Been thinking of getting a hookaroon to sit locks on end for splitting,pulling out of brush and off the pickup plus possibly helping load.Most of the wood will be dead or,sometimes,green oak. Peavey has aout four different styles of heads and I know nothing about using one. Any recommendations for a 6'1" @300 lb 63 year old with a back that can give some problems? Other than lose weight and stop cutting wood? Weight loss has been iffy so far and I don't want to stop using firewood from my own property.
I have a Peavey with a Hume pick. Usually works well for me. It has a nice light swing. I got it when my back started bothering me. I sais usually well because I also have a Hipps and Council Tools hookaroons. I find on different days with different wood one of them will work better than the others. One will bounce and one will stick. The Council Tools one is the best by far for pulling on brush. I also really like pulp hooks for handling wood. One reason is because you can carry a piece on each side which keeps the stress on your spine even. They are also oriented perpendicular to your wrist, so the way you hold them is different. Some people really like wood handling tongs. My suggestion is that you get one tool with an open mind that you might want another and both will be equally good in their own way.
I don't have a store bought one, but I made this Pickatoon/Hookaroon out of a broken double bit ax. I have used it a lot, this year. It works quite well for loading wood, when I don't want to bend over a lot, and I like having the ax head bit on the other side for cutting limbs off that the saw might have missed and also finishing a split if two pieces are still attached by a strip of wood or whatever. And it works for pulling wood back to the edge or the tailgate when unloading. It also works for rolling over small logs, and pulling even big rounds to the splitter. I recently replaced the regular double bit ax handle with a curved single bit ax handle, and that works a little better for dragging or pulling. Just something I was experimenting with. The single bit handle had to be reshaped and I had to make a wedge filler, but the handle has never loosened or moved, it's solid. I like it so well, that if something happened to it, I would make another, even if I had to ruin a good double bit head to do it.
You really need about 3 different styles of heads. Some work best for reaching and hooking like out of a pickup bed and other styles for piercing a round to carry it and others for general manipulating of smaller logs. Then of course there is the length of the handles........I think the well equipped firewood hoarder needs at least 6 different pickaroons and we haven't even addressed carrying tongs or hook axes!
That's a bunch. With the axes,mauls,saws,fuel and bar oil loaded,I might be able to squeeze 1 to 2 days worth of firewood on the truck
It does get to be a problem when all your tools and equipment exceeds the volume of firewood that you are able to haul! I am quite sure that there are many fellow hoarders on the site that have to exercise great restraint when the choose what tools to take on any given day!
I would rather not cut at all than leave my pickaroon behind! I currently have 3 pickaroons.The one with the tiger stripe handle I made completely myself. It is OK but my least favorite. It stays at the woodshed to hook out splits to wheelbarrow to the house. The one on the right I made from a boys axe head. The slightly curved beak works well for general manipulation of rounds and splits but not as good for hooking rounds or splits from the trailer toward you. The one with straight beak but the most hook at the end is my favorite. Who ever made this got it right. It is good at everything but excels at reaching into the trailer and hooking out rounds or splits. If you use a pickaroon for carrying rounds or splits, a shorter handle would be best (or get tongs). General use, about 36"to 38". Longer handles for those reaches to the back of the truck bed. This is just my experience, your mileage may vary. I just can't bring myself to buy an expensive Stihl or brand name pickaroon but many swear by them. Wood handled ones seem to turn up at garage sales fairly often for cheap. Hope you find one that fits you soon!
I'm 60 years old and in my work boots I'm just short of 6' and I'm about 270, but my back is OK. I have a cheap store bought pickaroon/hookaroon. It's about 35" overall with a wood handle like an axe, and the head is painted red. There's no brand name on it and I got it at the local farm supply store. It works great for moving rounds and splits. If I could have everything I wanted, I'd have a longer one too, for pulling wood out of the back of my truck. It sounds like it would be better for you to have a long handle one as opposed to a shorter one. That will keep you from having to bend down to hit the logs.... save your back.
I have a peavey with a Hume pick and 36 inch handle. Good for reaching and dragging stuff around. Don’t have many problems with it sticking. Also have a couple different design pulp hooks.
Sounds like you may have my same build. My back isn't real bad.It does go out about once a year and,at other times gets stiff. I've been looking at Peavey and Council Tool models.I wrote Peavey and they were nice enough to give me two suggestions. One was the Hume style I've seen people talking about.The other was the Kathadin style which looked like it would "stick" an end better due to it's smoother finish and sharper point.The Hume seems sturdier but has a more "hammered" finish. I haven't compared the pics with a CT,yet. I have two CT 8lb mauls and bought a 6 lb for my grandsons to learn with.Also have a 4lb Dayton pattern felling axe and a 5lb miners axe.Good axes although I wish I had gotten the felling in 5lb and the miner's in 4lb.The handles are too good to change out,though.Someday,I'd like a curved handle Jersey Pattern. I like the Peavey offerings,too.Both are American companies which mean something to me. I've got an old "peavey" that was my father's. Need to check it to see who manufactured it. It probably comes from the crosscut days. Although Dad wasn't a logger,he was a good teamster in his young years. One logger who was cutting timber on my Grandfather's property paid him as much per thousand for Dad and a team of horses to skid as he did for the timber. A couple other times,loggers hired him to drive teams for them in the area when they had inexperienced help. I've gotten off topic ut was just reminded of my Dad.
I find the Fiskars Hookaroon to be really good. Lightweight and it sticks really good for pulling and even picking up splits from the ground. The hook on that thing is impossible to dull and it doesn’t bend either, which surprised me because it’s a fairly thin piece of metal. I like it a lot. Fiskars Hookaroon 28 inch Reviews in 2020: Buyer's Guide
