Anyone ever made their own push pole?

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fishinick

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I've been looking into buying a push pole, but since I am a poor college student (and pretty crafty) I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about constructing a push pole. I've looked on other forums, youtube, and all over the web with my best suggestion being to use a pine closet rod. LOL if you ask me, I will not be hauling around a closet rod on a rig that I have dumped every dime I have into. That would just be tacky. I've heard some guys using pvc but I think that it could have too much flex in it to get me out of tough spots. Anyone made one before??
 

retiredfornow

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

Check surplus stores for fiberglass tent poles, then screw together the lengths you need.
 

roscoe

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

1.5" pvc, drill 3/8" holes in it every foot or so.
Inject expanding foam into it for rigidity.
Cement a pvc foot on the bottom and a handle on the top.
 

kfa4303

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

very clever roscoe. me likey. I made one in the past out of PVC once, which worked pretty good, but it was very flexible. The one part that did work well was a little fork I added at the bottom. I basically used a T-joint at the end of the main pole, then put a 2 in. lenghth of PVC on each end of the T, then a downward facing, 90 degree joint on the end of each of those. I then added another 1-2 inches of PVC pipe to each of the 90 degree joints. Finally, I finished each end with a rounded end cap.
The forked end was super sturdy and allowed me to poll around in/on all types of bottoms without damaging them, or getting stuck in the mud. I live up in Tallahassee and I go out on the turtle grass flats and oyster bars all the time and the poll worked well, except for the flexing. The best part was the lack of damage it did to the grasses. Aside from the foam Roscoe suggested, you could probably also cut the main pole into 3-4 equal lengths then use PVC butt joints between them to add rigidity. Let us know how it goes. I'm curious to see what solution you come up with........so I can steal it ;) Good luck!
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

you can also glue 1 1/4" inside 1 1/2" and be super rigid.
 

fishinick

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

1.5" pvc, drill 3/8" holes in it every foot or so.
Inject expanding foam into it for rigidity.
Cement a pvc foot on the bottom and a handle on the top.

Awesome. Will it have enough flex to bend around the curvature of my deck though? heres a picture from the bow.

View attachment 117288
 

Krichbourg

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

I've been thinking about trying some bamboo. I got some good sized pieces growing around here. Fairly lightweight and strong. Of course it will need to be dried and finished or it wouldn't last very long.
 

kfa4303

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

I don't think there's anything bamboo can't do. It may not last forever but it would probably last a season of two. You may want to add a bit of weight at the bottom end, but it would probably work ok otherwise.
 

Slow Ride

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

Here is what I did; I use to own a 24ft Semi V Carolina Skiff with a Yammy 150 TRP, four foot casting deck on front and 3 foot deck on the back, both made of 3/4 inch marine plywood covered in apoxy then carpet. The point is that it was pretty heavy as flats boats go. I used (and still have) a 1.5 inch pvc pipe about 10-11 feet long with a "T" connecter glued to one end. On the other end i cut a bevel with my skill saw. Thats it! Yes is has a little flex but not much more than the commercial push poles such as stiffy, etc. I also use it to hold the boat still when I have several friends or customers on the boat. I tie a small loop to one of the cleats near the stern. When I put the anchor out, from the bow cleat, I let the achor set. As the boat begins to swing around I place the pole through the loop at the stern and ram it into the sand/mud. This works as well as anything you find on the maket and will cost you less than $20.00 including the glue. The only down side is that sand and mud get in the pipe and have to be shaken out from time to time. I usually leave the open end hanging off the back of the boat so the mud will fall into the water when I'm running. When I get home I put the water hose in the other end and all the sand and mud washes right out. In retrospect I may try the foam with some sort of dam to prevent this issue but only in the last 1-2 feet. The foam, although lite will add some weight and potentially fatigue the user on long days. When I need ot use it as a push pole, I simply flip it over and push the "T" handle into the sand and mud and it holds just fine. Never had a problem in 10 years. I still use the same pole on my new flats boat.

Save your money and put it in gas and oil!
 

kfa4303

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

Thanks Slow Ride. I think I might give that at try.
 

Home Cookin'

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

Bamboo is a great idea, and always free, so who cares how long they last?

The best home-made poles I've seen were carved by the guides in Currituck County, NC from a straight sapling, probably hickory or ash. They'd cut it down so it was about the same diameter the whole length, except at the end (last 2-3') it would have a slight paddle shape--flat on the sides. Worked great for sculling and straightening the boat as you shove along (ever get the spins?) Add a notch at the end for picking up the decoys by the string.
 

robert graham

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

Ditto on the Bamboo...find a good stand of cane and cut yourself a half-dozen poles, use 'em 'til they quit, get another one!...good stuff!:)
 

GatorMike

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

Well if you thought a piece of closet rod was tacky then you probably won't like this one but, a piece of wooden round stairway handrail makes a good push pole if you are wanting to go cheap. You can get it in lengths up to about 20 feet and it is stronger than your closet rod idea. It is not to heavy either. In order to meet the building code requirements on graspability it is the perfect diameter to grip too.

Just a suggestion, I used one for a couple of years.
 

mrdancer

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

1) Check with your local high school track coach for used (throwaway) vaulting poles. If they don't have any, check the next school over. Sometimes you can get them for free.

2) Closet rod (dowel) INSIDE a PVC pipe. Heavy, but looks nice and don't have to worry about the dowel snapping at the worst time.

3) 1/2-inch, or so. re-bar inside of PVC pipe or rubber hose. Same as above, heavy but sturdy.
 

mommicked

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

Ive been thinking about using bamboo myself, and coating it w epoxy to make it stiffer? and long lasting. I used to make frog gigs out of bamboo and they worked great, even when very long
 

laotou

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Re: Anyone ever made their own push pole?

My push pole is made of 1/2" EMT electric conduit. On one end, I installed a hook. On the other end, I affixed a PVC cap to it. It works for me.

pushpole1.jpg pushpole2.jpg
 

RenegadeBS

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Curing Bamboo for a push-pole

Curing Bamboo for a push-pole

I know I'm resurrecting an old thread, but here goes anyway...

I have cured bamboo before in making hiking sticks, cane fishing poles, and wind chimes... with excellent results! Bamboo is such an awesome material, it's so light and strong. I now plan on making a push pole for my little bateau. Here's what I've learned in my limited experience:

FYI - People always think you need to dry it out, but that only makes it brittle. It needs to be cured!

1) When choosing your bamboo, look for the stalks that are not bright green (indicates newer growth). You'll want to find one that's the right diameter - both comfortable to grip but with a large enough inner diameter to insert attachments into the ends. Cut the bamboo down with a hacksaw as low to the ground as possible. Once down, trim all of the branches and cut the top off at your desired length.

2) We will be curing the bamboo with high heat, but this will cause pressure to build up inside each of the compartments ("internodes") of the stalk, resulting in a loud pop and splitting the bamboo. To avoid this, we need to equalize the pressure by drilling a small hole into each compartment ("internode") - there should be one hole between each joint ("node"). Making hiking sticks in the past (where you don't want to see a bunch of holes), I have used a 2-foot-long drill bit to drill through the nodes from each end (and a piece of rebar to punch through that last middle one that the bit wouldn't reach). However, I believe for a push-pole, you would desire the small holes as an access point for injecting expanding foam.

3) Now it's time for the heat treatment! Get a few old rags you don't care about (you'll be throwing them away when you're done) and purchase a large propane torch (that hooks to a standard propane tank). Set the bamboo stalk across a couple of sawhorses in a safe area.

4) Starting at one end of the stalk, heat-blast a 2-foot section at a time all the way around, rotating the pole with your free hand. As you cook it, you'll notice that with every pass the color changes like you were spray-painting it (first light green, then yellow, then tan, then brown, then darker). Once you start to get a golden brown and the black sap is bubbling to the surface, you're there (but you can keep going to make it darker if you want to). The key here is to get it the color you want and set down the torch asap to wipe that sap! The stuff will dry quickly and you're pole will be covered in little black bumps (useful as a grip if you so desire). Using your rag, wipe the sap all over the area that you just cooked - it will leave a glossy shine!

5) Move down the stalk working in 2-foot sections. Once complete, do a quick heat-blast from one end to the other and follow by wiping the sap from one end to the other to even it out. You can also over-cook areas to get unique color splotching affects, but keep the torch moving quickly so they appear random. Let it cool, and you're done!

6) At this point, I'm going to inject expanding foam into the entire body, leaving some space at each end for attachments. Going to go with some sort of boat hook attachment on the top, with a duck foot attachment at the bottom. Also going to use the foot of the pole to plant a spike anchor.
 

JB

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Re: Curing Bamboo for a push-pole

Re: Curing Bamboo for a push-pole

I know I'm resurrecting an old thread

And you must also know it is not allowed except by the OP.

I am going to leave this one because it is informative and might be useful to other members, but in the future, please respect our rules.

Thanks for your cooperation.
 
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