Well, I think I have found my perfect hoeing combination!
Lidl recently had a long-handle 3-tined hoe in store for the un-princely sum of £6! Looked well made so I thought I'd give one a try. Excellent - requires little effort to rake through consolidated soil and it dislodges all but the most persistent long-rooted weeds. So in comes the oscillating hoe to mop up.
OK, so that's 2 goings-over, BUT I reckon it took me no longer to hoe a planting row in two sweeps (tined hoe to loosen, then oscillating hoe) than it did to achieve same result using only the oscillating hoe over cosolidated soil AND so so much less effort!