DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS 198 
Second  Edition  
2017 -07-07 
 
 
 Reference number  
DUS 198: 2017 
© UNBS 2017   
  
Spades — Specifications  
 DUS 198: 2017  
ii © UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself confer immunity from legal obligations  
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all necessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible for its correct application  
© UN BS 2017   
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without prior written 
permission from UNBS.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to  
The Executive Director  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards  
P.O. Box 6329  
Kampala  
Uganda  
Tel: +256 41 4 333 2 50/1/2/3  
Fax: +256 41 4 286 123  
E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  DUS 198:2017  
© UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Types and dimensions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........................  1 
5 Materials  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  2 
5.1 Blades  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  2 
5.2 Sockets  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
5.3 Rivets  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  3 
5.4 Handles  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
6 Heat treatment and hardness  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  3 
7 Construction  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  3 
8 Dimensions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  3 
9 Finish  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  7 
10 Marking  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  9 
11 Test methods  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  8 
11.1  Hardness  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  8 
11.2 Mechanical test  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 8 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  11 
 DUS 198: 2017  
iv © UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  
 Foreword  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade , Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327 , of the Laws of Uganda , as amended .  UNBS is mandated to co -
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Com mission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT  Agreement  of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).  
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried out through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on sta ndards in a given field or area and consists of key stakeholders 
including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties.  
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recommending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Com mittee UNBS/TC 4, Mechanical Engineering 
and Metallurgy  
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition ( US 198:2001 ), which has been technically revised.  UGANDA STANDARD  DUS 198: 2017  
 
© UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  1 
 Spades — Specifications  
1 Scope   
This draft Uganda standard specifies materials, constru ction, dimensions, finish and test methods for spades.  
2 Normative references   
The following referenced documents referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content 
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated 
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
DUS ISO 6508 -1, Metallic materials — Rockwell hardness test — Part 1: Test method  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes  of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
3.1  
spade  
tool with a sharp -edged, typically rectangular, metal blade and a long handle, used for digging or cutting earth, 
sand, turf, etc  
 
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for u se in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
4 Types and dimensions  
The following are the types of spades covered by this draft Uganda standard : 
a) garden spade,  
 
b) draining spade,   
2 © UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  
 
 
c) trenching  spades , and 
 
d) grafting spade  
5 Materials  
The materials used in the manufacture of spades shall have the chemical composition as follows:  
5.1 Blades  
The blades of spades shall be manufactured from  steel, the  analysis of which shall conform to the following 
specification as stated in the table below:  
Table 1 — Chemical composition of required steel for spade blades  
Element  Composition  
min. max.  
Carbon  0.35 %   
Manganese  0.5 %   
Sulphur   0.06 %  
Silicon   0.4 % 
Phosphorous   0.06 %  
 
NOTE  1 Carbon and manganese shall all together be greater than 1 %  DUS 198:2017  
© UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  3 
 5.2 Handles  
The handle shall be made of a material that facilitates complete bonding with the blade and firm grip of the 
user. If it is made of wood, it shall be h ardwood with a specific gravity of 0.66 to 0.80 after seasoning to not 
more than 20 % moisture content . 
5.3 Jointing  
The blade and the handle shall be firmly jointed and the joint shall not have any harmful protrusions 
such as burrs and sharp edges. Where  rivets are used, they shall be countersunk into the handle 
and metal edges recessed into the handle  
6 Heat treatment and hardness  
6.1 The blades of spades shall be hardened and tempered to produce a hardness reading within a range of  
39 HRC  to 47 HRC when  measured not less than 50 mm from the shoulder.  
6.2 where  alloy steels are used, it is permitted to increase the maximum hardness provided that the finished 
tool passes  the tests in Clause 1 1. 
7 Construction  
7.1 Blade  
The blades of spades shall either be forged integrally with or welded to the socket. The thickness of the 
blades shall be greatest at the frog, decreasing towards the sides and the mouth and shall not be less than 
1.75 mm.  
7.2 Socket and handle  
7.2.1  The blades shall be well formed and free f rom cracks, seams, splits, laminations and other defects.  
7.2.2  All sockets shall be smooth and shall be positively and permanently secured to the handles. The 
sockets shall be close fitting and finished flush with the handles. Rivets, where used, shall be  given a smooth 
finish.  
7.2.3  Handles shall be well shaped and fixed at the centre of  the shoulders of the blade. Tee hilts shall be 
permanently secured to the handles and shall be either crutch or barrel shaped . 
7.2.4  Wooden Y -Dee hilts shall be securely riveted or pegged at the bottom of the split . 
7.2.5  The grips of all types of hilts shall be  permanently secured against rotation. The length of the Y -Dee 
and metal Dee grips shall not be less than 95 mm.  
7.2.6  Where handles of other materials suitably joi ned to the socket are in place of wooden handles, the 
socket may be shorter than specified provided that the finished tool complies with the requirements  of 5.2. 
8 Dimensions  
The dimensions of spades shall be in accordance with figures 1 to 4 inclusive.  
  
4 © UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  
 
 
 
Figure 1 — Dimensions of a garden spade  
Table 1 — Dimensions of different parts of a garden spade  
Description  S 
mm 
min. T 
mm 
min. U 
mm 
min. V 
mm X 
mm 
min. Y 
mm Z 
mm 
min. 
Digging  35 2.5 250 16 190 80 290 
35 2.5 250 6.5 200 90 290 
Medium  30 2 200 6.5 160 80 230 
Border  30 2 190 6.5 140 70 220 
 DUS 198:2017  
© UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  5 
 Variations in lengths of handles are permitted by agreement between the purchaser and manufacturer.  
 
Figure 2 — Dimensions of a dra ining spade in mm   
6 © UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  
 
 
Figure 3 — Dimensions of a trenching spade  DUS 198:2017  
© UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  7 
 
 
Figure 4 — Dimensions of a grafting spade  
9 Finish  
9.1 Handles shall be finished smooth and all radii, rough edges and surfaces shall be blen ded to provide a 
smooth finish to prevent injury to hands.   
8 © UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  
 9.2 The sockets of all spades shall be polished smooth and shall be bright finished and painted. The 
remaining areas of metal shall either be bright finished, self -coloured or paint finished.  
9.3 Any exposed unpainted metal shall be given anti –corrosion treatment.  
9.4 Alternative finishes to those specified above (Clause 9 .1 to 9.3 ) shall be as agreed between the 
purchaser and manufacturer.  
10 Test methods  
10.1 Hardness  
The blades of spades shall s atisfy the requirements of  hardness specified in clause 5 when tested in 
accordance with DUS ISO 6508 -1 
10.2 Mechanical test  
Spades shall satisfy the requirement of the following mechanical test  
10.2.1 With the tool clamped as shown in  Figure  5, a respective load given in Ta ble 2 shall be gradually 
applied by suspension of the grip. The load shall be maintained in this manner for one minute and then 
removed.  
 
Figure 5 — Spade test  
The test load as shown in  Table 2 (see figure 1 to 4) shall be applied  and maintained for two minutes. On 
removal of the test load,  the tool shall show no signs of damage or loosening of any component part, nor shall 
there be any permanent set in excess  of 25 mm when measured at the centre of the hilt. 
Table 2  — Test loads a pplied to different types of spades  
Reference figure  Description  Test load  
(kg) 
Figure 1  Garden 
spade  Digging  55 
Medium and 
border  40 
Figure 2  Draining  65 
Figure 3  Grafting  65 
Figure 4  Trenching  65 DUS 198:2017  
© UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  9 
  
10.2.2 If modifications are introduced which aff ect the protruding length of the tool under test, i.e. from the  
shoulder of the blade to the hilt, tile test load shall be adjusted so that the moment is equal to the moment  
applied to tools of the preferred dimensions.  
11 Sampling  
11.1 Lot 
11.1.1 If the e ntire shipment is of homogenous quality then in effect, the shipment shall comprise a single lot. 
A sample of specified size given in Table 4 may then be selected directly upon opening the shipment.  
11.1.2 If the lot is composed of boxes (for instance, eac h from a different manufacturer) then sampling shall 
be conducted in two stages. First select a sample number of boxes and then select a sample of spades from 
within each selected box.  
11.1.3 Once the samples have been selected, they shall be legibly marke d (for example 1, 2, 3, etc.) and the 
box from which they were taken also marked so that each can be sourced back to the box from which it was 
taken.  
11.2 Sample size  
A Zero-based Acceptance Sample shall be selected based on an  Acceptable Quality Value of 2.5 %. The 
sample sizes to be selected are as indicated in Table 6  
Table 2 — Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) of 2.5% 
Lot size  Sample size  
Less than 90  7 
91 to 150  11 
151 to 280  13 
281 to 500  16 
501 to 1 200  19 
1 201 to 3 200  23 
3 201 to 10 000  29 
10 001 to 35 000  35 
35 001 and above  40 
 
12 Marking  
12.1 All spades shall be legibly and indelibly marked on the metal potion of the tool with the following:  
a) manufacturers name and/or trade mark;  and  
10 © UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  
 b) batch or code number.  
12.2 Any a dditional marking shall be as agreed between the purchaser and the manufacturer.  
12.3 Spades which are marked on the blade shall not be marked more than 50 mm from the shoulder.  DUS 198:2017  
© UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  11 
 Annex A  
(informative)  
Parts and different shapes of a spade  
  
12 © UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
1 Agricultural hand tools in emergencies — Guidelines for technical and field officers  
2 US 198:2003, Specification for spades  
 WDUS 198: 2017  
© UNBS 2017  – All rights reserved  13 
 Certification marking  
Products that conform to Uganda standards may be marked with Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
(UNBS) Certific ation Mark shown in the figure below.  
The use of the UNBS Certification Mark is governed by the Standards Act, and the Regulations made 
thereunder. This mark can be used only by those licensed under the certification mark scheme operated by 
the Uganda Nat ional Bureau of Standards and in conjunction with the relevant Uganda Standard. The 
presence of this mark on a product or in relation to a product is an assurance that the goods comply with the 
requirements of that standard under a system of supervision, c ontrol and testing in accordance with the 
certification mark scheme of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards. UNBS marked products are 
continually checked by UNBS for conformity to that standard.  
Further particulars of the terms and conditions of licens ing may be obtained from the Director, Uganda 
National Bureau of Standards.  
 
 DUS 198: 2017    
 
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