# Rogue Hoe or Mcleod?



## giant24niner (Oct 28, 2007)

Which is better and why? A Rogue Hoe or a McLeod? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of each. I appreciate the input in advance. Thanks.


----------



## sparrow (Dec 30, 2003)

We had the chance to demo some Rogue Hoes. They worked well in soil, dirt, clay, loamy, and in shaping dirt jumps and berms. But we broke one in rocky terrain that was no problem for the ZAC Tools Mcleods. Obviously, pick the right tool for the job. 

The Mcleods are a bit more rugged, can rake, move dirt, pack, cut and shape a bit. The Rogue seems pretty good for cutting roots and carving soil that is, well, like cheese, shape and carve, or move loamy or clay soils? But for rocks and rugged abuse, the Mcleod wins for us (even at twice the price)

A club or group, or shop, can set up a wholesale account with ZAC, and get free freight on orders over $850 plus 20% off. They have a LOT of stuff a trail building group could use.

We'll likely have a Rogue hoe or two, but the Mcleods will get more use.


----------



## Fattirewilly (Dec 10, 2001)

sparrow said:


> But we broke one in rocky terrain that was no problem for the ZAC Tools Mcleods. Obviously, pick the right tool for the job.


You broke the handle or the blade?

Really neither is ideal for busting through rocky soil, that's what a pulaski is for or a pick mattock if its really rocky.

Giant24,

The Rogue is a single tool compromise between a Pulaski and McLeod. If I have to go for a hike with one tool to do a little grade dip work here and there, I'll take the Rogue. If I'm hiking with a friend, then its a Pulakski/McLeod combo.

For actual construction, suck it up, carry in the two tool combo, the pulaski (or ax mattock) and McLeod are hard to beat. You can move and scatter volumes of material with a Rogue, but a McLeod is twice as fast. Also, the McLeod has the rake feature but the correct model Rogue has a pick.


----------



## sbaryenbruch (Jan 4, 2004)

*rogue info....*

Throwing these out there because it may answer your question.

Snippets from mtbr posts regarding the Rogue:

" The Rogue Hoes are very well made and IMO are worth having at least a couple. Not a replacement to the usual quiver, but a good complement."

"Our club uses the Rogue Hoe and Pulaski for most stuff....As said earlier..if you want one tool to use on a hike..the Rogue is the ticket. If it's a group build, we throw in a bunch of McCleod's to do the raking, scraping, and throwing of the tilled up debris and a couple of 10 x 10 tampers to do the final stomping. I like the looks of that Rhino though...and I love my Schulaski as well....we bought one lamberton rake...it's way too heavy!!"

" The Rogue Hoe does have a slight curve and it works well for shaping and tamping but with a smaller footprint than a McLeod. We have the one with a small pick on 1 side and about a 6" blade on the other."

"The Rogue is great for grabbing one tool, going on a hike and fixing a little here and there."

"In addition to using a Pulaski and McLeod for construction of a full bench cut, I have found a superb tool for cutting the back slope. It is called a Rogue Hoe. The Ben Meadows company has them on their website. It is by far the easiest tool to use for correctly shaping the back slope of your new singletrack. I think this tool was mentioned on this forum a year or so ago, and the original poster was correct...it is a great tool. Does a good job of tamping and cutting thru some small roots also. Add it to your tool kit."

"Yep, the rogue hoe is a great addition to ones tool cache. I got a chance to use one last fall for the for first time and liked its versatility. The longer handle v. the pulaski and the sharper blade v. the Mcleod make it a great tool."

"I don't know what Ben Meadows charges for them, but they're likely cheaper directly from the manufacturer. I haven't had a chance to use one yet, but several guys here in KC absolutely swear by them. We just bought about 25 of them."

"The popularity and effectiveness of the Pulaski & McLeod are for good reason; they work really well. When I'm doing solo work, I like to bring one in each hand. A couple of years ago, however, I read about someone asking for opinions on the Rogue Hoe. htttp://www.thestgeorgeco.com/catalog...ogue_hoes.html I checked them out and liked the look, so I bought one of the 55A models, with a pointed "pick" at one end. I liked it so much I bought two more as end of season awards for our hardest working local volunteers. The tool is quite light, with a hardened steel head that really holds an edge. It cuts through roots and duff like a hot knife though butter and shapes and tamps quite well. The pointed end is excellent for digging around rocks & roots. I've found that if I want to go light with one tool that does a lot well, this is it. Not a replacement for the trusty Pulaski or McLeod, but certainly a good complement."


----------

