AtPro cheap shaft repair

Mud-puppy

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Anybody who waterhunts with the AtPro soon realizes that those camlocks silt up and the shafts also lock up with fine grains of silt...Its nearly impossible to get them apart even if you clean them after each and every hunt! You need TWO Channelocks just to even try! I dont know who designed them but they are worthless and a guy is better off getting rid of them and just straight sticking with the detent holes...

So I bought a used AtPro on Monday from an active Forum Member 'T2Some'...It was obvious the shaft was locked up tight and unadjustable to the length of my liking, but I figured I can fix this....So Tuesday after work I went to the local lumberyard kind of place looking for a shaft.. I took my time looking around for the 'right' kind of tube that might work..I looked at brooms, (steel shafts) I looked at towel racks, (Nickleplate and high dollar) I looked at anything fabricated out of a shaft that might fit the bill or come close...

Then I wandered over to the automotive section to see if oil was on sale and it was! $2.49/qt! Deal of the Century! So I bought a case for Lil Rosie! She drinks a Qt per 8 gallons of gas! Thats a 32:1 mix ratio! Like a chainsaw! She's a 2001 2 cycle Toyota!..Anyway.....

Then, I see these snow scrapers...$3.99...Hmmm, the right length, about 3" longer even, they appear to be the right OD, and certainly are aluminum....So I figured it was worth a shot, gonna need a snow scraper anyway.......So I took it home and drilled out two little rivets, pulled off the ends and.... by gosh!... PERFECTLY exact to the original AtPro tube both in ID and OD!!

Then, I took a hacksaw blade and had to cut the old center shaft off the lower rod of the AtPro without damaging the lower plastic rod... that took some concentration and about 15 minutes, but NBD...Then I assembled my New Tube...I decided to leave the soft grip handle on it for comfortable carrying purposes, which as anybody knows, who carrys an AtPro long distances to and from the beach, is also a great Idea!

I amaze myself at how smart I am! And Cheap too! Plus, I got the end of that Snow scraper broom for sweeping out things or brushing my teeth!!

So, Mud-Puppy Enterprises Now hereby offers anodized 'Sof-Grip' replacement center shafts for all Friendly Forum AtPro users!....$30 plus shipping! No stupid Camlocks! No stupid powdercoat! Nice shiny anodized aluminum with a 'Sof-Grip' handle included! But you gotta act fast! Order now and you also get a free whisk broom! This amazing offer is seasonal! :laughing::laughing:
 

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Thanks guys, hope this helps out there in 'Fix it Yourself' land...

You can sort of see, I didnt remove the full length of the original shaft...You can see the scars from the Visegrips and Channelloks there...One, cause it was stuck so tight for its full length, and two, I figured I would leave it there and it would act as a 'stiffener' over the lower plastic, (which it does admirably)...

I just sawed around the very top portion of it to expose only the needed portion of the lower shaft to afix this new tube to and left the rest in place....Even then it was a real bear to get that short length off! Soap and hot water and twisting and tugging to work the fine silt grit out of there to remove it.....So I got about a 12" length of tube I might use to make a 'quick removable behind the arm counterbalance' or something out of, for beach sweeping ya know?...another "Mud-puppy Enterprises" option!

I took Thursday off work and did a field run to see...I'm happy with it and will be out all weekend to find some GOLD to pay for this whole coccamamie set up...The used AtPro rig cost me $200, I splurged and also got new Waders for another $130, the very cool waterproof long gloves were a deal at $5, a brick of 40 DubbleAs for $10 and the snow broom for $4...I have the scoop already....

Economically speaking, the 'barrier of entry' cost for this entire package is $349...Thats less than a dollar a day/yr....or equates to 13gr of 14k..which is one mid sized chain or a few decent rings. I should be able to get my money back in short order, especially driving around on $2.50 gal gas and $2.50 qt oil! ...I'm seriously back in it! And, I got a free whisk broom! ..:laughing:
 

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Thanks guys, hope this helps out there in 'Fix it Yourself' land...



You can sort of see, I didnt remove the full length of the original shaft...You can see the scars from the Visegrips and Channelloks there...One, cause it was stuck so tight for its full length, and two, I figured I would leave it there and it would act as a 'stiffener' over the lower plastic, (which it does admirably)...



I just sawed around the very top portion of it to expose only the needed portion of the lower shaft to afix this new tube to and left the rest in place....Even then it was a real bear to get that short length off! Soap and hot water and twisting and tugging to work the fine silt grit out of there to remove it.....So I got about a 12" length of tube I might use to make a 'quick removable behind the arm counterbalance' or something out of, for beach sweeping ya know?...another "Mud-puppy Enterprises" option!



I took Thursday off work and did a field run to see...I'm happy with it and will be out all weekend to find some GOLD to pay for this whole coccamamie set up...The used AtPro rig cost me $200, I splurged and also got new Waders for another $130, the very cool waterproof long gloves were a deal at $5, a brick of 40 DubbleAs for $10 and the snow broom for $4...I have the scoop already....



Economically speaking, the 'barrier of entry' cost for this entire package is $349...Thats less than a dollar a day/yr....or equates to 13gr of 14k..which is one mid sized chain or a few decent rings. I should be able to get my money back in short order, especially driving around on $2.50 gal gas and $2.50 qt oil! ...I'm seriously back in it! And, I got a free whisk broom! ..:laughing:



Nice diy. Saw in action today.
Nice hunting with you.


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Great work Mud !!!!! :thumbsup:

I like "do it yourself" ingenuity improvising using stuff !

…...you win the "Do It Yourself" award for December 2019 ! :lol:
trophy_Mud_2019.jpg
 
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