Source for long pry bar?

Over here in Hawaii, nearly every hardware store carries something called an "o'o" (oh - oh) bar. They are roughly 5' long, about an inch in diameter (usually hex or octagonal cross section). One end is pointed, and the other is flared to about a 2" wide, blunt chisel. Typically sell around $18-20 retail. They're particularly useful in digging, as we have a rather "rocky" soil, mostly solid lava in many places.

--Rick

Spudz wrote:

Farm stores and home centers have similar bars. I have what I call a digging bar in north Texas: 5' long, 1" diameter, all steel. One end is a flat tamper end, used to compact soil in a hole around a post. The other end is a narrow wedge with a chisel edge about 6"-8" long and 4" wide. The bar in between is full round.

Home Depot has a digging bar described as follows:

Slate bar - used to lift and move heavy objects.

You can also find them at

These are in the same category as pinch bars, but appear to have a slight bend near the end.

At work we have a bunch of Gray pry bars. I think they're 60" long. We use them to nudge pieces of dies (typically in excess of 10,000lbs). I've never seen one fail, and we don't go easy on tools like that.

Regards,

Robin

I got one at Home Depot.

Steve

The name of the tool will change with geography and salesman's age.

I would call it a spud bar. I have heard it called a Johnson bar (that critter with the wheels is a mule) and a pinch bar. Any commercial contractors' type tool store will carry them.

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Here in England I've seen these things described as "telegraph digger bars". I just checked a tools website and they come in sizes up to 82" long and 23 lb in weight.

Chris

Torsion bars make very good prybars. The early '60s Chev. trucks and schoolbuses had torsion bar front suspension, these were quite long and just right to hammer the best of all prybars from.

John

"Cat bar"....

Dozer operators in logging around here will typically always keep one handy in order to pry out rocks that have gotten stuck in the tracks, rollers, etc.......

I recently bought a bar matching that description at Lowes here in New Jersey. The tag on the tool described it as a "Pencil Point San Angelo Bar" - I have no idea why it would be called that. I filed a nice edge onto the chisel end and used it to chop the roots of bushes that I removed.

For the OP, Lowes also had a tool labeled as a "Pinch Bar". It's a round bar, about 1" diameter, but the business end is shaped to a 1" square with a 45 degree (guessing) angle forming the wedge. It's much thicker than the chisel ends designed for digging or chopping.

Years ago there was a steady supply of low-cost high quality equivalents - torsion bars from Chrysler cars and some GM pickups. One end had a nice flat end - hex shaped if I remember correctlyu, and the other end had a nice sharp, twisted end where it snapped off in service. Generally got them for a buck or less from the scrap yard, or simply saved them from customer's (or your own) cars. Always had at least a few of them in service in every shop I worked in..

Try Mcamaster-Carr they have an array of pry bars. I had to buy a new "machinery moving bar" from them about a year ago as a customer lost mine. Leigh at MarMachine

Spud bar has a point and a flat spade on the other end for digging Pinch bar has a sharper point and a bent spade for lifting A Johnson bar is used to put bulldozer tracks together

Gunner, oilfield trash and owner of many different types of bars, including track layers bar .

"Considering the events of recent years, the world has a long way to go to regain its credibility and reputation with the US." unknown

I had one for many years that had "UPRR" stamped on it.

Steve

We call 'em "rock bars" 'round the texas hill country.

Probly not such a bad thing then--pretty sure unlawful possession of 'railroad property' is a federal offense.

I have plenty of items that say "federal government property" and some even have stern warnings against stealing them. I acquired all of them lawfully.

i