Habitat hooks.... my homemade versions

[alldaysit]

Well, prototypes 2 and 3! Made them both this weekend. Got the tubing bender, welder, and jimmy (rigged) out this weekend.

The first one I made last year was a 10' 3/4" diameter conduit. We ended up tweaking it on a large tree. So this past weekend I decided to do a little better job. Made two versions:

Version 2: 10' long 1" conduit with T-handle, grab bar, hook, and teeth made on the end of the pipe for grabbing/pushing onto the tree. Version 1 had no teeth and still grabbed the tree very well.

Version 3 (left hand side): extendable out to 15'. Used a 6' long 1" conduit pipe, with an inner 10' long 3/4" conduit pipe. I can run it down to just the 1" pipe at 6', or 10' out to 15' when I add the 3/4" conduit. Has T-handle, hook, and teeth on the end of it as well.

Note: I do not use galvanized because it's way heavier. This conduit from my experience is pretty strong, and that was the last 3/4" version.

I'll come back and update with better pictures later.


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[John-W-WI]

Looks good. How did you do the telescoping with the 2 tubes for the longer version?

I've always wondered how the "Habitat Hook" does it. Guess I should buy one and find out

 

[alldaysit]

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[alldaysit]

Old version on the right lol

Nice hook right (old one)!

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[Big Snow Man]

Nice but I'm not sure it's " beefy" enough.

 

[Tree Spud]

Nice but I'm not sure it's " beefy" enough.

If you are retired and have lots of time to experiment, have at it. Sorry, if you can bend it on your bench, a tree moving the wrong direction will over power.

A habitat hook from http://www.nationscreations.net/habitat-hooks.html is well proven, has far more structural strength, and is $120.

That push side is important if you have any experience with hinge cutting, and the serated grip edge is important also, in addition to grip, it adds structural strength ... trust me ...

 

[John-W-WI]

I would say your latest version is considerably better than the 1st one.

Sometimes building your own is half the fun....

-John

 

[TreeDaddy]

Mine is stuck in the extended length position because i bent it by accident.

any idea how to fix this!?!?

bill

 

[Jameson]

Don't tighten this too tight or you will oval the inner pipe one way and the outer pipe the other way. Might have been better to install a pin here. That bolt might also get hung up on branches and be a hook of it's own.

 

[alldaysit]

Don't tighten this too tight or you will oval the inner pipe one way and the outer pipe the other way. Might have been better to install a pin here. That bolt might also get hung up on branches and be a hook of it's own.

You betcha. I welded that nut there to hold my extra bolt when it's not in use. If you see the two holes above and below the bolt that's where that bolt is going to hold the extended part out.

I was thinking about pins but didn't have any laying around the shop.


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[alldaysit]

If you are retired and have lots of time to experiment, have at it. Sorry, if you can bend it on your bench, a tree moving the wrong direction will over power.

A habitat hook from http://www.nationscreations.net/habitat-hooks.html is well proven, has far more structural strength, and is $120.

That push side is important if you have any experience with hinge cutting, and the serated grip edge is important also, in addition to grip, it adds structural strength ... trust me ...

You betcha. We bent it with a tubing bender. You can't bend it by hand. We tried bending that 3/4" hook by hand and were unsuccessful. We didn't jump on the dang thing but we tried to bend it and couldn't.

That 3/4" "old version" took the beating of 2500 hinge cut trees, and I bent it giving it everything I HAD to push a tree over. 1" is twice as strong as 3/4".

I've got $20 in both hooks, plus my time. 10' of 1" conduit is like $6.50 and 10' of 3/4" is $3.xx. If they would of had an easy to assemble T for conduit I wouldn't have had to weld anything.

It's been fun and felt good making them up! Can't wait to use them. I talked to neighbor into doing a bunch of work on his land, so we will be using them over there as well!


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[alldaysit]

I would say your latest version is considerably better than the 1st one.

Sometimes building your own is half the fun....

-John

Hahahaha thanks John.


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[chickenlittle]

I had been thinking about making my own hook from conduit. Nothing against a $100+ pole but I've hinged well enough without a pole. A $10 hook would be a nice addition.

 

[Weezy]

Mine is stuck in the extended length position because i bent it by accident.

any idea how to fix this!?!?

bill

I usually put it in a double trunked tree and bend it back and/or push the button in and slam the handle into a tree.

 

[homegrownbucks]

No teeth in the hook can be dangerous, my dad has a chipped tooth as a reminder using a smooth hook

 

[Freeborn]

If you are retired and have lots of time to experiment, have at it. Sorry, if you can bend it on your bench, a tree moving the wrong direction will over power.

A habitat hook from http://www.nationscreations.net/habitat-hooks.html is well proven, has far more structural strength, and is $120.

That push side is important if you have any experience with hinge cutting, and the serated grip edge is important also, in addition to grip, it adds structural strength ... trust me ...

This is the unit I have and it works great. Well worth the money. I use mine for pushing way more than pulling. Something seems wrong when I pull a falling tree towards me. :-)

Its great you have time to make your own but I would not hesitate buying from the link above.

 

[alldaysit]

No teeth in the hook can be dangerous, my dad has a chipped tooth as a reminder using a smooth hook

I agree and typically don't use the hook much. It may actually come off until I decide I actually need it.


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[tsawyer340]

Here is the one I just made. Just used it for first time today. Works great I do need to add some teeth to it.

 

[alldaysit]

Well, we've tweaked one! The non-extendable version. I may have to order one of those "professional" hooks lol.


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[Bill]

Or beef it up.