My wife got me one for Christmas and I love it! So far I have used it when unloading logs from the back of my truck (I don't have to climb up there anymore... stick a log, pull it towards the back of the bed and take it away), to maneuver larger logs and to pick up smaller logs without bending down all the way. Curious as to how others use theirs! Thanks!
New here and looking forward to sharing and learning with you guys!
Next you will need a pike pole.
I use mine 2 different ways.
One: I built my sawmill bed to wide to reach across and grab boards, so I use mine to pull the board towards you for stacking.
Two: I put a small piece of fuel hose over the really dangerous pointy end, and it sits in the bed of my truck. It is not quite long enough to reach the front of the bed but it makes it so I don't have to jump up into the bed as often to get something out. especially nice with the tonneau cover closed.
When I back up to the splitter, I use the long one to pull the blocks to the tailgate. Good for moving and picking up smaller rounds.
Short one gets used picking up splits, down at the log pile, when stacking. Once you master that 'flick of the wrist" thing to release the wood, they are amazing tools.
Yeah, it can take w while to get that 'flip' mastered but once you do you can fly along. I generally have my rounds in a pile next to the splitter. For the big ones I use the tool in my right hand to extend reach on one end of the round and grab the other end with my left. This actually cuts the amount I have to bend by nearly half and makes a huge difference. For anything 12" and under I can just stab it right in the center of it's length and lift it with a little back swing then forward swing and turn to get it right up on the splitter bed. No bending required at all. It adds a lot of working time to my day. I am concerned that one of these days I am going to drive that point right into the splitter tire. I have come close a few times. ;D
I have a longer one that I use on the mill to pull off top slabs I can't get a grip on with my fingers, especially when they freeze in place. Also handy from dragging cut slabs around and out of the way or getting them up on the forks at the end of the day.
I won one here years ago for the Christmas contest i think it was, that one i gave to a friend who I thought would use it more than me. Now that stacking firewood is very hard on my back and sometimes requires me to Be on my knees in order to move it, i decided to purchase the 24 incher last week. I just moved and stacked about a face cord from the heap out back of the wood shed into the shed. What a difference! Its going to be a game changer for me I think. Should not have given the other one away !
I use mine while blocking. Rollout 5-10 logs onto two closely spaced stringers, and buck them. Then I grab the hookaroon and stack them in a wall for my wife to split.
No bending. No snowy hands and wet gloves. Less than half the steps. For the close ones, reach and swing, stick, pivot, stack. All one fluid motion without moving.
For the small and medium ones, I keep both hands spread on the handle. For the large ones, I choke up and grab the handle one-handed just below the head. Much easier to carry a 24" block that way than hugging it!v
I would not be without it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63722/5C7385CA-C109-4EAF-9A48-10A67D2E2F6A.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1645663985)
On those occasions where I am splitting with a maul/splitting-axe I use the hookaroon to stand up rounds and then the halves, etc without so much bending.
Lots of good ideas and uses here. I am wondering, has anybody figured out an easy way to keep the dang thing at hand? I find myself always looking for a place to put it when I need my hands for other things, then when I go to grab it I have to find where I left it. Yeah. I usually drive it into the next round I plan on splitting, but I'm just wondering if anybody found a loop holster or belt hanger or something that works for them. Long shot, but it's still a shot.
I have a flat spot beside the engine on my log splitter and it stays there when I split. I have a sloped worktable and the log on the far end, may get stuck despite the slope, and need a nudge/pull. so, it is handy. I do not leave it in the weather, so the nice handle does not degrade.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on February 23, 2022, 08:21:44 PMI am wondering, has anybody figured out an easy way to keep the dang thing at hand? I find myself always looking for a place to put it when I need my hands for other things, then when I go to grab it I have to find where I left it. Yeah. I usually drive it into the next round I plan on splitting, but I'm just wondering if anybody found a loop holster or belt hanger or something that works for them. Long shot, but it's still a shot.
I added some rings to carry my Peavey on my logging winch on the tractor. I had thought about adding a single ring onto my splitter to hold my hookaroon. This would not be for transport, just something to hold it upright which working: I'd put the ring at about deck height (which I think is about 24" off the ground?) and just lower the handle of the Hookaroon through it so that it would stand up and be ready to grab. I have not done this, since I'm sure I or someone else would end up getting poked by the spike on the working end. Putting it spike end down would make it a pain to get in and out of the ring. If I could find some sort of "clip" that would grab the handle, but let me pull the hookaroon out to the side, rather than thread it up through a ring, that would be convenient, and would let me put the hook end down. I've seen these sorts of clips for organizing rakes and other long-handle tools on a wall in a garage. I've not found anything to fit the hookaroon handle. (Admittedly, I have not really looked.)
I do have a holster on my tool belt that carries a set of Husqvarna 8" log tongs. I was always misplacing them until I added that holster. I end up using those now to pick up most of my rounds for splitting. They will usually pick up up to about a 12" diameter log and greatly minimize bending over. The holster is set up for a cross-draw, with the handle facing forward, since I've found this to be much easier to use than drawing it with the hnd on the same side as which it hangs. The hookaroon is still nearby, but does not get used as much as the tongs.
Tongs and holster (obviously not to the same scale):
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/16836/Firewood_tongs_small.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1613330065) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/16836/h410-0846.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1581811075)
If I ever lost these tongs, I'd go out an buy another set in a heartbeat. If LogRite ever added something like this to their product line, I'd snap one up (and hope that they offered a holster for it as well, or that it would fit in my existing holster.)
how about a magnet on the handle and a belt clip.
If the Hookaroons are about the same size as a d-cell Maglight, something like this might work...
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71ESbz4J3kL._AC_UL320_.jpg)
Scott B.