Cant Hooks, Log Rolling, etc.

[Shari]

Nojo - If your making I'll buy!

Shari

 

[ken999]

Another BIG fan of the Peavy Mfg. Kathadin's. I've used the Penobscot alot as well, but it just doesn't bite as well. I've got it ground out more like the Kathadins and it works better than before, but still not as grabby.

I don't handle wood without them anymore.

Peavy Mfg. has been a first class company to deal with when I had some issues with a couple of handles. They are good people and they make a great product.

They get nothing but praise from me.

 

[nojo]

Thanks for the comments guys, no plans currently to make them for re-sale. I'll see though.

Another BIG fan of the Peavy Mfg. Kathadin's. I've used the Penobscot alot as well, but it just doesn't bite as well. I've got it ground out more like the Kathadins and it works better than before, but still not as grabby.

Can you describe how exactly you use a pickroon? Just whale it into the wood and pick up a round? Or use it to roll the stuff to you? I used mine today to roll some logs and pull rounds toward me while I was loading the truck. I might make it less of a hook.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I think they're used mainly for rolling. Also for limited amounts of dragging, but often while up on a saw bed or maybe a big chipper where there's not much sliding resistance. Peavey makes an aluminum head pickaroon. They say it won't tear up a chipper if it grabs one.

Yeah, Man- I'd buy one of yours in a heartbeat! Then get my own handle and fit them together myself.

My appetite for new tools is much smaller than my budget. ;-)

 

[nojo]

Yeah, Man- I'd buy one of yours in a heartbeat! Then get my own handle and fit them together myself.

Yeah handle'ing them up is kind of a pain. Not too bad actually if you have a Rasp or Half round File.

So what the draw? The fact that its made from a horseshoe?

-josh

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Yeah handle'ing them up is kind of a pain. Not too bad actually if you have a Rasp or Half round File.

Yep- or a belt sander with a 60 grit belt works well. Just take your time and don't hurry it. ;-)

So what the draw? The fact that its made from a horseshoe?

-josh

Nope, just that everything costs too much these days. But the horse shoe part is really neat, Josh! I'm fond of unique, old, or hand made tools and such. Yours looks as good to me as a commercial one but it has personality. These little items (cant hooks) are like 30-50 bucks from Northern and even more from Peavey for a quality one with a longer handle. An inexpensive 'head only' hook would be a real find for me.

I presently have a hatchet, an axe, and one of my two sledge hammers (10lb), all of which I had to put handles on or at least repair. They were hand me downs, total cost about 10-12 dollars for a Hickory handle (the fiberglass axe handle from Walmart was a B'day gift). And ironically, the axe is way better than the average hardware store offering today; the hatchet is about the best I've ever used, just fantastic. I bought an 8lb sledge a few years back, to go with my wedges, and I was given a nice 8lb maul by a friend who is no longer into wood burning.

I bought a 'splitting axe' from Walmart last fall for like 20 bucks marked down. All rusty. Somebody must have returned it after splitting a few cords or whatever. I cleaned it up to near- like new. Turns out it's mainly a pretty stupid design with flared ramps on either side of the blade for greater splitting power- sometimes. And lots of bounce- often. Sorry I bought it, it's not really all that good. The money could have been better spent- like on a cant hook!

A cant hook is a no brainer IMO. I can now see where one of those would improve my productivity a lot while cutting. I'll buy or make one eventually.

Probably not much of a market for 'head only' tools, but I'm real good at 'mix and match', 'repurposing', and building and repairing things. I bet a lot of other folks are too. This recession has kind of stood on my head a little. Doubtless lots of other folks as well. The days when I whipped out the plastic and just ordered whatever tools I fancied are gone now. Not much in my tool budget lately.

 

[Shari]

So what the draw? The fact that its made from a horseshoe?

-josh

USA made. Supporting the little guy. "Supporting The Trade" if you will. Plus, my grandfather & g-grandfather were blacksmiths.

When I was a kid there was a blacksmith shop in the little town I grew up in. His main work was horseshoes even though I never saw a horse hitched outside. I loved to watch him make sparks fly when using his anvil. His name was simply "Charlie". There was a little country store across the street from him. My sis & I would ride our bikes down to the store and buy orange sherbet push-ups. She'd ride home and I would go across the street, park my bike and sit in the shade and just watch Charlie work. He'd look up at me, smile, and go back to work. I don't think we ever did speak to one another. The only time he ever spoke to me was to shoosh me away if I got too close to the sparks.

Charlie's shop is still there sitting next to the lazy creek but he is long gone. Some yuppy's bought the shop, turned it into a craft type store. It took me years to go inside the 'craft store' through the people style door they had added. It seemed so strange not to have the double doors open to the weather. I never did look at any of the stuff they had in the store but I was finally able to approach Charlie's forge and even touched it gingerly thinking any minute Charlie was going to come rushing in from the back and shoosh me away. Horse shoes were still hung up high on the rafters with square nails; the uneven brick floor still carried soot from Charlie's days. Gone but slightly lingering was the smell of the forge, the hammers and the sweaty leather apron Charlie used to wear.

Today, if one were to ask me what Charlie looked like I don't think I could tell you. I only remember a tall, thin man with his head bowed, gnarly soot covered hands either swinging a hammer or grabbing other hand tools like a very experienced conductor of a fancy orchestra. I remember his apron and his black soot covered shoes - soot that seemed to creep up his shoes only to be hidden by his overhanging leather apron.

Good memories!

Shari

 

[nojo]

Shari,
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Shari,
Thanks for sharing!

Yeah, beautifully written. Almost like having been there.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I was out harvesting various deadwood on my friend's acreage and he brought out a timber jack he had. So I got to use a timber jack for the first time today. Really worked great! This is one of the first things I started looking at for log rolling tools. I definitely want one now.

 

[Flatbedford]

Can you describe how exactly you use a pickroon? Just whale it into the wood and pick up a round? Or use it to roll the stuff to you? I used mine today to roll some logs and pull rounds toward me while I was loading the truck. I might make it less of a hook.

I finally had some time to get out and cut yesterday. I brought my new Peavey Kathadin with me. Awesome tool. I felt like the bad guy in Terminator. No bending over, pretty much like you said, whale it into the wood and pull. It was great for unloading the truck too. I was able to grab the rounds and pull them to the back of the truck. I'd like to get another with a 48" or even 60" handle so that I can reach all the way to the front of my 9' bed. With the 36" that I bought, I can only reach about 2/3 of the way in. I bought the 36" because I thought that any more length might get a little clumsy. Now that I have used it, I think the 36" will work for almost all uses, but I'd like a longer one just for unloading the truck. Now that I have this, I don't think I'll be using the pulp hook much anymore.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I cut and loaded another 0.8 cords of on- the- ground, deadwood Red Oak into my van today. I was working with my digging bar and my friend's timber jack, both of which at least helped some. One tree was just too massive for me to move it alone, however. I'll have to get my friend to help. So I left that trunk on the ground, mostly cut through along its length for 14-16in rounds. I need to roll it somehow to finish it off and detach the rounds. Hmmm- I wonder if a come along would do it, in combination with that timber jack. All I need is a bit more force on the lever arm. I'll have to try that next time. I do have a light duty Harbor Freight come along, new in box, sitting back home. Once I get it bucked into rounds, I can roll and lift those.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

You can do it using a come-along but a cant hook makes easy work of it. I hate going to the woods without a cant hook because they are so handy and save a lot of work.

 

[smokinj]

You can do it using a come-along but a cant hook makes easy work of it. I hate going to the woods without a cant hook because they are so handy and save a lot of work.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

You can do it using a come-along but a cant hook makes easy work of it. I hate going to the woods without a cant hook because they are so handy and save a lot of work.

What you're saying is really intriguing, Dennis. I'm trying to figure, in my mind's eye, how that cant hook could provide that much more leverage than either that borrowed timber jack or my digging bar (spud bar). Well, if it's 4-5 feet long, it could lever stronger than the timber jack, I reckon.

Seems like what was missing anyway was a helper to wedge things under that big heavy trunk for me. I could budge it with the timber jack, but just barely. The bar was near useless. Maybe 500-800 pounds of trunk I was playing with? It's around 15-20ft long and 12-15in diameter- and it's fairly wet from ground contact. It kept wanting to roll back to where it started. What length(s) of cant hook handles do you have?

BTW you look like you're a fairly big guy, Dennis. Bear in mind I'm just a little wiry guy just over 5ft 7, not exactly super strong. ;-)

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Naw, I'm just a little old guy. But if you ever start working with a real cant hook, you'll wonder why you didn't get one sooner. Maybe it just goes back to my logging and sawmill days when we used cant hooks a lot. For example, if you watch even the portable sawmills now, they roll their logs with hydraulics. When I sawed lumber, I rolled those logs with a cant hook. Now that might not seem too much but when you have a log on the carriage, it rolls a bit different than when it is on the ground or on the skids.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

The next tool I buy is going to be a cant hook, Dennis. Those videos I saw a while back removed all doubt. Anyway, I may be able to get my friend to loan me his timber jack longer term, since he no longer burns wood- but he did for many years. Can't hurt to ask him.

 

[Bspring]

After reading this post I bought one of the Logright cant hooks and was so impressed with it I bought another one for a friend of mine that I owed a favor.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Bspring, you are a good man.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

The next tool I buy is going to be a cant hook, Dennis. Those videos I saw a while back removed all doubt. Anyway, I may be able to get my friend to loan me his timber jack longer term, since he no longer burns wood- but he did for many years. Can't hurt to ask him.

Your opinions please- which of these cant hooks would you prefer- and why? Or neither?

48in Steel Cant hook

78in Aluminum Cant Hook

I'm leaning towards the steel one right now, but it's probably pretty darned heavy.
I've read several negative reviews of Northern tools in here (item #2).



BTW my friend has no more interest in wood gathering-
so he just gave me his old timber jack.

Mine has tubing with a barb at the end instead of the
flat, steel hook- but it does look something like this:

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Yeah, Man- I'd buy one of yours in a heartbeat! Then get my own handle and fit them together myself

Yeah handle'ing them up is kind of a pain. Not too bad actually if you have a Rasp or Half round File.

So what the draw? The fact that its made from a horseshoe?

-josh

I'm going to knock together one from an 8in galvanized nail and an old pick handle- and see how it works. Hammer nail into slightly undersize hole, bend the point in the vise a little, file a little, and done. Zero cost to me and I don't have to learn iron forging. ;-)

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Of the two you have on ebay, I'd go with 48" as that is usually all one really needs. I worked for many years with a 3' handle.

One things though; I prefer a good wood handle rather than the steel. I believe one of those stated the handle was taped too and that could prove to be a big pain. Also, for the price they are asking plus shipping, you can probably get a much better deal and a much better cant hook from your local hardware. They might have to order one for you but it will probably be better. Those on ebay look cheap. I also do not like the peavy unless I'm working logs into a river. Stick with the cant hook which has a good toe on the end rather than a pick. You will quickly learn the toe is much, much better for rolling logs.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I had a tri axle load of logs delivered a week ago or so. I've been workin' on 'em. I was using my heavy diggin' iron to move 'em around. However, this morning my wife and I were doin' the yard sale thing and low and behold, layin' there in the grass, was one of these.....

http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=15810&catID=11507

It was $5

We bought it

The woman asked my wife what she was going to do with it and my wife said proudly "roll logs" haha

yeah, that woman was amazed at that, guess she thought my wife was gonna hang it on the wall for decoration or somethin.

Anyway, the one we bought is missin the t'bar stand ya see on the one from baileys. Maybe I'll make one to put back on that bad boy. Best yard sale buy of the day, no doubt!

 

[Flatbedford]

You won't miss the stand. I took mine off a few months after I bought it and haven't put it back in yet. Nice score @ $5!

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Of the two you have on ebay, I'd go with 48" as that is usually all one really needs. I worked for many years with a 3' handle.

One things though; I prefer a good wood handle rather than the steel. I believe one of those stated the handle was taped too and that could prove to be a big pain. Also, for the price they are asking plus shipping, you can probably get a much better deal and a much better cant hook from your local hardware. They might have to order one for you but it will probably be better. Those on ebay look cheap. I also do not like the peavy unless I'm working logs into a river. Stick with the cant hook which has a good toe on the end rather than a pick. You will quickly learn the toe is much, much better for rolling logs.

Everything you say makes sense, Dennis. I'd rather have a wooden handle anyway. I'm not going to rush this. Eventually, the one I want will appear. Most Ebay sellers are jacking prices as much as they can get away with. Things get irrationally bid up at times. I had more of a yard sale tool in mind myself.

I think I'd be happier with a 4ft cant hook. To me, that ~3ft timber jack I have now doesn't seem to have quite enough oomph sometimes. Need a little more leverage.

Yep, I really don't want a Peavy point. A cant hook with the right shaped butt end, especially one with a short barb on it, looks best to me.

...this morning my wife and I were doin' the yard sale thing and low and behold, layin' there in the grass, was one of these.....

http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=15810&catID=11507

It was $5

We bought it

Congratulations- great find!
May the yard sale gods smile on me next. ;-)