Soil Probe 36 Inches, Soil Sample Probe Stainless Steel, Soil Sampler Probes Rod for Soil Sampling, Soil Test Kit for Gardening

Seems to be a good soil probe.

This soil probe and sampler seems to have everything you'd want in a probe: 1. Sturdy construction - heavy duty stainless steel tube with a solidly welded handle that will not loosen or crack. Although on mine, the welding is not very uniform or attractive. The tool is 12 inches long, it can be pushed 10.5 inches below the surface of the ground. The ends of the handle are plugged with plastic endcaps to help keep out moisture and dirt. 2. It's sharp - Not only is the point very sharp to help penetrate the ground surface, but the soiling sampling chamber is long and sharp on both sides to assist with cutting through roots and duff. When the probe stops pushing down, it may be because it has encountered a rock. When this happens, do not attempt to push the probe down any further as it will possibly dull the mouth of the probe. 3. Large sample area - although some soil samples may not want to be removed from the probe, this probe comes with a steel tube that you use to push the sample from the bottom into the sample area where it can be easily removed. I've had probes in the past where I needed to push the plug up using a screwdriver; this works better. The sampling area of the probe is more than adequate to extract a good sample. 4. Ease of use - while some other probes have more metal between the end tip and the start of the probe sample chamber, presumably for added strength, this model has a shorter area between the point and chamber, making it potentially quicker and easier to extract an adequate sample without sacrificing strength. However, it should be pointed out that the ease of use is largely dependent upon the soil that is being sampled. My soil is largely clay beyond the top three inches, and it was very difficult to penetrate beyond five inches. This is not because I may need to hit the gym, but rather because I worry that once the probe gets in six or seven inches, it will take a car jack to pull it out of the soil. Our soil can only be adequately probed when it is wet, and the water and clay produce an enormous degree of suction that makes retrieving the probe a real chore. This is not intended to disparage a very fine probe tool, but rather simply serve as a bit of a warning, and hopefully provide some helpful advice.

I have a few similar longer soil probes and I can say this 12" smaller size works just fine. I do have to bend down a little more, but not an issue as I'll be at grass height anyways. I use the probe to gather soil samples, and the included bags help. I use the probe more for identifying trouble areas. I check for soil conditions, how far down until I reach Caliche. Ideally I want to see 6" of good soil and I want my grass roots to reach 4-6" depth. Anything shorter means I need to work on the root health. The probe also helps to see how far the water is reaching. This 12" probe is easy to use, easy to get down 6" and the smaller size makes it easy to store or travel with. The push rod helps with removal of soil sample and first time I seen this rod included. The tip has a sharp edge, cuts into the soil or grass with ease. Please make sure soil has been watered recently but not wet. The quality of the steel is great and I'm glad there's a rubber tip cover for protection. I've seen much cheaper units sold for much more, so great price for the quality. This is coming from someone that has used soil probes for years.

This soil probe works relatively well but I wonder why the top half of the probe is hollow, making it a challenge to remove dirt from inside that section. I understand one should stop pushing the probe down before it starts inserting soil into the upper part, but, still, sometimes moist dirt gets up there. It is not a deal breaker but it is a hassle to get wet or impacted soil out of that part. Truthfully, I ordered this probe because it will be handy to help determine how much moisture is in the soil that's close to the root zone of my plants, especially potted plants. Potted plants can get root rots from too much water, so this will be helpful since it won't disturb too much of the planting area. I also like the sharpness of the opening, which makes it easier to push into compacted soil. I recommend washing off the metal inset tip before using it to send any soil to labs because it is "sealed" in a foul-smelling petroleum/chemical substance. It seemed to easily clean off. Bottom line: I think the price is quite reasonable for a stainless steel probe, but keep in mind, I haven't had it long enough to check for rust. Still, I think this is a perfectly good tool for the job it is intended for.

I know this might sound like a weird use case, but my husband and I are hobbyist gold panners, and we found out our property is on an ancient riverbed. So we've been using tools like this to help pull small initial samples from target spots identified with lidar images. We had a slightly shorter one that worked OK, but I ordered this to let us get a little bit deeper for those first samples. Then we dig a wider pit around it and use these again to sample the next layer down. It's helped us identify several spots with flour gold already, which is exciting (less from a prospecting perspective and more for the proof of concept from a geological research perspective). I can certainly see us using these in gardening and other projects too, but right now that's the main use case here, and it works perfectly. This is a durable tool. Our soil isn't the softest, and it goes through it just fine. I do wish there was an option to go a little deeper (I see there's a longer one you use your foot to press in, but you'd still only get a 9in sample. But for these early tests we do, it's fine for now. And it's a very affordable tool if you're looking to try the same.