Always on-board trail tool - Shovel Mount (1 Viewer)

[Bambusiero]

Recently finished a shovel mount for my rig - so the trail maintenance tool will always be on-board.

Motivation - Packing a shovel is about last on the list, loading for a trip - I keep forgetting it.
On a couple of occasions now - we went out adventuring and inadvertently got onto seldom used, heavily eroded un-maintained trails... At some point we realize - discretion is the better part of valor - we need to turn around and retreat - BUT the trail is narrow, eroded on the uphill side, badly gullied and washed out, risk of a serious roll on the down hill side, etc. We end up kicking a lot of sand and prying up rocks to stack with our hands... just trying to get enough room to turn around inch-by-inch - Just turning around took us the better part of an hour! - really needed a shovel!
Plus - a shovel is an awkward item that takes up room, and really needs to be secured for safety - so - here is my answer.

 

[Bambusiero]

The 2nd row seat mounts are used to clamp down the custom brackets - made to mount "Quick-Fist Original" mounts, which are perfect for this.
The shovel is a Wolverine brand long-handled diamond point all steel spade - purchased as p/n LH15DP - 15" diamond point, but shortened to 12", because you can't find an LH12DP at a reasonable price. And the handle is also shortened, to clear each door by just a bit - I want as much tool as I can fit in the rig without taking up useful cabin space. Long handle to reach under the vehicle if needed.
This is a "low-rise" type of shovel so it lays quit flat. not the typical highly angled "transfer shovel" type - takes up too much room.
The blade is heavy guage heat treated carbon steel, handle is welded on "aero-space grade" steel tubing, seems to be 0.068" wall seemless chromoly - this one tool has to serve as many roles as possible - maybe a rock pry-bar, if needed. (doubles as dandy half-pike/polearm to fend of the zombie hordes too.)
The blade is sharpened - covered by a Kydex sheath.
The 2nd row seats are still fully functional and fold forward normally, passenger foot-room is hardly impacted.

 

[Rusty Marlin]

OOooo dat's nice!
Put that on the To-Do-List.

 

[Bambusiero]

FYI - other similar extra heavy duty grade shovel brands worth looking at -
- King Of Spades
- Corona
- A.M.Leonard
And and some other really good tools for this role:
- Council USFS Combination Pick/Shovel Combi-Tool - sort of like the old US Army folding fox hole shovel - all grown up to do serious forest fire work. Not cheap though.
- Rogue Tools - various heavy duty hoe type things - made of recycled agricultural harrow discs. These seem to be very well regarded by fire fighters.
The hoe might be actually better than a shovel for moving dirt around.

 

[LongDuck]

I mount my FoxWing tent poles here for convenience when setting it up and not banging around in the back. I like your solution of using the quick-fist mounts. Right now, I'm just using bungee cords strung under the seats to the seat retainer mounts. Nicely done,

 

[Bambusiero]

A note for anyone who wants to use this type of 2nd row seat mount usage - Once you remove the hold-down bolt - you are in for a patience challenging exercise to get the bolt threaded back in. The mounts are spring loaded and things don't want to line back up. Also - the bracket underside is flared and needs a 3/4" hole to fit through - one of the 2 holes ought to be oval-ed so your spacing width doesn't have to be exact.