TreeTopFlyer
Adventurer
I'm cheap, let's get that out of the way. I guess cheap might not be the right word, I tend to think I can build something of similar design and end up usually spenind more time and money that if I had just bought the darn thing :ylsmoke: At least that is the way it seems to happen sometimes.
So after seeing the Maxax and then the price I thought a little while about what to do. It was a nice piece of gear, however along with the price, it didn't quite suit my true needs...minimizing cargo space. I wanted all the benefits of a multi-headed tool like the max ax but being that the main part of the unit is the axe itself, that means I have to carry one more thing in my Ex.
Now I already have a hi-lift...with a good sized handle. So, why not drill some holes in the handle, fab up some tools, and only have to worry about storage of the tool heads. Hi-lift already makes something similar called the Handle-All. But I already have a Hi-lift handle and a few spare tools that can be turned into "heads". So why spend the $150.
I scored the Plumb Cedar Axe head from a shelf in my dad's shop while I was helping him clean it up. Actually I found 4! There was stuff in there from 25yrs ago when we first built the shop. As an aside, the cedar axe is to have been developed in Kerrville Texas and was instrumental in clearing pasture in the Texas Hill Country which also brought about the term "cedar chopper" that I heard when I first moved down here year and year ago.
The Pick/Trenching tool I made up. It was orginally a large flat spade used for scraping shingles off a roof. Too big, so I cut the width by half with the plasma cutter and tried to mirror the originial angle. Next I welded two strips of 3/8" square stock on the top and bottom. Then welded a post to it all. I didn't quite fill in enough with weld, so it still looks shoddy. Even after grinding there are spots that I may re-fill.
The rake/hoe whatever you call this thing was cut with the plasma cutter from 3/8ths plate. I need to fill the top of the post however.
Drilling the handle was pretty straight forward. It already had two cotter pin holes drilled so I used though as guides. Drilled a 19/64 hole, then finished with a 5/16" bit. Repeat 2x. For the implements, I drilled one hole thru, pinned it then drilled the next hole. This way I knew the 2nd hole wasn't going to move if it had the chance, just a precaution. Probably a waste of time, but with the implements pinned, they have very little slop at all. They're tight.
I tested each one, the axe worked great. It made short oder of a large cedar log with a few swings but I will need some tennis racket grip tape or use gloves because now and then the vibration from the handle stings a bit. I used the trenching implement down at the lake yesterday, worked like a charm.
All in all I have 3 bucks in the whole thing, sans the hi-lift, that was for the pins at tractor supply. I have my eye on a nice "floral" shovel at walmart for 16 bucks, it's a smaller headed shovel. I have a spare shovel that I could use but I don't care for how large the shovel head is. I carry a sharpshooter shovel anyways so the shovel head implement is low on the list. I do think I will make a tree saw head though this week. I plan on sand blasting the heads and painting them up hopefully this weekend.
I think making this best met my goals of trying to minimize what all I carry in my truck. Everything fits in my recovery box. Buying the Handle-All might be a close 2nd, but I already had the Hi-Lift handle so why bother. Just took a little time and it was fun.
So after seeing the Maxax and then the price I thought a little while about what to do. It was a nice piece of gear, however along with the price, it didn't quite suit my true needs...minimizing cargo space. I wanted all the benefits of a multi-headed tool like the max ax but being that the main part of the unit is the axe itself, that means I have to carry one more thing in my Ex.
Now I already have a hi-lift...with a good sized handle. So, why not drill some holes in the handle, fab up some tools, and only have to worry about storage of the tool heads. Hi-lift already makes something similar called the Handle-All. But I already have a Hi-lift handle and a few spare tools that can be turned into "heads". So why spend the $150.
I scored the Plumb Cedar Axe head from a shelf in my dad's shop while I was helping him clean it up. Actually I found 4! There was stuff in there from 25yrs ago when we first built the shop. As an aside, the cedar axe is to have been developed in Kerrville Texas and was instrumental in clearing pasture in the Texas Hill Country which also brought about the term "cedar chopper" that I heard when I first moved down here year and year ago.
The Pick/Trenching tool I made up. It was orginally a large flat spade used for scraping shingles off a roof. Too big, so I cut the width by half with the plasma cutter and tried to mirror the originial angle. Next I welded two strips of 3/8" square stock on the top and bottom. Then welded a post to it all. I didn't quite fill in enough with weld, so it still looks shoddy. Even after grinding there are spots that I may re-fill.
The rake/hoe whatever you call this thing was cut with the plasma cutter from 3/8ths plate. I need to fill the top of the post however.
Drilling the handle was pretty straight forward. It already had two cotter pin holes drilled so I used though as guides. Drilled a 19/64 hole, then finished with a 5/16" bit. Repeat 2x. For the implements, I drilled one hole thru, pinned it then drilled the next hole. This way I knew the 2nd hole wasn't going to move if it had the chance, just a precaution. Probably a waste of time, but with the implements pinned, they have very little slop at all. They're tight.
I tested each one, the axe worked great. It made short oder of a large cedar log with a few swings but I will need some tennis racket grip tape or use gloves because now and then the vibration from the handle stings a bit. I used the trenching implement down at the lake yesterday, worked like a charm.
All in all I have 3 bucks in the whole thing, sans the hi-lift, that was for the pins at tractor supply. I have my eye on a nice "floral" shovel at walmart for 16 bucks, it's a smaller headed shovel. I have a spare shovel that I could use but I don't care for how large the shovel head is. I carry a sharpshooter shovel anyways so the shovel head implement is low on the list. I do think I will make a tree saw head though this week. I plan on sand blasting the heads and painting them up hopefully this weekend.
I think making this best met my goals of trying to minimize what all I carry in my truck. Everything fits in my recovery box. Buying the Handle-All might be a close 2nd, but I already had the Hi-Lift handle so why bother. Just took a little time and it was fun.
