2 bob sleigh rebuild

DAPNET Forums Archive Forums Equipment Category Equipment 2 bob sleigh rebuild

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #41266
    Mark Cowdrey
    Participant

    Thought I would post some pictures of my sleigh showing the bobs that I recently rebuilt. I used green white oak that I got from a local mill as I had not planned ahead for the project. Notice that this is not a cross chain type set up, the rear bob is fixed laterally. These bobs appear to be factory made & I would guess they are 80ish years old. John Rhicard found them for me in Quebec several years ago.

    I rebuilt them because the wood had had it but also because I wanted to increase the distance between the runners. It had been about 36″. I noticed that on my fairly narrow trails the horses were often crowding each other. My side hill stability also left something to be desired. I added about 6″ so that the inside face of the runner is now close to the center line of my singletrees. The horses definitely crowd each other less on the trails and the stability is improved.

    The rolls were too long for my lathe so I tapered them to octagonal with a circular saw. The ends are capped with a collar with a notch in it for the strut to run through up to the pole or reach. The strut has an eye on the end that the “axle” goes through. The round end for the collars and the round recess for the strut eye I did with various size hole saws and a chisel. The collars are a drive on fit now, we’ll see what they are like when the oak dries. I had someone who welds better than I do lengthen the struts & the “axles”. Because of the strut eyes the “axle” needed to run right through the center of the roll, so I did not want to cut a groove from the bottom. I drilled through from each end on the bench with a 1/2 drill and a 3/8 bit, adding a bit extension when I needed to. The 3/8 was small enough that I could then repeat with a 7/8 spade bit. The holes did not match exactly, but close enough.

    Note:The reach is just a shade long so that with the play in the eyes that secure the rear bob to the bunk, if you back the sleigh the last time you move it before you unhitch, when the horses start it next the front bob can start just before the back, reducing the starting draft. This can be particularly helpfu when you are leaving the sleigh in wet ground conditions & may have to start it when it is frozen. I also often run the front runners up on a 3″ stick of cordwood when I park it.

    Hope folks find this interesting and or useful. Happy new Year All.
    [ATTACH]805.jpg” />
    [ATTACH]806.jpg” />
    [ATTACH]807.jpg” />
    [ATTACH]808.jpg” />

    #56710
    Rod
    Participant

    Nice sled.

    #56713
    Simple Living
    Participant

    That sled looks very robust. It also looks like an easy design that could be copied and most guys could build with a little help from a blueprint. Any thought of doing some reverse engineering on it? Very nice work by the way.

    Gordon

    #56711
    Mark Cowdrey
    Participant

    BF,

    Yes those are eye bolts that secure the rear bunk to the beam. They give the assembly the ability to move a little up & down & forward & back.

    It is probably a little top heavy but the body is all pine & SPF so not too bad. The sides flair out so that the riders can face in with their legs stretched out and have a bit of an angle to lean back on, an idea I got from Jay Bailey.

    I wonder if the old timers ran 36 inch neck yokes/eveners? It makes no sense to me that the runners would be on different centers than the neck yokes & eveners.

    Good luck with your sleigh.

    Gordon,

    If there were 2 of me I might think about drawing it up:o. If you have specific questions let me know & I can get you the info. (George, if you are reading this, how did you mark up that photo of your modified Forrest arch?)

    Thanks for your comments,

    Mark

    #56712
    Does’ Leap
    Participant

    I uploades the photo into Powerpoint and modified it there (just play around with it, you’ll get it). I then saved it as a jpeg and uploaded to DAP from there.

    George

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.