Mystery tool

[Turner12]

Hi there fellow junkmeisters
This is my first serious post, hope it is of interest and makes it into the bollockosphere.
I found this strange object in our local recycling center thrift shop bundled up with the old golf clubs, mops and brushes. It it is 3ft long, slim wooden shaft with a two piece end effector in forged steel. Looks like a nail puller at first pass but it is much too complicated in subtle ways. It has a sliding rod Dow the shaft to set a compression spring in a gap to put tension on the forked tongue which pivots on the head. See pictures (hopefully).
Any ideas?

 

[LesserSon]

Wish the pic was higher resolution. Does the lever at the business end seem foot-actuated?
Possibly, the "found-among" context is a red herring, but a golf tee setter/retriever? Gopher poison cartridge placer?
I don't golf, but my grandfather did. I remember he had a number of oddball items for retrieving balls from water hazards, etc.

 

[Musicinabottle]

Okay, I can believe that. Thanks duck!

 

[Turner12]

Don't think it's a weed puller. Why the tension spring and adjuster. It also has HECO 2-X stamped on shaft socket. See pic.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I have one just like it, They seam to break right at the bottom of the handle.

 

[Turner12]

Still not convinced it's a weed puller. The shaft is too slender for the leverage you can apply, and, explain the spring/adjuster arrangements, torque testing the root strength maybe?

 

[2oolhound]

Looks like every other weed puller I've owned or seen although the spring and release handle is something new. Maybe for working in mucky environments where the tool won't let go of the weed, you use the spring ejector system to clear it for the next one (without bending over)

 

[Turner12]

Can you send a picture of yours, (weed puller only!), please. I need more information to convince me this thing is a weed puller. Why articulate the fork? Why the adjustable spring? Slender wooden handle would snap off at first dandylion root it tried to pull up.

 

[Mintgrun]

I have a weed puller like that, but mine does not have the weed-spitter-outer attachment.
I broke the handle that came on mine, eventually.
Probably in part because it saw some time in the rain and the socket end holds moisture.
Wood rots pretty quickly around here.
I made a new (thicker) handle with one from a shovel and simply turned the end down, to fit the tool.

 

[four.cycle]

I'm going with weed puller.
I'm going to speculate that the superfluous spring-release mechanism is to open the jaws and release the weed - I've used those things before pulling up big dock and dandelion and had to bend down and pull the roots out of the business end of the puller - maybe it was designed to avoid having to do that.

 

[notlob]

It's a yard butler!:

https://www.amazon.com/Yard-Butler-RKT-1000-Rocket-Remover/dp/B000RYOAEQ

 

[Turner12]

Hi one and all
Thank you for all replies. The similarity to the yard butler is uncanny. I searched further and found a closer match, the Granpa's weed lifter with wooden handle, no spring and rod attachment. A search on antique garden tools found a even closer image with slide rod. The one I found may have been modified with the spring. Thank you all for your expert assessment.
http://www.oldgardentools.co.uk/weeding#next

 

[four.cycle]

^ Somebody's always trying to come up with a better mouse trap. I've found the best way to pull weeds is just walk around with a weed-puller thingie (like a big screwdriver with the business end splayed) and pull them out one at a time.

But hey, by all means have a go at making "improvements".

 

[Advan]

Clarence Hecox's weed puller....

http://www.google.com.na/patents/US2185552

http://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pages/US2185552-0.png

 

[rlitman]

^ Somebody's always trying to come up with a better mouse trap. I've found the best way to pull weeds is just walk around with a weed-puller thingie (like a big screwdriver with the business end splayed) and pull them out one at a time...

That tool (the splayed screwdriver with a V notch) is called an asparagus knife. It's designed to cut the spears just below ground level, to waste the least food. But because of that design, I find that as a weeder, it cuts the roots, which saves the plant. Not something you want when you're weeding.

I prefer a weeding fork with actual tines (preferably one with a wide middle section that helps you lift the weed out with a rolling action, much like you'd pull a nail). They remove more of the weed intact that way.

The OP's tool is designed to grasp a weed with a tap root. For a grasping weed puller, I've had the best luck with a Yard Dog tool that uses several nails that close in on the tap root from all sides. It's amazing on dandelions.

 

[tym]

I've always wanted to try a gizmo like this for dandelions (aka devil-plants).

 

[James-W]

I've always wanted to try a gizmo like this for dandelions (aka devil-plants).

I just have a company come and spray for dandelions in the Spring. I used to do it myself but I found out that by the time I buy the spray and do it myself I can hire it done for just a few dollars more. I buy the spray by the gallon and pay retail and the companies that do this work buy it by the barrel and pay wholesale so they get better stuff at a cheaper price.

 

[tym]

The poison's the best if you have many dandelions, but I've wondered about the unintended consequences of loads of that stuff soaking into the ground, getting into groundwater, etc. over many years.

Plus, weeds can build up resistance to certain poisons.

 

[James-W]

The poison's the best if you have many dandelions, but I've wondered about the unintended consequences of loads of that stuff soaking into the ground, getting into groundwater, etc. over many years.

Plus, weeds can build up resistance to certain poisons.

I agree with you, there are quite a few unknowns with these chemicals. But the thing is, some of the homeowners on our block take care of the dandelions and some don't. If someone doesn't get rid of the dandelions, one way or another, then they go to seed and contaminate the lawns of everybody else. It has gotten to the point where you sort of have to spray because if you don't you will be spending nearly every weekend pulling dandelions out of your lawn. It is very unfortunate that things are this way, but I guess it is what it is and I have no idea how to change it.

 

[tym]

^ I hear ya. It only takes one lazy/careless homeowner on the street to allow their dandelion seeds (or fall leaves) to blow all over the place.

 

[LesserSon]

Dandelions were introduced to North America by European colonists as a garden herb. You could just eat them, and then they might not seem so objectionable. PO's tool might make harvesting them practical.

 

[four.cycle]

^ and you can spray until hell freezes over, but the birds and the wind are still going to scatter all kinds of seeds everywhere.

 

[bill300d]

MMMM Dandelion salad w/bacon dressing.