A Wood Cutter’s Cant Hook

I made a cant hook for rolling a log in order to bring the uncut portion up away from the dirt so the chainsaw does not come into contact with the dirt when finishing the cut. Contact with the dirt dulls a chain very quickly.

Materials

• 1/2 inch steel rebar for concrete — 18 inches
• Various pieces of flat steel from scraps
• Steel pipe (short section about 1 1/2 inches in diameter)
• 1/2 inch steel rod
• 5/16 x 2 inch lag screw

Tools

• Vise
• Angle grinder and cutting disc
• 230 volt stick welder
• Drill press and bit
• Spring clamps
• Grinder

Cut five inches from the rebar at an angle of about 70 degrees (20 degrees off of a 90 degree cut). Turn one of the pieces half of a turn and weld the pieces together end to end as in the second photo. Note: Good welding practice means cutting the ends of the pieces down to a chisel point for a good root pass.)

I would have preferred 5/8 inch rebar, but did not have any. I did cut a piece of scrap steel to reinforce the end to-end-weld joint on the rebar and welded it in place. (Should the 1/2 inch rebar bend or flex I will weld twin pieces to the original pieces to double their strength.

I had a short 5/16 inch lag screw and decided the point on it would grab a log very well. I welded a lag screw at the end of the five inch piece of rebar.

I cut a piece of 1/2 inch steel to make a pivot and welded it to the other end of the rebar. I again chamfered the end of both pieces to promote a good root pass. I needed not to be in a hurry when welding. The steel needed to cool between welds in order for weld bead to build up and fill the chamfered areas.

See the second photo. I drilled a 1/2 inch hole through the pivot piece and ground away burrs that would interfere with the fit and the movement.

See the third photo. I trimmed the corners of the pivot and ground them a little

I removed material from pipe with an ID of 1 9/16 inches. I removed material from the pipe and squeezed the pipe in steps in a vise to keep it as round as possible and to bring the ends together.

See the second photo. I squeezed the ends together in a vise and ground a “V” into the seam. Then I welded the ends together. Use a file to remove excess weld bead that may have curled around into the interior of the pipe. Check to see if the pipe collar slides easily onto pipe from a pipe bar glue clamp.

Two tabs coming from the collar will provide an anchor for the pivot on the end of the rebar. The photo shows the pieces welded together, but allows seeing the setup, too. I used a thinner piece of scrap steel to raise one tab from the welding table. Then I made a sandwich of the pivot piece, a washer, and the other tab. I brought the resized pipe collar near and welded the tab to the collar. I removed the spring clamp and repeated the process. Finally, I welded the joints on the inside of the terms for additional strength.

I checked the fit of the pivot inside its mounting tabs and determined where the center of the axis should be. I drilled a 1/2 inch hole for the axis rod through both tabs. I inserted the pivot piece and inserted a 1/2 inch rod for the axis. I welded one side to hold the axis rod in place.

The back end of the pipe bar glue clamp acts as an adjustable stop. That adjustment allows better fitting of the cant hook to different sizes of logs. Raise the pivot point for smaller logs. Find a place on the log where the end of the pipe does not slip, but provides a stable anchor. The point of the lag screw will catch quite easily on the log. Pull to top end of the pipe to roll the log. Have someone kick a smaller piece of wood under the log to keep it from rolling back into its first place. When finishing the chainsaw cut that separates pieces of the log, a wedge may be necessary to keep the kerf from closing on the chain or bar of the chainsaw.

Five years ago another member of Instructables published how to make a cant hook with garage door parts and no welding.