Weed Buddy

I had just fixed a lawn sprinkler. I used a pair of pump pliers to turn the sprinkler head. Heading back to the garden shed to put tools away, I noticed a bit of weed grass in the lawn. This is the type of weed that stays low and doesn't present a stalk which one can grip. I had just mowed the lawn and there was no grabbing this weed with my fingers.

I had the pump pliers in my hand so I knelled down and shuffled in the grass to find the center stalk of the weed. I jabbed the pliers to the dirt and closed around the weed. To my surprise, the weed grass pulled out easily and it came with roots.

I tried a couple more weeds and I found that sometimes the pliers didn't grab low enough and I just ended up breaking the stem. I needed something similar to the pliers, but with a broader grip surface and the ability to jab into the dirt to guarantee getting roots and all.

I had a spare pump pliers, and I had some thin flat-stock steel. I fashioned two spearhead shaped pieces of steel. These I welded to the jaws of the pump pliers. I added some gripping friction by gouging a few lines onto each head with a Dremel bit. A quality welder I am not, but the pliers left the bench vise with enough weld on each grip to meet the task. 

I took my new Weed Buddy to the back lawn where I put it to a thorough test. The pointed heads stuck easily into the dirt. The gouged surfaces let nothing slip away. The added width made jabbing at the precise center of the plant less important. The pliers are built to be easy to grip and the handle length means little gripping pressure is required. I didn't experiment with the pliers' ability to adjust in width, but that may not be an important feature.