Help! What do you use to level ground for pavers?

We recently had an old icky porch removed....under this porch was a haveway decent patio area, however .... part of the area is just dirt, I want to add pavers and/or stone (what ever I can find cheap) but when trying to level out the dirt I was'nt able to get very far with my shovel -- is there a specific tool I should use? Is there one that wont take alot of physical action on my part? Maybe something I can rent? I have tennis elbow so it is difficult sometimes to do work - I dont mind hard work mind you I just want to save pain on my elbow.
Thanks in advance for your input!
Jill