Robert J. Mitchell Components About Peeling Spuds

(Page 2 of 2)

January/February 1977
By the Mother Earth News editors 
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(There is, of course, another kinda minor little wrinkle to making this stripping job as snag-free as possible: Trim all branches off flush with the trunk before you start to peel away a downed tree's bark.)

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The use of these strippers or peeling spuds" allowed our workers to stand upright with very little stooping, keep a rhythm going (just the way a sailor does when he's swabbing down a ship's deck with a mop), and strip a pole bare in minutes.

Still, I believe that even this tool could be improved. If, for instance, a simple deflector made of sturdy sheet metal or strap iron were bolted to the spud's handle about a foot back and slightly offset to one side of the cutting blade . . . I think it could be made to turn each strip of bark away from and to one side of the workman using the tool. This would allow you to make a much longer stroke on each cut without getting a long strip of bark stuck through your hand or between your eyes. It might even permit you to make super-long "walking" strokes from one end of a log to the other . . . all in one swipe.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Tom Hodges described a tool much like this one on page 122 of MOTHER NO. 40, Peeling spuds can be so valuable to folks who've never had one, however, that we figured it wouldn't hurt to tell you abort 'em again. And besides, as you've just seen. Bob Mitchell's refinements of the basic tool should make one of these strippers even more valuable and enjoyable to use.)

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