I don't write many reviews but my recent experience with buying a soil probe has been so frustrating I thought I would share my lessons learned. I am having serious septic drain field issues and needed to locate the lines in the drain field. We have heavy clay soil so probing is not easy. FYI, if you have light, fluffy soil, my comments may not apply to your buying decision.I shopped on Amazon and saw a wide range of prices for what looked like a simple steel rod with a T-handle. This is not rocket science, right, so I decided to go cheap and bought a 60" steel rod at HD that was a 1/2" solid rod with a ground down tapered point. It was a disaster. First, 60" is much too long to be able to use bodyweight to push the rod into the ground. Second, the thin T-handle was very painful on my hands even after I padded it. Third, and most importantly, the straight 1/2 " shaft of the cheap rod created significant friction with the soil as it penetrated into the ground. The deeper it got the more friction there was. I did not expect this to be an issue but at times I had trouble getting the rod back out of the ground I had just pushed it into. I struggled with it for an afternoon before cutting the rod down to 42" from 60". This helped get my weight into the rod but did not solve the friction or skinny handle problem.I now realize that the better-engineered rods like this one from T&T Tools have significant advantages over the cheaper tools. The most significant is the screw-on metal tip which is a larger diameter than the shaft of the rod. The one I bought has a 3/8" steel shaft and a 1/2" screw-on tip. The improvement in the ground penetration is amazing. The tip opens the hole in the soil and the shaft simply slides in and out with almost no friction. As a bonus, the tip can be replaced as needed or swapped with a round tip for probing where you do not want to damage a pipe. The 42" length for me is just right. If you are less than 6' in height you might consider a bit shorter.Also, the handle is significantly larger in diameter so easier on the hands and made of solid steel so has extra weight to help in the initial push into the ground. It is also designed to be electrically insulated to protect from shock hazards and it screws on and off if a rod replacement was ever needed.Finally, (sorry this went on so long) the T&T Tool Company has impressed me with their responsiveness to my questions and the very prompt shipping plus the quality of the Made-in-the-USA tool is exceptional. I rarely make an Amazon purchase that is not Prime eligible but T&T Tools has totally earned my trust as a direct supplier.I hope this review might save someone from wasting time with lesser tools.
