Help replacing pitchfork handle

   / Help replacing pitchfork handle #1  

CraigM

Silver Member
Joined
May 3, 2000
Messages
116
Location
Golden, IL
Tractor
B2150HSD, JD3020
Has anyone ever had any success replacing the handle on a tool such as a pitchfork? I was given an old pitchfork, silage fork to be axact, that had about 4 inches of handle beyond the ferrule. It took me over an hour to get the head out of the ferrule. Now I have the head sitting in the barn, but I can't find a handle that looks like it will accept the tang ( I think that is what you call the thing that sticks into the handle) on the head. The holes in the handles I've been able to find all look too small. How do they ram them together at the factory anyhow? I'd appreciate any advice there is to get a new handle on this fork

Based on the above experience, when I broke a pitchfork handle last month, I smoothed the broken surfaces on the jointer and spliced in another piece if wood to make up for the lost handle length. It broke on a long diagonal and there was over a foot of broken surface. By the time I jointed them smooth, I lost a lot of handle length. Now I have a handle with a nice oak insert. It isn't quite round any more, and has a little bit of a bend in it, but not really enough to cause problems. It is strong enough to lift a 40# bale with. Figured it was a fun test of the theory that the glue joint is stronger than the wood. Sure was a lot more fun than taking the head out of the ferrule.

Thanks

Craig
Hershey, PA
 
   / Help replacing pitchfork handle #2  
Craig,
I go to the farm store and find a handle the same width. I just take the pitchfork with me and try them all until I find a good fit. Then I drill two holes going opposite ways and run a bolt through it. I have several that I have fixed this way and they work fine.

18-35034-TRACTO~1.GIF
 
   / Help replacing pitchfork handle #3  
I took a different approach replacing the handle to an old fork I have. I took a length of 3/4" diameter rigid conduit welded the tang in one end and put a tee on the other. I haven't broken it yet.

Randy
 
   / Help replacing pitchfork handle #4  
It's actually a fairly simple process, just difficult to explain in writing.
The easiest way to remove the old handle is cut it off just beyond the tang, and drill out as much wood as you can from the furrel. Very often, there will be a pin thru the furrel wood handle and tang, that needs to be ground off on one side and driven out. It usually will be riveted flat, so it's hard to find. Then, suspend the fork over a notch in a sawhorse, or the end of a 2X6, and drive the old handle off with a hammer & bar. If you have a small air hammer it works a lot faster.
The new handle should have a hole slightly larger than the smaller flat dimension of the tang.
Start the tang into the new handle with the back end of the handle on the floor and tap the tang in about an inch. Then, the trick, hold the handle in one hand, suspending the fork tips above the floor a good 6" and using a mallet, drive the sucker home. Dipping the tang in oil first helps a bit. I know it sounds insane, but that's the way it works.
Finally, drill a new pin hole thru the furrel of the new handle and tang, and install a rivet and peen it down.
If you don't have a good mallet, you can accomplish the same thing by sharply striking the end of the handle on the floor, it just takes more hits. Do NOT strike handles on concrete floors or steel, use a wood block if you use this method.
Happy handling
 
   / Help replacing pitchfork handle
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Thank you for the input. I figured it was possible, but wasn't too sure of the details. As with most things, having an experienced insight takes away a lot of wondering about details that really don't matter in the end anyway.

Thanks, and happy Holidays

Craig
Hershey, PA
 
   / Help replacing pitchfork handle #6  
I replaced a pitchfork handle some years ago and it was a pain! I spent way too much time shaping the part that goes into the receiver using a fine-stone grinder, rasps, files and sandpaper. When the handle starts to fit pretty good but sticks someplace and you don't know where, you can take an ordinary lead pencil and rub around in the inside of the receiver; this will show you where the high spots are.

Unfortunately, we are a throw-away society. The cost of a replacement handle almost equals the cost of a new tool. I have a metal-box wheelbarrow, for example, that needs new handles. The box, wheel, tire, etc. are in perfect shape. However, when I priced new handles at three different stores recently (ACE Hardware, Parker Brothers Lumber, Tractor Supply) the price for ONE replacement handle ranged from $12.95 to $14.95. I can buy a new wheelbarrow, identical to the one I have, for $29.95 at ACE Hardware. This bothers me; I'm used to taking care of things and fixing them when they need attention.
 
   / Help replacing pitchfork handle
  • Thread Starter
#7  
GlennT:

>>This bothers me; I'm used to taking care of things and fixing them when they need attention.

Amen! I hear ya about our throwaway society. I still have family who remember the depression. I am the last generation in the family who can say that. They shake their heads at the attitudes of my generation and younger. Unfortunately, we are in the minority. So I take pleasure in maintaining what I have when I can, and grudgingly concede to the 'new' ways when the economics of the situation force me to, like in the case of your wheelbarrow handle.

Since I like to make sawdust, I would grab a scrap from the pile and make my own handle if I were in your shoes. That's what I did to the pitchfork, more or less. It was fun too. When all is said and done, it probably didn't take much longer than running after a new one, and it gives me a chuckle every time I look at it.

Craig
Hershey, PA
 
   / Help replacing pitchfork handle #8  
CraigM: You know, it's funny you said that. Just the other day I was looking at a length of straight-grain, yellow-pine 2x4 and thinking that I could rip that into 2x2s, round off one end of each 2x2 with rasp/grinder/belt sander and probably come up with handles that probably would stand up quite well. I'm no Atlas so the handles wouldn't have to be that substantial.
 
   / Help replacing pitchfork handle #9  
Guys, I need help on replacing a pitch fork handle. The old one just rotted out from exposure to the elements. The pitchfork has a "tine" about 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch by 4.5 inches. I have obtained a handle but the handle has 1/4 hole drilled into it. No way is the tine going to fit into that small hole. So there has to be a technique for inserting the pictch fork tine into the handle. I am looking for suggestions before I tackle this task. And no I am not interested in buying a new pitchfork already to go, I just need to fix this one.

Cheers,

Chip
 
   / Help replacing pitchfork handle #10  
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Most pitchforks I've see have the handle slide into a sleeve and held there by several rivets.:D
 
 
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