Anyone use a billhook.

[CLEM]

I know some of you folks use a machette for various stuff but i wondered if any of you folks use or have used billhooks.I remember my father having a much used billhook hung up in his shed when i was a small lad,are machettes,gollocks and billhooks used for the same jobs,suited to the same jobs or are are they intended for differant jobs alltogether?

 

[Bardster]

I have a Gerber billhook and love it - goes through brush like butter - even 2" hazel dint stand in the way.

 

[Bushpig]

I have a billhook, currently unsharpened but yes these are great tools. Traditionally a tool for woodland workers such as coppice workers, can be dangerous as with any blade but by cutting away and back behind body you avoid risk.

Pretty darn heavy though!


Booosh

 

[CLEM]

I have a billhook, currently unsharpened but yes these are great tools. Traditionally a tool for woodland workers such as coppice workers, can be dangerous as with any blade but by cutting away and back behind body you avoid risk.

Pretty darn heavy though!


Booosh

Let us know how you get on when you do use it and what you use it for exactly.

 

[Bardster]

I have a billhook, currently unsharpened but yes these are great tools. Traditionally a tool for woodland workers such as coppice workers, can be dangerous as with any blade but by cutting away and back behind body you avoid risk.

Pretty darn heavy though!


Booosh

thats what i love about the gerber, I have used a traditional kent billhook but found it heavy. The gerber is a modern take on it with a hollow fibreglass handle and a much lighter blade - give me much greater control. Wilkinson sword also do the same billhook both are made by fiskars i think - there was a thread on them here http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=976&highlight=Made+Fiskars+sold+Gerber

 

[whitebeam]

I know some of you folks use a machette for various stuff but i wondered if any of you folks use or have used billhooks.I remember my father having a much used billhook hung up in his shed when i was a small lad,are machettes,gollocks and billhooks used for the same jobs,suited to the same jobs or are are they intended for differant jobs alltogether?

there are lots of different styles and weights they all have different jobs, some are good for coppicing, some are good for spars. l use a heavier one for coppicing and a lighter one for spars. avery good tool

 

[Fluxus]

I have 2 morris Bros. hooks, a spar hook and a wierd shaped Finch Bros. Hook.
The big morris is my fave for coppicing and hedgelaying.

 

[TAHAWK]

I have a billhook, currently unsharpened but yes these are great tools. Traditionally a tool for woodland workers such as coppice workers, can be dangerous as with any blade but by cutting away and back behind body you avoid risk. . . .

Booosh

Like a backhand in tennis?

 

[CLEM]

Well i am thinking of buying a billhook,what would you folks recomend?

 

[Toddy]

If you buy on ebay, be more careful than I was
I used a billhook for bracken, nettles and willows but didn't have one of my own. Thought it might be an excellent tool to have around; but the *billhook* I got was actually a panga Cheap as chips but far too big for what I wanted. Caveat emptor and all that. So I got my brother to cut it down to fit me, it's now a good tool minus 15cms of steel and about 10cms off the handle.
Scots call the little hand held scythe a heuk. Anyone know what make/ pattern of billhook would most closely match? and where I might get one?

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[arctic hobo]

I've just bought myself a leuku as it happens. No billhook but a similar principle. Despite the fact that I think a leuku is more dangerous in skilled hands than an axe, it's what I was taught to use so here's hoping it serves me better.
The thing with leukus is that they are used very fast, as chopping implements on heavier stuff, rather than as parangs or possibly billhooks on lighter stuff. Apart from splitting (the narrow blade makes things a bit tricky) I think that a leuku is more than a match for an axe, and is lighter than both axe and billhook. The disadvantage is the strength you need to sustain hard blows fast, as you aren't using the weight of the tool. Last advantage is that it means you don't need a large knife as well as your axe, as it takes the place of both.

 

[richardw]

I know some of you folks use a machette for various stuff but i wondered if any of you folks use or have used billhooks.I remember my father having a much used billhook hung up in his shed when i was a small lad,are machettes,gollocks and billhooks used for the same jobs,suited to the same jobs or are are they intended for differant jobs alltogether?

You might find this link interesting.

http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/271

I always go to the Weald Wood Fair in Sussex and watching the guys use their billhooks for various jobs (coppicing, hurdling, trug making etc)is amazing.

Richard

 

[CLEM]

Thanks for the link Richard,it make interesting reading

 

[Buckshot]

Many people have bills here, partly because Jack is a master at using them.
I have a Newton and use it more than my axes, does more things as well or better.

Do a search and you'll find loads of threads on bills and comparing them to axes etc.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Hedgehog]

I too enjoy using bill hooks & find them very useful, in many ways they can compete with a small axe as well as having other uses such as scrub clearing etc.

There are often many good old hooks on ebay especially if you are prepaired to do them up a bit. A few hours spent re-handeling & re-grinding an old rusty blade into something useful again is very satisfying in its self.

As with an axe or any other big blade some practice is a good idea, preferably not on your own just in case. Like an axe they are likely to glance off the target if the wood is hard &/or the cutting angle wrong. Needless to say never walk up to somebody working with an axe or hook etc. without advertising your presence and waiting for them to stop. - sorry to be a bore, it's always worth mentioning though.

I'm looking forward to getting out & doing some coppicing this Autumn/Winter.

 

[CLEM]

thats what i love about the gerber, I have used a traditional kent billhook but found it heavy. The gerber is a modern take on it with a hollow fibreglass handle and a much lighter blade - give me much greater control. Wilkinson sword also do the same billhook both are made by fiskars i think - there was a thread on them here http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=976&highlight=Made+Fiskars+sold+Gerber

Thats that then ive desided to get a Gerber version

 

[Jared]

I have a two handed yorkshire billhook, and can easily deal with alot of trees. Usually a bowsaw for the first cut, then using the straight side to cut out the beak, when tree felling. Use the hook side for debranching, and clearing.

Took a while to get used to the weight.

Definately a replacement for a small axe.

Not sure machette does that as well, machette tend to be for clearing light vegetation in my opinion, as they're lighter and faster.

 

[jem seeley]

O noooooo,not slipping into the axes v billhook debate again !!

 

[Minotaur]

I must be missing something.

A billhook is a tool for chopping sticks up to an inch and half thick. A task mine accomplises with easy. It is a forestry tool, which makes it perfect for use in the UK and I would of thought most of the rest of Northern Europe.

The thing I do not get is people wanting it to be lighter. Is this the hammer thing re-visted? It is heavy so you do not have to do a lot of the work. They should be used like an axe or a hammer. I really must be missing something because my thinking goes but buy something else which would suit your use better i.e. a machette.

I do not think of my billhook as a replacement axe but as a better choice for the enviroment I use it in. In theory anything you can do with a small axe, I can do with a billhook. If it needs a big axe, I have a bow saw, uses less energy. It is actually an interesting question of what do you use your axe etc(The choppy part of your kit) for?

 

[Jared]

I must be missing something.

A billhook is a tool for chopping sticks up to an inch and half thick. A task mine accomplises with easy. It is a forestry tool, which makes it perfect for use in the UK and I would of thought most of the rest of Northern Europe.

The thing I do not get is people wanting it to be lighter. Is this the hammer thing re-visted? It is heavy so you do not have to do a lot of the work. They should be used like an axe or a hammer. I really must be missing something because my thinking goes but buy something else which would suit your use better i.e. a machette.

I do not think of my billhook as a replacement axe but as a better choice for the enviroment I use it in. In theory anything you can do with a small axe, I can do with a billhook. If it needs a big axe, I have a bow saw, uses less energy. It is actually an interesting question of what do you use your axe etc(The choppy part of your kit) for?

Well billhooks come in all shapes and sizes, (well probably more so in the past, less so now, unfortunately.) The lighest billhook I've used was a handmade Hedgehog (maker, unfortunately company long since ceased), which I picked up at a carboot for 50p. Was smaller than the modern billhooks, but far better made. Hedgehog ceased to trade well over 50 years ago (iirc), and this little billhook is still doing the job.

My yorkshire has a 9" straight edge, so tree with a larger diameter I use an axe and/or bowsaw or even occasionally a two person crosscut saw.

Also when coppicing a tree, I sometimes use an axe, as it leaves a smoother surface, whereas a saw would leave grooves where water could pool and harm the tree.
Can't do this with a billhook, as need a long handle to get the axe head close to the ground.