Creepers

[joelmartin]

Forevermore they break.
Build my own? Pay 350 for snap on?

 

[mikebramel]

I'm curious about the Bone creeper. The one with big wheels

 

[ScottAR]

Really like the bone creepers. Hein Warner makes a copy now for much cheaper but I haven't seen the quality.

 

[Jim D]

The Bone works well. Just as advertised; it's good on small gravel or hard, flat dirt surfaces.

Also, the molded plastic NAPA creeper is good on pavement, durable, and not too expensive.

I just pulled twenty or so pieces of double layer corrugated cardboard, 3'x8', out of a roll-off bin, for working in the snow.

 

[Greatwestcam]

Ah the "cookhouse creeper" (cardboard) works well and is priced right lol. the company I'm with has supplied us with Bone creepers, I only use them in the wash bay, have an old snap on that still works after been run over once, close to 20 years old now.

There is a smaller Bone creeper that's call the Bonester, doesn't have the humps over the wheels, I tried it out in the store, think this one will be my next one when ready, priced right at about $145.

 

[FSERVICE]

we call it the "Kentucky creeper" around here IE cardboard. I keep several in the service truck. I have a foam creeper made by snap-on that I really like. it don't have any wheels just a foam board that has been very nice when laying on rocks, bent over a sharp edge, or just a nice soft spot to take a nap LOL I have a very old NAPA creeper that stays in the shop to..

 

[willie59]

No, I don't have a favorite creeper, nor do I have a recommendation of one, on the contrary, IMHO the creeper is a modern day torture device, most God awful uncomfortable contraption to work of off that has even been devised by man. They seem like a good idea in concept, but in real life application, the wheels will hang up on the smallest pebble like a wheel chock. Try to push or pull on a fastener with a big wrench and now (miraculously) the creeper moves like it's on greased skids to which you find yourself cramming your foot into the frame of the machine to put on the parking brake. And then there's the sore bones. My God, spend a few hours under a machine on a creeper and you feel like you've been in a fight with Mike Tyson minus having your ear bit. Then some jackweed sees you on the creeper and spouts "laying down on the job are ya?", it takes a lot of patience not to bust them in the mouth, but you're already too sore to do so! And then there's the getting off of the damn thing. I've found the less stressful way to get off of a creeper is to do a sit up, cross my legs, and then do a stand up. Otherwise it's roll off of it onto all fours and grunt while you stand up. I'd just as soon throw down cardboard or masonite and go in commando with my knife gritted in my teeth.

 

[John C.]

Now that's a man who know pain! Probably been at this too long.

 

[thepumpguysc]

I'm with you Willie.. about the time you have to switch positions the wheel catches a rock or bolt or wrench and I end up rolling off of it and laying on the ground anyway..
I worked with a guy who had a pony tail.. lets just say.. after a couple of times rolling over it on a creeper.. it ended up in the dumpster..

 

[oarwhat]

The bone creepers roll over things very well. Wille hit the problem they roll to good sometimes. Trying to get any leverage is impossible.

We use old carpeting or cardboard most off the time. We get great Big,thick, cushy cardboard from a piano store. They love it when I take it away. Carpeting comes from apartments.

 

[kshansen]

I'd just as soon throw down cardboard or masonite and go in commando with my knife gritted in my teeth.

I agree with the cardboard or Masonite or even a piece of Lauan plywood. I always referred to them as "Low Profile Creepers"! The cardboard also gives just a little padding to the bones. Also these give you the traction needed to let you put muscle power where it's needed. And very handy when the machine fails out in the slop, throw down a bit of fill on the slop and plop down the sheet of what ever and at least for a while you have a good surface to work off.

That being said I do own one of the original "Bone" creepers and as a creeper goes they are not bad, better than those wooden ones with the wheels that get stuck on the slightest imperfection or dirt.

 

[repowerguy]

We use old carpeting or cardboard most off the time. We get great Big,thick, cushy cardboard from a piano store. They love it when I take it away. Carpeting comes from apartments.[/QUOTE]

Ick!! I wouldn't lay on any carpet out of a apartment. I'd rather lay in gravel!

 

[lantraxco]

Used to have a commercial building maintenance/construction outfit as a neighbor, whenever they remodeled a building interior for new tenants they usually stripped out the glued down commercial carpet in two to three foot wide strips, rolled up and into the dumpster. "Rough terrain creeper" used to keep piles of the stuff in a corner of the shop and just throw a few rolls into the service truck whenever I rolled out. Worked great, had some pad to it, absorbed oil and such, buried real easy.

Always had that love hate relationship with regular creepers in the shop, when a wheel hung up on a washer or clump of dirt, I would grab the creeper with one hand, whatever I was working on with the other and usually pinch a finger on one of the dang caster wheels... Might have to try the big roller type, haven't yet.

 

[Jonas302]

I do like the big wheeled bone creeper for rolling over cracks in the floor ect outside its cardboard conveyor belt or whatever is handy The bones are good strong creepers but a dump truck will wreck them

 

[fixou812]

A kids plastic sled about four foot long works great in snow and ice.
I like the cheap old oak creepers with the red head rest.

 

[John C.]

I used to carry a 3' wide by 6' piece of 1/2" plywood. There are almost always pallets laying around on sites so when the mud got deep I'd toss a couple of pallets down and the plywood on top.

Creepers were OK for working some automotive stuff but I never used them much when working on yellow iron. Nowadays just having to work over my head will lay me low for a day or two. The stuff in the neck is worn beyond repair.

 

[sandy]

I carry an old plastic creeper with no wheels in the truck, just there so I don't have to lie in mud
Years ago when I was apprentice and had long hair
Was under a truck went to roll out hair wrapped around one of those little wheels,
could not roll forward or back, and not enough room to get off creeper
Was a painfull lesson, Got hair cut short and never liked creepers since

 

[oarwhat]

We use old carpeting or cardboard most off the time. We get great Big,thick, cushy cardboard from a piano store. They love it when I take it away. Carpeting comes from apartments.

Ick!! I wouldn't lay on any carpet out of a apartment. I'd rather lay in gravel![/QUOTE]

The carpet we use comes from apartments we rent. I know who lives there. We remove the carpet so we only save the nice clean little used areas.

 

[mitch504]

No, I don't have a favorite creeper, nor do I have a recommendation of one, on the contrary, IMHO the creeper is a modern day torture device, most God awful uncomfortable contraption to work of off that has even been devised by man. They seem like a good idea in concept, but in real life application, the wheels will hang up on the smallest pebble like a wheel chock. Try to push or pull on a fastener with a big wrench and now (miraculously) the creeper moves like it's on greased skids to which you find yourself cramming your foot into the frame of the machine to put on the parking brake. And then there's the sore bones. My God, spend a few hours under a machine on a creeper and you feel like you've been in a fight with Mike Tyson minus having your ear bit. Then some jackweed sees you on the creeper and spouts "laying down on the job are ya?", it takes a lot of patience not to bust them in the mouth, but you're already too sore to do so! And then there's the getting off of the damn thing. I've found the less stressful way to get off of a creeper is to do a sit up, cross my legs, and then do a stand up. Otherwise it's roll off of it onto all fours and grunt while you stand up. I'd just as soon throw down cardboard or masonite and go in commando with my knife gritted in my teeth.

Exactly! The only creeper I've ever liked even a little bit is one I made myself out of a piece of 3/4 plywood with some wide tired casters on it.

What I use the most is 5'x7' tarps from Harbor Freight. I buy a bunch when they are on sale for a $ or so. They store in a tiny space until you open them, are waterproof, and you can discard them whenever you want.

 

[old-iron-habit]

I use the 1/4" thick corrigated aluminum cardboard that temporary project signs are made of. I got a bunch free whenever we finished the projects. They are light, easy to slide on, seem to have a little give on the old bones, stop rocks from poking, and they wipe of easily when I drop a bit of oil where my arse should be. They do need to be tied in the truck if you are taking them somewhere.