[tengwar2]

As a Brit, I would say the same. However it may be some specialised terminology - for instance the wooden beams that support the coffin over the grave before it is lowered are "putlocks", a word I had not come across before. So it would not surprise me if a sexton referred to a spade as a hoe.

[KineticLensman]

(going down a rabbit hole now. I think that's the right phrase)

There are loads of sites that offer grave digging services or equipment (e.g. [0]) although none mention hoes that I can see. However, I did find more about the use of hoes to actually dig holes (coming back to the original subject): [1]. How could I have forgotten about 'mattocks'.

[0] https://www.equipter.com/equipter-articles/grave-digging-too...

[1] https://grasstrimmerreviews.co.uk/best-digging-hoe-uk/

[tengwar2]

It's possible that the word "hoe" is rarely written down in this context. I wasn't able to find "putlock" in this context on the web, although I found a blockchain protocol where the name clearly linked the words "grave" and "putlock"

[blowski]

I have a mattock for breaking up the clods on my allotment.

[gadders]

Mattocks are amazing. I've used them for taking up small stumps from shrubs as well.

[culturestate]

A backhoe[1] is not a hoe in the gardening sense, but the colloquial American term for an excavator. You might call it a JCB.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backhoe

[willyt]

In Britain we just call them 'diggers'. JCB is a very common British digger brand though so they do get called that as well. We do have backhoe loaders they are machines with a wide flat shovel for scooping material up and moving it around or loading it into a dumper truck. You wouldn't dig a hole with one but most people would look at it and call it a digger.