I wonder how old it is?

[Mooseherder]

Found this today in the woods.  At first I thought it was a horseshoe.  A lil oil should bring it back.  :D



 

[firefighter ontheside]

I think its probably neolithic.

[bigblockyeti]

The steel section that fits around a handle, is there an arc welded seam?  Always better to find something like that digging than poking through one of your tracks.

[Southside]

I can remember those being a treasure when I would find one. Honestly it doesn't look bad at all. 

[Mooseherder]

And the hook swings freely.  Somebody was bummed the day they laid it down.

[peakbagger]

I was at yard sale once and the guy had a pile of similar but far less rusted cant hooks, he picked them up in the woods near old logging camps pre WW2. A new ash handle costs about the same price as one with a hook. 

[bluthum]

For many old iron things a square nut rather than a hex nut is a date clue but that might not apply to cant hooks. Great score either way, old or new if it can be brought back to life.

[Mooseherder]

I'll check it out closer tomorrow.   Forgot all about it today.  It's leaning on a tree at the edge of the woods. :D

[SwampDonkey]

My wild guess is it's probably from the 60's. Lots of men in the woods cutting 4' fir pulp, loading a truck or pickup truck, transporting it to a siding and then off loading onto rail cars for a tidy sum of $20 a cord. Easier to handle a 4' stick by hand than a tree length stick. Look around some more, he probably left the pulpwood hook around there someplace. :D

[Mooseherder]

I went back to get it today.  It was full of forest peat and when I cleaned it out the spike slid out freely.  



 

 

 

 

[Old Greenhorn]

You should be able to get a new handle from Peavy mfg. Co. In Maine. Would take some work to clean it up, but a nice wall hanger and a sweet find with the point. It might have been hanging off a sled and the handle caught a stump going by and snapped off. Or maybe the guy used it to beat off a bear and the rescue team just left it there when they dragged him out. ;D

[thecfarm]

The point is held in place by a hole in the handle. The point has to be driven in.

[Mooseherder]

I just checked the Peavy company.  What they have looks exactly like this one still available. 
I'll turn a handle on my lathe this winter.

[SwampDonkey]

And to add, the point also acts like a wedge in an axe handle. A saw cut across the end hole to help snug the wood in the metal jacket. ;)