Pickaroon

Before asking what provocative thing I just used to describe your mother, a pickaroon is a type of logging tool used to push/pull/drag/roll wood around that would otherwise be too unwieldly to do by hand. Essentially a spike on the end of an axe handle, you swing it into a log or stump or timber and use leverage to help with the ergonomics of manipulating heavy objects.

At the logyard, the current and only pickaroon is serviceable but needs improvement. First, I noticed that the narrowness of width at the eye is insufficient to keep the repeated motion of burying the point in dunnage from breaking the haft away. Second, the head is held on the handle with a rivet. While there is nothing specifically wrong with that, it tends to make inevitable handle replacement more difficult (i.e. now). Third, there is only one.

After a brief study and many hours of use, I ventured to make another. Not a replacement, but rather a compliment.

Based loosely on the original, which seemed to be forged, I decided to try and to a combination of a lap welded collar with a three layer point. The lines marked above are where the mild steel body is cut. The top half is wrapped, the bottom half paired.

The body of the pickaroon is about 2 inches wide. Originally I intended to go wider but due to what material I had on hand, this is what I used. Looking back, any wider would have been too much.

Because I did not need to full material length for the socket weld, I cut about half of those arms off in preparation for the weld.

One arm is bent in, the other around it to form the scarf. This measurement was based on the drift I previously made, which is approximately the same size of a commercial axe handle.

If I were to do this weld again, I would instead have the laps of the scarf lay flat instead of trying to weld the curve. Then, I could go back and flatten the eye collar back into the intended shape rather than struggle through so many interesting bickerns and mandrels to get the weld solid all the way through and across.

Next up is welding in the pick. This is a piece of jackhammer bit, a steel I expect to be in the 52100 or Dxx category. The toughness of the steel is great, but I did not heat treat it. As it is, the normalized bit is more than enough to keep its form at this size when burying only into wood.

Here it is with the arms welded to the bit. A little blending and shaping all around, drifting the eye to its final form, and it needs little else. As a working tool, the primary objective is strictly function.

This is the final shape. Dimensionally, it is extremely close to the original excepting the width of the collar. This one is about a third again longer, which will help with the wear issue and prolong the life of the handle.

Carved out of hard maple, the pickaroon enters into its service life. A simple tool, yet interesting examination of processes and improvement. As of this post, it has had about a month of use and is performing admirably. The point is as forged, and may use a touch of filing to sharpen it for those logs which have hardened while drying, but overall a minor correction.