That Pickaroon with thick tip and the angle of the tip was a purpose design. That Pickaroon was designed to pick into the cut log , lift the log, immediately and effortlessly automatically release the log into a standing position ready to be split by an ax with NO bending over.
Love the C. S. lewis Audio book in the background, thats exactly what I do when working on my projects. Glad to see that he is appreciated across the pond as well as on this humble isle.
Incredible video. The peace and stillness of your shop with only the sounds of a craftsman working with his hands to resurrect an old tool to be used once again. Just incredible...I pray that one day I'll have an opportunity to do what I love.
Yes you are correct about the proper way to seat an axe head. The pickaroon didn't have enough mass for this method. Also The swell knob of the handle has a very prominent point that I didn't want to smash with a striking tool.
I have a few Pickaroons, which I use quite frequently, my favorite is one an old friend gave me. It is homemade as well and has the hook turning back like a talon which holds a heavy log very well. I can pull heavy logs with one hand without losing its grip.
I own 4 pickaroons ranging from the early 40s to last year. All of them have the pin. The early ones had a peened metal pin. Also, I have one that was made similarly to the one you have that looks like a water pipe with a welded spike. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a company that built them using a water pipe on the cheap. I have a bush axe that was built with a blade welded to a smashed "water pipe" and an ax handle instead of the more commonly know bush axe (swing blade).
One reason I love watching your channel is because it is obvious you take pride in your work and the way you do things. You also love the old tools and appreciate not only their beauty but the ingenuity of their makers. These are such lost concepts in today's disposable world. May God bless you and your family for the work you are doing.
Nice job Wranglestar. It's good to see someone who so obviously takes a pride in doing something properly AND well. The finished pickaroon was a thing of beauty as well as an amazing tool.
I love handmade tools. They were made by the person using them instead of in a factory by a business out to make a quick buck, and you can see and feel the difference every time you pick one up.
I've been handling firewood since I could walk and never saw a pickaroon until your video. I bought myself a Ochsenkopf sappie and it has been a revelation. When I work with a crew of like minded people I rarely get to use it as everybody else seems to get to it before me. Thanks!
Just revisited this. Love the old videos... this is what brought you to where you are today. I really appreciate the little things like this video. Thanks again.
i finished mine yesterday. made it from a piece of leaf spring ( like most things i make). its funny how a pointy peice of metal on the end of a stick can be so useful. i used it today for the first time today and i already see the usefulness of it. at 17, i have already had back problems and surgery, so this helps so much. thank you for the idea, i will always be a faithful subscriber to this channel, it helps me so much day to day. thank you very much. you have been an inspiration to me.
Guess that makes you 26 now! Appreciated your comment. I purchased my first hookeroon today. I'm actually in the tree felling & trimming business part time and this back saver sure looks good to me!
I have several old ones all have roll pins in them. The old timers said this is to extend the life of the handle .When prying or lifting the tool would not come off of handle. Thanks Good job
I understand the love for old tools, and you certainly did an amazing job of restoring the pickaroo, but as for its usage, I commonly play that trick with the sharp lover corner of my axle blade, which allows me not to swap tools while working.
Dear Mister Wranglerstar, I saw this video about two weeks ago. At that time I had almost finished cutting to length, splitting, and stacking about six cords of wood. I ordered a pickaroon from Peavey Corporation in Eddington, Maine. I still have roughly a cord of wood to stack for my parents and I will be using my new pickaroon to do so. I "test drove" it with a few sticks this afternoon and am very impressed by it. Thanks for producing the video. It was very helpful and beneficial!
Very nicely done. I'd love to have a whole - and usable - collection of hand-crafted tools like this. Plus, an actual reason to use them. Awesome stuff, as always.
after watching this video i went an bought a $16 pickaroon at the feed store. best tool ever. i split wood on the splitter ten times faster and if i need to pull something out of the woods and the oxen are to far away i just jam the thing in the end and haul it out by hand with ease... love it.
Great video!! An old logger taught me when seating the new handle, slip the handle in the head, let the head hang down, then tap the bottom of the handle lightly with a smooth hammer and the head will seat itself. He taught me that fifty years ago and he had been doing it for at least that long so that's some Old news! Take care....
The love you share, and the love you put into that tool, is what makes it awesome. Workmanship and care like that, is how the Father works with us. That tool will be a blessing to use and glance at while using it. I love Wranglerstar! I just subscribed and everyone should!
Cody, I honestly would love to spend a week poking around in your shop checking out all of the history that is in there. I come across old stuff all the time and always try to fix it up and give it new life. I am sure it must make the job a lot more easy when you have everything you need on hand and ready to go.
I like the new style Pickaroon, very nice. I have the old style one, it's been around me for over 40 years. I used it mainly to move 4x6's 4x8's and 4x10's at a mill I worked at when I was younger, the handiness of these tools are remarkable.Thanks for the good video!
I also like to restore old tools. I also did a hatchet with water pipe and thought I had invented this method, but someone already had that idea. Good job on this restoration. I have kept the bolt.
I recently picked up my first pickaroon at a flea market for a couple of bucks. I used it for the first time this morning. Good heavens what a great tool!! It's ancient and I need to reprofile the tip, but it was still a dream.
Way cool, I really enjoy your work. I picked up an old Pulasky in a logging camp about 5 years ago, now U have energized me to fix it up, off to the hardware store to get a handle...
i just wanted to let you know i truly admire the fact that you don't half ass your work it means a lot to me to see someone else take the time with these things and to spread the word of god when possible. keep up the good work cody and you will continue to inspire many of us
Great video. While digging yesterday, I actually found a pickaroon head buried about 3 feet down. It was obviously rusted, but only on the surface and it cleaned up very well. Mine is similar to yours in that it needs to have the head re-shaped a bit, as it does not "hook" as well as the newer ones. Your instructions for fitting a new handle are also invaluable. Thanks so much!
This video brings back fond memories. My first job out of high school was at a lumber mill. I used a pickaroon very similar to the old style you repaired. A useful tool on many fronts. Thank you for the video.
i just wanted to let ou kno i truly admire the fact that you dont half ass your work it means a lot to me to see someone else take the time with these things and to spread the word of god when possible. keep up the good work cody and you will continue to inspire many of us
I took a pick axe and made my own pick a roon by cutting off one end and grinding the other to a sharp point and then re=hardening the tip They are a back saving tool for moving firewood, bravo to you for sharing this knowledge
I used to do a lot of hillwalking as a younger man but nowadays age and ill health have put a stop to my sojourns up into the hills. However I was in my shed the other day and I came across my old steel Ice Axe. Bemoaning that it will probably never see the hills again... I had some inspiration! SO, I reground it into a Pickeroon! It works a treat!
Your actually suppose to hit the end of the pickaroon, and also a pulp hook, on a blunt object to curl it over just a little on the end so it grabs, but does not completely hold to hard. It is not made to be used with just a sharpened tip. Your putting more effort into it than you need. You should be able to tap it into a piece of wood and with a flick of the wrist to release it. Truckers were still using both tools in Northern New England, loading 4 foot pulp on trucks as recently as the early 1990's. I was logging and cutting 40 to 60 cords of pulp a week, plus several loads of logs A hydraulic loader would put the pulp on a rack bodied truck made for loading four foot pulp. The trucker would straighten the load with either hook, pulp or pickaroon. Many of the trucker's legs looked like they had pox from all the scars from missing the pulp and hitting their legs or other parts. I still use both tools and have used them since I was a kid. If the tip isn't right your making more work than you need and logging is hard enough already. I do enjoy your videos. Just a helpful hint from a old school logger. :)
Hello from Canada! I watched this on my phone during math class and at lunch I went down to the school's machine shop and made myself one. I have to be one of the only 15 year old these days who would actually do this let alone have a use for it. I love the videos and I wish I lived there! Keep it up!
New subscriber, Thankyou for your videos. I have been cutting firewood since I was a kid and now with my own family I have installed a fireplace in my house and the tradition continues. Never seen a hookaroon before but first video I watch I ordered one. Man best tool ever beside my log splitter. Keep up with the videos and God bless you family while looking to adopt. Children are a blessing no matter how God puts them in you life. I have been a foster family for over 30 children and through that time I have adopted 3 children. Good luck and God Bless.
Thank you for revealing your thinking of process as you go so many in the few times over the years you meet someone with sensabilities and reason and you are helping or working with them and they get going on replacing a handle so you watch as they go along and work doing it, on a break or if your showing up on a Saturday before they work and you're helping and they're replacing a damaged handle last minute. As a master carpenter said once just listen to "old dad" but I do appreciate the way you spin around your work peice and show details and work nuance; so we'll hear your thinking and see fine illustration, but with more communication. This is how so many of us learn. My dad was a shop teacher in Seattle and in his later years at the U of W and I saw him work and have been active working with him since I was 8yrs that's when I started running the chain saw and was big enough to. Now with you and your filming and thought process I am learning new tricks thank you very much. blessings David
I used to be an off bearer in an old growth redwood sawmill. We made our own pickeroons, and always had several on hand at all times in case one got away from you. We would even take them home at night. They are designed not to stick into the wood. If it did it would drag you into the conveyer or worse into the head rig. Since redwood has thick bark, we preferred to use 5/8s rebar about 7 inches long. About two inches from the end the pick was bent down slightly, then a point was ground on the end. Each off bearer had his own style but that was the basic tool. I liked a six sided point, it would penetrate well, but with a twist of the wrist it would let go.
Life is just better with old hafted tools. Fibreglas, aluminum, and one-piece steel may get the job done, and they may need less maintenance, but they don't make you feel good looking at them or carrying them. Nice restoration and retro-engineering!
The unmistakable voice of C.S. Lewis in the background. Working while listening to audiobooks is a great way to consume more literature. I think I will fabricate a Pickaroon this weekend. Thanks Cody!
Most my life was working firewood. I lived in Alaska for near 30 years. I never heard of a pickaroon but I have used a machete in the same way for many decades. The machete idea came from having a back injury that prevented me from bending over..necessity IS the Mother of invention...good tool, good advice, thanks for the video BTW..another >no bending tool< I often carried with me and used...A hank pf rope, gets lots of leverage against weight
Great tool, eliminates a lot of bending over. Just got a big firewood log load and there`s some nice hickory in it to make excellent ax handles. You gave me some good ideas. Thanks and thumbs up!
Yes my Dad, his father, and his father were all in the logging industry in the u.p of Michigan back in the day.... I have one of these tools and it is a real life saver if you have 2 foot or so round logs to move around to the splitter don't go out to the woods to cut wood without it!!!!
I have not read all the comments but there is good reason a roll pin makes sense on this home made tool. In a normal axe head the hole that the handle fits in is tapered so that it is larger at the point the handle is wedged. In this home made tool the hole is likely a uniform size the full depth and there is nothing for a wedged handle to hold on to. The way you installed the head is just held in with friction. That may work but if not a roll pin is a good idea. Good Luck, Jim
This is the first time I have seen one of those and I live in the country where many people still use wood heaters. We depended on the double edge axe to catch the piece of wood and stand it up or do it by hand. We use the maul for splitting wood with knots in it and the axe would split wood without knots in it. We use white and red oak as firewood and only use pine from roots of rotten trees to start a fire. The pine is split into small pieces and only use very little to start a fire.
When I was young we used pickaroons at the sawmill to handle the fresh cut railroad ties. Also to load them onto a truck and then into a boxcar. The piece of wood you said was cherry looks more like balsam fir to me. Nice work on restoring the tool.
Hi Wranglerstar I am using a pickaroon that I purchased from an austrian company and found that the grip they have on the material is incredible. I can lift 6 ft long logs with 10" in diameter by just smashing the pickaroon in above the barycenter and lift straight up. I contribute this to the "inward tilt" of the tip which you can see quite clearly if you look for "mueller-hammerwerk kategorie-sapinen" (Can't put in the full link here, for whatever reason). Best regards, Matt
This is awesome. I'm glad you post vids like these. Tons of old tools at my great, great aunt's place (rest in peace, Aunt Connie!), maybe I need to take a look at them one of these upcoming days.
That tool looks awesome I am going to see if I can't pick one up or make one. I had never heard of a pickaroon before now. What a back saver. Thanks for the great videos and I look forward to watching many more.
That is one nice tool .Love that cherry handle ! Have you ever thought about dogwood branches as a handle? The branches grow at 90 degree angle often and form the perfect handle. Toughest wood in da woods. That is what the oldtimers used in the logwoods of Arkansas and Louisiana. They would only use hand forged tips with no grinding on the edges. This will hold and grab better into wood and won't fall out as easy as a ground surface. These are a must have item for the firewood pros out there!!!
Cody, I work for one of the larger lumber companies in Idaho and we have these pickaroons by the dozen, i have replaced many handles. Even the new one's we purchase have the roll pins. I haven't tried using the repaired ones without a pin. We still go thru them fairly frequent.
Nice to know that I'm not the only one that rehabs old tools. Never seen a "pikaroon" before, but here in Peoples Republic of S. California, Mesquite just isn't big enough to use this tool on!
I've never soaked the head end of my of my axe and hatchet handles... but I've always soaked my wedges in linseed oil, before polling an axe. The wedge swells a bit, then as you set the wedge oil seeps out and seals everything tight. Food for thought.
thanks for the post. i have a very similar tool, although the head is forged from a single piece, not arc-welded. the blunt point can also be re-forged and re-tempred if there is enough metal left; i used to do that for my neighbor and it's pretty easy. really like the bulbous handle end.
Well somebody needed a pickaroon, till I started coming here, I didn't know what the heck that was and what you would use it for. Now I do. So he fashioned one from what he had available. Its also interesting in how axe handles are fitted, I never gave that sort of thing much thought. Learn some thing new every day.
What care and attention you have in what you do! Great informative video. Many thanks for uploading this, I think I need a long handled pickaroon, I have only seen the short handled ones here in Germany but I work a lot in the woods to get firewood and they must save your back.
thanks for all the info on your channel and your detailed videos i started making my own axe handles recently and have learned alot from watching your videos on how to fix some errors i had been making and how to make mine better
You can not beat a good quality tool, even if it is home made. Most of the time, it's better. I bought a replacement handle for my Double bit axe, anticipating its breakage. I ended up finding an antique axe head some years later and fitting the two together finally, only to find that I had created a fantastic cutting tool, thanks to 19 century tool desighns. I refitted my original axe with a new handle, One tool I will never be with out.
I've been using a pickaroon like the old one for 60 years....First, the holes filled with a roll pin is extra insurance against the head coming off suddenly and flinging you backwards down the hill or into the edger....We always use stainless screws in those holes, when re-handling.....roll pins get sloppy. secondly, you should have a small metal wedge hammered in the top to secure the hickory wedge.
Great job. I have seen that roll pin thing before. If you use a steel wedge the roll pin idea is solid. But the way you assembled it is correct and the finished product looks awesome.
I to like old tools, but enjoy using the lite weight of the Fiskers tools. The hollow handles and design of them makes this old guy's life easier. I have an old ship builder's adze with a hookaroon on the other side. I have several other axes and mauls including a craftsman hand axe that my Poppa bought new and was very proud of, but they don't get much use now days. By the way, Poppa taught me to drive a handle in from the end of the handle holding it in the air upside down and after the hickory wedge to add at least one metal wedge into it at a near 90 degree to it. You might try that instead of the roll pin should your handle get loose. I enjoyed your video. Thanks
