Pipe stoneboat tongue

@Rod 8193 wrote:

Hi Old Kat

I use a tongue on my sled (same thing). Mine are 9′-6″ for Halfingers and my ox team. I bought a forecart and the tongue was 10′ standard. Another way to determine the length is to measure the distance from the draw bar back to the end of the horses and add 2 or 3 feet.

Mine are mostly wood except for one I made from 2″ box tube x 1/8 wall. I am not sure about this one in bending but will find out. I have a wagonette that came with a steel pole. This unit is made of double pipe, one of which slides inside the other so you can adjust the length, a nice feature and it allows you to use thinner stock as it’s mostly doubled up. I think its 2-1/2 or 3 inch diameter and has holes where you can drop a pin in the adjust the length..

I was thinking something along the lines of 2.5 inch pipe would do, thanks for the info.

@jboyd 8857 wrote:

i used a2″ pipe for my wagon it has worked fine for many years
jboyd

Yep, that is what I actually settled on. I’m making it so I can easily detach it and use on other (future) equipment. It will be pipe on the tongue part, but behind the hammer strap it will transition to square tubing to fit a receiver.

Thanks again.

@Rod 8916 wrote:

What I did on mine was weld a 1-7/8 ball on the sled on top of the chain loop. Then made an adapter from a 2″ receiver with a trailer hitch welded on to it. This way I can use my universal pole with the 2″ male part on my other equipment or hook it to the sled and get the full articulation I need there. All my equipment is setup with 2″ receivers so I can move the poles around from one to the other.

Not exactly sure what a chain loop is, but I had thought about using a trailer ball on the stoneboat and a hitch welded to the tongue or to a 2″ square tube & a receiver welded to the tongue. In fact that was my plan right up until I found some 5/8 thick discs about 6 to 7 inches in diameter in the scrap bin at a local welding shop. I then decided to make a fifth wheel type of deal, but it is the same basic concept as what you have done.

I’ll get the up and down articulation by using a 2&1/2″ pipe collar slid over the 2″ pipe that runs from one runner to the other. Hopefully the side to side articulation will happen with the fifth wheel deal. The ball setup is probably better, but I didn’t want to pay for a trailer hitch! (Color me cheap!) 😉

@twistedlines 11031 wrote:

Hello everyone, does anyone have pics or plans they would like to share on building astone boat. Thanks so much

In one of Lynn Miller’s books, I think it was the first one, Workhorse Handbook there is a drawing of one with some dimensions. It is not real specific, but there is enough to go by.

He doesn’t give any details on the the hitch part, but as long as you can make it stout with articulation up and down & side to side you should be okay.
If you have any questions, send me a PM and I will tell you what I did on mine.

I’d love to tell you that it works like a charm, but truth is I completed mine in late May and then immediately after we had a round of extraordinarily hot (and dry) weather set in with temps some 10 degrees above our normal lows and 15 plus above our normal highs, so it is still sitting right where I unloaded into the barn. The weather has started to turn a bit now, so we will be hitching and pulling within a week or so.

Good Luck!