We actually got quite a lot of roots just by hand pulling alone. The soil seemed to be perfect for weeding that particular day. And it's not just dandelions, but all sorts of plants, some I've never even seen before (I swear, if that patch goes a few times more without weeding it's going to be greener than the rest of the lawn

Last time I had to use a shovel to lift up the roots (they were a bit firmer into the ground). Some were big clumps of small roots, and others were carrot-length ones...

This could be a soil thing, but I've found weeding when the ground is damp makes it easier. Our soil in most places around the yard is sand with loam that has been mixed in over the years. When it gets really hot, the soil dries up and gets crunchy for lack of a better way to describe it. If we get a lot of rain during these times, the soil will drain, but puddles hang around longer than they normally would.

We recently dug up a rogue yucca plant. The roots of those look like yams or sweet potatoes which isn't a big deal, but if there is the smallest piece of the root tuber buried, the stupid things grow. Plants from the yucca family thrive on neglect because they're meant to be in dry, not a lot of rain, climates, so they thrive in my neck of the woods. One would think sub-zero temperatures during the winter would kill them, nope. They get a little ragged looking, but they come back like nothing happened and flower later in the summer.

I haz no love for yucca plants. Not even the ones that people keep as houseplants commonly known as the yucca cane.