Pitchfork

The device forks the following: on a handle - a wooden rod of a rounded cross section with a diameter of about 3-5 cm and a length of about 1.5 meters - a steel device is reinforced, which consists of several (3-7) slightly bent sharpened teeth, structurally connected by a single cross bar. The cutting has a slight bend in the opposite direction than the teeth, so that with the horizontal position the center of gravity is slightly shifted down. This is necessary so that during the transfer of the load it is not necessary to make additional efforts to avoid turning the forks in the hands. Also for stacking hay or loading on the hayloft, a truck is used forks with an extended handle - up to 2.5 meters. Lightweight solid wood forks for hay ( hardwoods ) with two or three teeth are made from a branch of a tree with a fork.

The design of the forks provides for impaling and moving any loose plant mass (hay, leaves, etc.), and thus the main action of the forks is piercing. Forks are used for:

• loading and unloading of hay , dung, straw, tops, etc .;
• loosening hay during drying;
• aeration (puncture) of the soil in order to supply the roots with oxygen.

A variety of forks with balls at the ends of the teeth (blunt forks) is used for digging and loading potatoes and other root crops, as well as for loading coal. These forks usually have more teeth, up to 10-12.

Fork-shovels have four flat teeth about 2 cm wide, used for digging heavy soils.

In Christian mythology, pitchforks are depicted as an instrument of devils in hell , used to torture sinners . Trident forks - one of the attributes of the Devil . Similar legends came from the ancient images of the god of the seas, Poseidon (Neptune), holding in his hand a fishing trident . In medieval Europe, the preserved images of this and some other ancient gods ( Pan , Silenus , Hephaestus, and others) were perceived as portraits of devils or Satan, and the trident as forks.

The emblem of the magazine "Crocodile" was a drawing of a red crocodile with a pitchfork; one of the rubrics of the magazine was called “Pitchfork in the side!”.

In the famous American Gothic , forks are the center of the composition and symbolize the threat.

Traditionally, forks, due to their “unclean” work (they also put manure in), are prohibited from being brought into the house (only in the barn) and even by washing - if they become soiled they can be left outside in the rain for cleaning.

• Pitchfork ( colloquial ) - stalemate, the end. For example, they say, “ Well, everything is pitchfork! ".
• Pitchfork is written on water - about anything doubtful, uncertain, not yet clear, unlikely.

• Grip

• Shangina I. I. Vila // Russian traditional life: Encyclopedic Dictionary. - SPb. : The ABC Classic, 2003. - P. 166-169. - 688 s.