dogwood77
Member
Found this in my dad's garage. Can't figure out what it was used for. The handle is about 6 ft long; overall length is 77 in. The imprint says Batcheller & Sons, there's lots of info on that company, just not this tool.
Thanks for advancing the ball here. Very likely a dual-use, if not multi-use tool; maybe for holding up and pulling down, as you say. That's more plausible then the only thing I could come up with (which was bending rebar - doubt it).Very odd tool.
For whatever reason I’m thinking it’s a tool to snag overhead wires/rope and then pull them down via the loop capture or push them up via the U-saddle.
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Interesting. It appears intact, as designed. On the simple U-end you can tell it was pinched off while the steel was still hot. On the other "maze" end, it doesn't have that rough, jagged surface you expect when a metal bar breaks.Wonder if it was for leading animals by a nose ring, but Larry’s thought sounds good too.
But why the second leg, for either thought? Is it broken?
better pics or it didnt happenInteresting. It appears intact, as designed. On the simple U-end you can tell it was pinched off while the steel was still hot. On the other "maze" end, it doesn't have that rough, jagged surface you expect when a metal bar breaks.
I'm starting to think this was used aboard ships, to deal with various ropes and lines. My parents house was built by a shipbuilder in the 1880's. Batcheller & Sons was founded in 1816 and continued through 1902.Found this in my dad's garage. Can't figure out what it was used for. The handle is about 6 ft long; overall length is 77 in. The imprint says Batcheller & Sons, there's lots of info on that company, just not this tool.
My thoughts was a mop handle too, if it was symmetrical. But I didn't see anything like that in the first American Fork and Hoe catalog I found, so kept quiet on that idea.one side is missing/ broken, it's a vintage dust mop handle
My first thought was a broken garden tool, but a broken mop sounds even more likely.one side is missing/ broken, it's a vintage dust mop handle
Well that's less exotic but you may be right. Looking more closely at the top of the 'u' where I thought it was made that way, it's somewhat rough and may have been snipped with giant bolt cutters or the like. Have any photos of anything similar?one side is missing/ broken, it's a vintage dust mop handle
After hundreds of wrong guesses I finally got one right..lolOld Man Roger for the win!
What year is the catalog?
1927 Two Man Rake?
****, I overlooked it in the 1914 catalog. Good eye Roger. Guess I wasn’t looking close enough.Looks like Batcheller & Sons bought a company called American fork and hoe, so my previous guess that it was a broken garden tool may not be too far off the mark.
Good history of the Batcheller family here: http://www.yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears Tools/American Fork & Hoe Co..html According to this there were 17 companies that merged to create AF&H in 1902. Later they acquired Kelly Axe & Tool. Changed their name to True Temper, then were bought by Ames.****, I overlooked it in the 1914 catalog. Good eye Roger. Guess I wasn’t looking close enough.
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The American Fork & Hoe Company : Farm and Garden Tools : Catalog L : American Fork & Hoe Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
204 p., illus., 25.9 cm, trade catalogarchive.org
I think Am Fork & Hoe was a merger of six or eight small independents.
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American Fork & Hoe Company
The American Fork & Hoe Company was founded on September 8, 1902 as a consolidation between Batcheller & Sons, L. Bolles Hoe & Tool Company, Utica Tool Company, Geneva Tool Company, Withington & Cooley Manufacturing Company, Iowa Farming Tool Company, Sheble & Klemm, Meyers Irvien Company and...mycompanies.fandom.com
This is true, but it helps to know that it was a brand name first, and for many years, trademarked by AF&H in 1929. The brand name became so popular, and so much more well known than the name of the company itself, that AF&H changed their company name to True Temper in 1949. The reason I point that out is because it's very similar to the Champion DeArment story, better known as Channellock. Oddly though, through conglomeration, True Temper became a brand name again, when True Temper was bought by Ames, becoming Ames True Temper, later, The Ames Companies, then just Ames.Changed their name to True Temper,...
Um, that would be Mr. LiUNA.Did the inventor also invent the handle that allowed tools to stand erect without paid labor required to stand around holding them as part of the scenery?
A robot mulching mower will take care of leaves on the lawnSomebody PM when they invent a No-Man Rake!
Or a chain gang....for raking rocks, so a heavy duty robot required. Or a good man with an excavator.