Homemade Hookeroon

[smabon]

Decide that I wanted a hookeroon to help move rounds off of my pile. Looked in the baileys catalog and at a price of $45 to $50 decided that it was out of my budget. Thought about it for a little a figured that I would try to make my own. Went to home depot and pick up a shovel hand, a 5/8's 12 inch long threaded rod and some nuts and washers. Cut the handle down to the size I wanted it. Ended up making it 36" long. If I make another one will probably make it a little shorter maybe 28 or 30 inches. Drilled a hole slightly smaller then the threaded rod against the grain. Cut the rod in half at an angle, threaded the rod through the hole. Slid the washers and nuts on and tightened the nut. Ground the point down to a sharper point and walla a hookeroon for under $15. I still have the other part of the rod and some more nuts and washers. All I have to do is pick up another hand which cost around 9 buck and for a total cost of $24 I will have 2 hookeroons. Below is some pics of before and after.

 

[ccwhite]

Very slick. How's it work?

 

[stee6043]

....and when not is use as a wood processing tool it doubles as home defense....

 

[Gooserider]

Nice project.... There are only a couple of things I'd wonder about, not sure how much of a problem either would be - keep us posted on the durability when using them...

1. How well the relatively soft steel that they make threaded rods out of will hold up to getting whacked into logs - either dulling the point or bending... I might be tempted to use a grade 8 bolt rather than all-thread.

2. How likely is it that the handle might split along the bolt hole, given that you will be putting a lot of stress on it? It might be worth putting some kind of sleeve around the handle where the bolt goes in - possibly a short peice of sched 40 pipe or maybe even electrical conduit with the handle turned down to just barely fit inside... Keep the wood from splitting and distribute the stress over a large section of the handle...

Gooserider

 

[smabon]

....and when not is use as a wood processing tool it doubles as home defense....

Right now it's my truck security system as it rides in my truck with me.

 

[smabon]

Nice project.... There are only a couple of things I'd wonder about, not sure how much of a problem either would be - keep us posted on the durability when using them...

1. How well the relatively soft steel that they make threaded rods out of will hold up to getting whacked into logs - either dulling the point or bending... I might be tempted to use a grade 8 bolt rather than all-thread.

At the time I wasn't able to find any grade 8 bolts that had threds run far enough up the shaft. All of the bolts that I could find needed another inch or so of threds so that I could tighten the nut. But I do agree a grade 8 bolt would have been better. How hard are they to cut or grind?
2. How likely is it that the handle might split along the bolt hole, given that you will be putting a lot of stress on it? It might be worth putting some kind of sleeve around the handle where the bolt goes in - possibly a short peice of sched 40 pipe or maybe even electrical conduit with the handle turned down to just barely fit inside... Keep the wood from splitting and distribute the stress over a large section of the handle...

When I drilled the hole for the bolt I drilled it perpendicular to the grain of the handle hoping that this would prevent any splitting.

Gooserider

 

[Gooserider]

Nice project.... There are only a couple of things I'd wonder about, not sure how much of a problem either would be - keep us posted on the durability when using them...

1. How well the relatively soft steel that they make threaded rods out of will hold up to getting whacked into logs - either dulling the point or bending... I might be tempted to use a grade 8 bolt rather than all-thread.

At the time I wasn't able to find any grade 8 bolts that had threds run far enough up the shaft. All of the bolts that I could find needed another inch or so of threds so that I could tighten the nut. But I do agree a grade 8 bolt would have been better. How hard are they to cut or grind?

What I would do is look for a bolt that was fairly long, but had enough threads to put a nut on each side, then cut the head of the bolt off and sharpen it. You might need to cut some extra threads with a die to get far enoug up the bolt as well. My experience has been that grade 8's aren't easy to cut or grind, but it can be done w/ patience.

2. How likely is it that the handle might split along the bolt hole, given that you will be putting a lot of stress on it? It might be worth putting some kind of sleeve around the handle where the bolt goes in - possibly a short peice of sched 40 pipe or maybe even electrical conduit with the handle turned down to just barely fit inside... Keep the wood from splitting and distribute the stress over a large section of the handle...

When I drilled the hole for the bolt I drilled it perpendicular to the grain of the handle hoping that this would prevent any splitting.

Gooserider

[/quote]Hopefully that will work - if not, keep the sleeve idea in mind for making the "Mark II" version...

Gooserider