional root demolition where tool weight doesn't bother you.
Pick the Spear Head Spade if: you dig regularly and want a lighter tool, you garden in clay or rocky soil where penetration is the battle, you want an edge you can maintain yourself for decades, or you value being able to choose a D-grip, long-handle, or mini format for your body and your beds.
Honestly, either tool will make you wonder why you fought roots with a scoop shovel for so long.
Why 600,000 Gardeners Chose the Spear Head
We're a family business, and this spade exists because ordinary shovels kept failing at real garden work. The design has now sold roughly 600,000 units, survived QVC's drop tests on live television, and earned its keep in the toughest test we know: gardeners in their sixties and seventies telling us they can dig again because the sharpened point does the work their knees used to do.
If that sounds like the tool you've been missing, take a look at the SHFD3 with the cushioned D-grip, in Red, Lavender, or Yellow the SHFD3 with D-grip. If it turns out the Root Slayer suits you better, that's fine too. Either way, stop jumping on blunt shovels. Your back deserves better.