Pickaxe vs mattock
Updated: October 2026
A railroad pick, a pick mattock and a grubbing mattock can all be titled pickaxe on amazon.co.uk. Pickaxe vs mattock is the difference between a point and a chisel, a point and an adze, and an axe face beside that adze. The [pickaxe comparison](/hub/digging-tools/pickaxe) shows which listing is which head. Peter F. used Roughneck’s blade notes, a UK mattock-head guide and the stored listings in October 2026. There was no lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
A railroad pick, a pick mattock and a grubbing mattock can all be titled pickaxe on amazon.co.uk. Pickaxe vs mattock is the difference between a point and a chisel, a point and an adze, and an axe face beside that adze.
A railroad pick, a pick mattock and a grubbing mattock can all be titled pickaxe on amazon.co.uk. Pickaxe vs mattock is the difference between a point and a chisel, a point and an adze, and an axe face beside that adze. The pickaxe comparison shows which listing is which head. Peter F. used Roughneck’s blade notes, a UK mattock-head guide and the stored listings in October 2026. There was no lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Head | Length | Handle | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Roughneck Roughneck ROU64352 pick axe, 5 lb | Point and chisel | 92.4 cm | Fibreglass | 9.7 | about £27.29 | View offer |
 Mighty Products Mighty Products 5 lb grubbing mattock | Axe face and adze | 90 cm | Fibreglass | 9.7 | about £34.74 | View offer | |
 Mighty Mighty 5 lb pick mattock | Point and adze | 90 cm | Fibreglass | 9.6 | about £35.99 | View offer |
On this page
Three heads, not one product
Roughneck splits the tools the search bar collapses. A pickaxe has a point and a chisel, aimed at rocks, mortar, slabs and compacted ground. A pick mattock has a point and an adze, aimed at soft and hard ground and at stones. A cutter mattock has an axe blade and an adze, aimed at roots and softer ground. The adze is the thinner face, and it will bend if you use it on rock or on roots. The axe face is the one for chopping roots. Travis Perkins puts the same choice in shop language. Use the point when the ground or the rubble is the problem. Use the wide blade when you are in roots, turf or spoil you have already broken. If the photo shows a broad blade, you have left the railroad pick behind, whatever the title says. The 15 inch pick mattock hoe listings are that same choice at about 38 cm. They are not a fourth type. Weight and price sit on the pickaxe buying guide.
When the ground is the problem
Baked clay, flint, old brick and a compacted shed base are point jobs. The railroad pick puts the mass on a small tip, then offers a chisel for the face you would rather not stab. In this set the clean example is the Roughneck ROU64352, sold as a pick axe with a point-and-chisel head, at about £27.29. Reviewers used it where a spade bounced, on rocks, roots, buried bricks and slabs. Mattock steel is softer than pick steel, which is another reason not to send an adze into rubble. A marketing line that mentions old concrete is still not a reason to treat every mattock as a breaker. If the question is drought clay and light rubble rather than head names, use pickaxe for hard ground.
When the roots are the problem
Bramble, a woody stool and the roots under a stump are cutter or grubbing work, if you use the axe face to chop and you do not lever. The Mighty Products grubbing mattock at about £34.74 is the listing reviewers used that way. They cut bramble faster than with a hoe or a spade, shifted hard clay, and cleared woody growth a rotavator would not reach. The steel head bent on bamboo roots on first use. Another reviewer could not shift the roots they wanted. Someone else says it is not a pry bar. The adze bends on roots if you ask it to do the axe’s job, or if you lever. Chop, then pull the loose wood by hand or with a different tool. Seating the head and refusing to lever is how to use a pickaxe. A 15 inch mattock can nick a short root in a bed. It will not clear a long bamboo run.
The compromise
A pick mattock is only a good compromise when you will meet both stone and roots in the same afternoon. The Mighty pick mattock at about £35.99 is that head in this set: a 5 lb point and mattock face on a 90 cm fibreglass shaft, 4.7 from 465 reviews. Reviewers cut roots, lifted soil and, in one case, removed a garden tree stump. Bigger stumps still needed a separate tool for the side roots. Reviewers also call it heavy, and hard prying is a reported way to break it. You are paying the highest full-size price in the table for one head that does neither job as cleanly as the specialist. Choose the Roughneck if the afternoon is clay, flint and rubble. Choose the grubbing mattock if the afternoon is roots. Who should spend the money, once you know the face, is the best pickaxe page.
Common questions
What is the difference between a pickaxe and a mattock?
A pickaxe in Roughneck’s split is a point and a chisel for rock, mortar, slabs and compacted ground. A mattock brings in an adze, either beside a point or beside an axe blade. The adze is thinner and is there to cut soil, not to rename the pick. If the photo shows a wide blade, the title pickaxe has not turned it into a railroad pick.
What is a pick mattock?
A pick mattock is a point plus an adze. Roughneck aims that pair at soft and hard ground and at stones. The adze bends on rock or roots. In this set the full-size example is the Mighty pick mattock at about £35.99. Buy it when you need both faces. Do not buy it as a lighter way to lever.
What is a cutter or grubbing mattock?
A cutter mattock is an axe blade plus an adze, which Roughneck points at roots and softer ground. The grubbing mattock in this set is the Mighty Products tool at about £34.74, and reviewers used it on bramble, clay and woody growth. The axe face chops. The adze does not replace it. One of those heads bent on bamboo when it was asked to do too much.
Which head for tree roots and bramble?
Use a cutter or grubbing face, and chop rather than lever. The Mighty grubbing mattock is the listing reviewers used on bramble roots. A plain point will open ground around a root and is the worse choice when the root itself is the work. A pick mattock can help on a mixed stump, and one reviewer still needed another tool for side roots.
Which head for baked clay and rubble?
Use the point. The Roughneck railroad pick is the matching listing, and reviewers describe clay a spade would not enter, plus rocks, bricks and slabs. An adze is the softer, thinner steel, so it is the face to keep off rubble. A 7 lb point is a weight question for the buying guide, and it is not a different head shape.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk figures stored for this category, checked in October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the display figures. A higher score is not a laboratory result, and it is not a mark that the tool is safe near buried cables.
- Roughneck picks and mattocks guide (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Travis Perkins pick axes and mattocks (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Wonkee Donkee, mattock heads (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE PUWER overview (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE excavations (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- National Grid avoidance leaflet (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- LSBUD duty to protect (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 20 October 2026)