Mounting stand help

A basic tenant for mechanics is to use the right tool for the job. By and large, "multi-tools" don't work well on any of the jobs they're used for and your idea of a mounting stand is along that line. Though it may seem utilitarian, it would be a nightmare to work with. I have the drawings of my mounting stand in the tutorial section someplace and it's mounted on a 2 inch ID pipe that fits over a 1 7/8 inch rod. A nut welded on the pipe and a bolt screwed through it allow you to set the height you have to work at.

That SawzAll is proabably the best option of power tools. The old handsaw butchers use is lighter and quite efficient but it takes a bit of horsepower to cut skulls.

My advice is not to worry too much about cutting a skull "perfectly". I use a sanding disk with those heavy abrasive wheels welders use to cut my skulls down a bit. Often I cut them too short and I end up building them up with wedges and Bondo anyway. As long as the antlers are attached to the skullplate, you can make do with them.

 

I'm guessing you are looking for as cheap as possible. Find somebody you know who can weld and help build you a custom mounting stand how you want it.

For skinning I have an electric hoist I got from harbor frieght for $100 that we mounted on a track so I can pick the deer up, slide out of truck, skin, and put the deer right back in. I got the 880lb hoist but you shouldn't need one that big. Also get a good metal gambrel for attaching to the animals. I have a looped nylon rope on each end of my gambrel too for skinning small mammals and fur I've trapped. All you have to do is run a switch. No back breaking work involved. Very nice to have in a shop I think I could hire an 8 year old to skin critters in my shop.

For cutting caps build a frame that you can stick deer heads in to hold the head while you use a sawzall to cut. Should work pretty easy for someone who doesn't have alot fo strength to hold the head and saw at the same time and control where its cutting. Will give you both hands to control saw bounce and angle its cutting.

 

Harbor Freight pulley hoist x2 . Harbor Freight love that place. Also if you get you some better equip.....etc to aid in lifting, don't forget to take a brake and relax once in awhile . You can still over due yourself .

 

Perhaps the biggest lesson that I keep learning in equipment is that cutting corners usually costs me somewhere else.

I quickly found out that the 2 in 1 stand was a bad idea. Too cumbersome, too heavy to maneuver, & a constant battle. I have not used one with George's design yet but I have been reading that thread & really like that concept.

Also, get a hoist with a winch built. Your back will thank you. I have one that has an electric winch that I can use at the shop or in a receiver hitch in my truck. It adjusts in height on my truck from 8' to about 14'. It is somewhat heavy so I don't move it a lot.

As for the Sawzall, I am not trying to imply you don't know what you are doing, but I have seen several people use them ineffectively on skulls. A couple of tricks that work well for me is to cut away excess meat from where I will start my cut to expose the bone so the saw starts on bone instead of meat. I also make sure I have the saw guard firmly against the skull so the saw is moving the blade instead of the blade moving the saw. I also use a 12" wood blade which is apparently different from a lot of people but it works well for me.

Hope something here helps & I look forward to reading the advice of others.

 

I agree with t bought the material for my stand for under 20$ and welded it myself and I would make 2 skip the duel head thing to big, I agree sawsall it the way to go. All the suggestions you got so far are good ones. Good luck let use know how it goes

 

I am also small, not quite as small as you( jealous), but I am lucky to have a motorized winch also. I only use it for deer.

For smaller animals, I almost always case skin and have found that regular trapping snares are a lifesaver. I have one attached to my work table so I can hook a leg in order to apply pressure to help in skinning feet, or to hold the carcass if need be. I also use one nailed to the barn pole just about head high. Once you get past the tail, you can snare it, allowing the carcass to hang. Since it's up against the pole, it doesn't spin.

As far as the mounting stand, I bit the bullet and purchased the McKenzie one at the state show last year. I hot glued carpet strips to the bottom so it won't wobble, or scratch the floor.

As far as cutting skulls, the reciprocating saw is the bomb, I found the key is letting the base of the saw bump the skull. It gets the saw nasty, but there's no bounce. A 12" multi blade is the best.
Hope this helps.

 

About 10 or 12 years ago I bought the Van Dyke's "Model A" mounting stand, as well as the kit of wall brackets. Mount a head, pull it off the stand and put it into the wall bracket, repeat. Let the head dry while its in a wall bracket and mount another on the stand. No need for those double ended stands. I can't even imagine my clumsy ass maneuvering around one of those. Just seems like things would get in the way.

The stand has held up very well, and the joints and screws are still tight on it. They need some WD 40 from time to time to keep the screws from getting too rusty. It's only downside is when you have to pick it up and move it because it's legs make it awkward and it isn't really the lightest thing in the world.

As for skinning hoists, I don't have much to say...I either skin on a bench or the floor. About the only thing I hang is deer and usually there's 2 people around when that time comes around to hoist a gambrel up onto a hook. Smaller stuff goes on a hook and chain screwed down onto the mounting stand screw.

I had a meat cutter's bandsaw for cutting skullcaps. It's still at my old house back in PA with some other big equipment I couldn't bring during the move. That worked fine for me. Any refinement after the main skull cap is cut off can be done with either a hand saw or a dremel.

 

There's also a fixture for holding heard for cleaning and sawing in the tutorials. I simply can't work without mine.

 

How in the heck do folks sew their mounts using a double mount stand. Like said before the model a stand and a few attachments works great on animsls like deer, antelope and oryx. Elk size is just a bit too heavy for that stand. I use a harbor freight engine stand for elk and buffalo.

 

I went to two bench mount stands. It works great for me. I also have the receivers on the wall to hang things to dry. With this set up I have enough space to mount 5 things at once.
Ralph

 

12 bucks and a scrap wheel.

Ive got the leftover material to make it pivot up and down. Just have not done it yet.

 

I got this from harbor freight. It works great for cutting off the skull caps...My daughter uses it with very little trouble. I have alot more control with it then a sawz all...DC

 

I have a rope hoist set up in my work room....DC

 

I made a stand like George has, it is great to work on, look at it closelyIMO

 

This is what I have outside next to the skinning rack. When I am skinning deer at night and a guy wants his rack to go with him this is what I use..Used it for years before I started useing the multi tool....Now I do a burr to burr and very little sewing.....DC

 

I understand from reading some of you're recent post, you are new to taxidermy and have already mounted a couple of shoulder mounts. Also you said you've already taken in 25 to 30 deer heads so far for you're first year in business, so I would at least make another Jerry rigged mounting stand like you're using now or buy a couple because you will need it unless you're going to mount and leave it on the stand until you do all the finish work or just mount 1 up and hang it on the wall while it dries, But you will still probably need to get it back on you're stand to finish. I doubt you will do that though because you're probably going to be very busy along you're other job and you will most likely have more than 1 mount going at a time.

 

look into a car engine stand. it is low to the ground ,strong ,rotates around ,and cheep money

 

here is one I build and has been in daily use for 25 years , it is made from conduit pipe I got at home depot cut the pieces and welded it myself, it rotates 360 degrees, goes up and down, side to side and back and forth , if you would like more pictures let me know , you could make it a double or as many as you want . it also make for a good place to hang skins to thaw and antlers as you can see