Scooter Hook & Pike Pole

Yash~

Excellent!

I will be interested to learn how you achieve the temper (if that's the correct term?) so that the point of the spur and the edges of the flange stay reasonably sharp AND so that nothing bends under hard use. I mounted an old Scooter Hook on an ash handle years ago - but the flange bent (and even cracked along the "hinge") when I first used it on the ice.

All the best,

SJS
 
Yash~

Excellent!

I will be interested to learn how you achieve the temper (if that's the correct term?) so that the point of the spur and the edges of the flange stay reasonably sharp AND so that nothing bends under hard use. I mounted an old Scooter Hook on an ash handle years ago - but the flange bent (and even cracked along the "hinge") when I first used it on the ice.

All the best,

SJS
Click to expand...
I was going to weld up something similar out of steel and angle iron. No temper needed
 
Yash, I had the same vision.... I have a bunch of 1/2" x 1/2" stock....
Click to expand...
I'll whip up something good soon as I find some time since the weather started to break my main focus is the sled truck lol pulling seasons around the corner
 
Its amazing that you can track the history of such a simple tool. What can you tell us of others you have seen. Were they made different in different areas or by different blacksmiths. Do you have any photos you can post of Bellport decoy anchors or the history
 
Bill~

I was just lucky that Wilbur A. Corwin - who was an architect by profession - liked to write things down. His "Birth of the South Bay Scooter" was published in the Long Island Forum. I found it on the South Bay Scooter Club website http://ice-scooter.org/articles.php (lots of old articles there) AND he lived in the Bellport-Brookhaven area - which has a strong reverence for both history and life on the Bay.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who know about anchors etc in the Long Island Decoy Collectors Association. http://www.lidecoycollectors.org/ They sponsor a show in early March each year. The special display in 2015 will be about the "big rigs" on Great South Bay - the open bay broadbill rigs that replaced batteries when they were outlawed (in 1918, I think).

BTW: Those Brant heads are ready....

SJS
 
Steve, This looks like a very versatile tool to have handy. Yash, if you end up making any, I'd be interested in purchasing one for my Sneakbox.
 
Steve, This looks like a very versatile tool to have handy. Yash, if you end up making any, I'd be interested in purchasing one for my Sneakbox.
Click to expand...
I can fab the heads shouldn't be a problem out of steel and get them powdercoated or even get them cut out of aluminum if I really wanted to get fancy just supply your own length pole. Probably won't be getting into it for a few weeks now the weather is fair I can get some other projects I got going on out of the way
 
Steve, thank A LOT for taking the time to describe what it's used for. That is really really cool what that boat was designed for...so i suppose you would just "pushpole" your boat along if there was no wind to move you over the ice?

That's really interesting though

Thanks again

OH and while I was up in Churchill I saw an airboat being worked on. Airboats can be fun but LORDY the coldest I've ever been was on an airboat ride here in FL during duck season....I can't imagine how cold it would be to be moving across the ice up there on an airboat. But they sure can get you places.

Dani
 
John, now that the season is over....time to get busy on these! I'll take the second one you make, and actually would like 2 as I run the BBSB through the ice all the time too.
 
Wow I totally forgot about this project. Had the stuff lined up to fab and life got in the way. I guess I'll pick back up on this soon if I can find time
 
If you get the production line set up, I can still use two for the twin South Bay rig...it is tough keeping up with Dave, but we all need goals...
 
Steve the only one I ever saw this did not have the schovel head. Pointy on both ends. Yours makes sense with soft ice. Better gripption,

The guys who grew up in the age of wood and small outboards needed these so the wouldn't hole the boat. They would nudge the boat on the ice and then use the pole to pull them up

I grew up in the age of fiberglass and aluminum where you ran the boat up on the ice full power. rocked the crap out of the boat broke thru and then did it again. I'm lucky to be alive. OSHA would not approve.

That's a cool tool reminds me of my carving mentor Carl Beecker hes the one who showed it to me.

Phil
 
Steve,

I've forwarded your drawing to a smith friend. He won an episode of 'Forged in Fire' on the History Channel last year and is a GREAT guy. You may not be looking for one, but I thought it would be interesting to see how much he'd charge to make one/some for those amongst us that might like one.

I'll keep you updated once he replies.
 
I just got back from Long Island - and brought with me the final "missing piece" for my Great South Bay Scooter - a beautiful Scooter Hook/Pike Pole thanks to the grandson of the man who built the original Scooter back in the 1880s. Although Schuyler "Bud" Corwin was unavailable over the weekend, he passed along to me a really nice Scooter Hook (the fitting) mounted on an elegantly shaped 7-foot ash handle - altogether known locally as a Pike Pole. The Pike Pole is used both to push the Scooter along on top of the ice - and also to pull the Scooter out of water (an "air hole") or through "porridge ice" (too soft to support the boat, too thick to row).

The unique feature of a Scooter Hook is the combination of the pointed Spur (aka Spike) and the spade-like Flange (aka Hoe). This enables both the pushing and the pulling - so necessary to ice work.

A few of you have asked for details and measurements on the Scooter Hook - so here you go....

1CorwinScooterHook-oblique-small_zps6e1a947c.jpg


Here is the Profile:

3CorwinScooterHook-profile-small_zps13a98479.jpg


Here is the Plan View:

4CorwinScooterHook-plan-small_zpse6d3f493.jpg


Here is a head-on view of the Flange (aka Hoe):

2CorwinScooterHook-headon-small_zps12e5ede5.jpg


Here is a measured drawing - if you print the image on 8.5 x 11 paper, it is a full-size (1:1) drawing.

5ScooterHookDwg-small_zps92b8f49a.jpg


Although I try to make my own boats and gear whenever I can, I have NO expertise with metal-working. Making a Scooter Hook requires the skills of a blacksmith - someone who knows how to shape, weld and temper steel so it does its job.

NOTE: This Pike Pole has a fairly short (1-1/4" long) ferrule - cut from a length of either brass or copper pipe. Most of the Pike Poles I have seen have a longer ferrule - typically 3 or even 4 inches long.

Also, note that there is a steel pin that goes through the shank of the Scooter Hook; this is peened over on both sides of the handle. I presume that the handle is bored lengthwise to receive the shank - which is made from square stock.

Here is the Pike Pole ready for use (although I will put a couple of coats of paint on it). This one is about 7' long - but some are much longer, perhaps 12' in length. I like one that can easily stow inside the boat while gunning or rowing.

6PikePole-fulllength-small_zpsb6e67b68.jpg


Most of the handles I have seen are simple, straight-sided poles - about 1 5/8" in diameter; they may be reduced in diameter to fit the ferrule. This one is elegantly tapered at both ends. Near the ferrule, the taper begins about 4-1/2 inches back from the beginning (aft end) of the ferrule. The other end is rounded over like most rake handles. The diameter is full for the first 5 inches then tapers down to 1-1/4" inches by the time it reaches the 6-inch mark. This 1-1/4" section very gradually tapers back to full diameter at the 36-inch mark. These subtle changes in shape are not merely aesthetic. They tell me where my hands are on the pole without having to look.

All the best,

SJS
Click to expand...
Steve do you have a few pic looking down the shaft at the back of the hoe?
 
Good morning, John~

We're in luck! I just hauled my Scooter up from Long Island this past weekend. So, I can photograph it later today. And, I was just given another Pike Pole with a similar head. I will photograph both when it's a bit lighter outside.

All the best,

SJS
 
It's too bad, my father was quite the blacksmith. Unfortunately, he passed away a couple years ago.

However, I believe all of his tools and equipment might still be at the old home where my brother has since been residing. While I don't have his experience, I have a basic knowledge, and I am pretty handy with my hands...

Jon
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top