[goodcompanion]

I knew a farmer over in New York State who would put a dead one on a post near a garden plot. Maybe nothing smells worse to a deer than a dead deer? Gross method, I guess it worked. When the carcass rotted below a certain stink threshold he shot another one and hung it up in its place. Sort of the farmer-gardener’s version of the medieval crime deterrent of the criminal’s head on a pike above the castle wall.

[goodcompanion]

@OldKat 18799 wrote:

So you added the elliptical springs; front and back?

Yes, that’s right. They are wagon seat springs. The box is more topheavy than the previous one so I think they help anchor and stabilize it a bit.

[goodcompanion]

The running gear came from a light “market wagon” with a bench seat and an open bed. It had 44″ wheels on the front and 48″ in the rear. I moved the front wheels to the rear and had new 34″ wheels made. In making the attachment blocks on the box I accounted for the height of each spring with the new wheel sizes for a level installation.

I also added booster springs directly over the front and rear axles, to help out the fore-and-aft “market wagon” springs. Which I guess is a real name for that kind of spring. Seems to have worked since it is springy, neither too squishy nor too stiff.

We might try bending our own shafts using a steam pipe and the heat of a hot fire in the bakery oven. Another source of shafts is a long way away, they cost money, and we want to get this show on the road. Unless someone nearby reading this has a set of double bend draft size shafts lying around….

Also spoke to the Vergennes city manager about having the city drill a hole for a pvc pipe at the curbside where I’ll be vending. I can plunk my own hitching post into the socket on arrival and take it with me when I leave. Seems like a decent idea though I’ve never seen it done.

[goodcompanion]

@Carl Russell 18737 wrote:

This point is missed by most. There is very little profit margin in this low grade and most of the value of the product goes to machinery that harvests , processes, and transports it to market. It is not as bad as ethanol, but there is a lot of diesel used to make the wood into a product that can be used to make energy.

Furthermore the economy of scale required to make harvesting this type of wood creates a lot of impact through traffic on the land, removal of coarse woody debris, and density reduction. There is very little sustainable about this “new” energy source. In our region the forest soils are in the preliminary stages of recovery from being over-pastured, compacted, and eroded, and now we are poised to rob them of any future productivity.

DUH!!! Forestry my ass:mad:

Carl

Wow! Hit a nerve!

It is amazing how easily and swiftly the sustainability dialog has been taken up and taken over by institutions that have an interest in easy solutions that don’t force us to greatly change our way of living or doing things. The public approves, not knowing anything about it one way or another.

I agree, it is so totally, completely depressing. An institution for instance like Middlebury College, a source of much good though and good work, that ought to know better, promoting and using this approach. How many others will follow suit? How much damage exactly are we going to do to the landscape before the chickens come home to roost?

[goodcompanion]

@Countymouse 18757 wrote:

Beautiful work! Truly amazing! I have one concern. Maybe it’s the angle, but the shalves look lower than I am used to. On my forecart, the shafts would swing a little at that height and be somewhat annoying to my horse. I am not sure if this is a concern on a wagon, and I suspect it would matter less… I am more concerned about the height of the shalves near the breeching. Again, it might be the angle of the photo, but it looks as though the front ends of the shafts might be pushed up if you are stopping a moderate or heavy load. This might poke your horse is the side pretty hard and/or let the cart run up from behind… It’s not exactly the same thing, but on my forecart I expend much more thought on how I’m going to stop rather than how I’m going to go forward… Again, this might all just be the angle of the pictures, but I thought I would share a little of my cart experience… Again, wonderful work and I am excited to see how this venture goes.

That is a good point and I think you are right. I may need to swap these shafts for ones with a “riser” in the rear. Part of this is probably due to the fact that I swapped the original wheel (44″) for a 34″ wheel, thus losing 5″ of height. Plus I am using a tall horse.

[goodcompanion]

On wheels at last. The roof is covered with canvas and oil paint. Note–it takes a lot of oil paint to saturate a piece of canvas. More coats than you’d ever imagine. But I bet that sucker is pretty waterproof.

Prior to doing so, we hooked Bobby to the running gear and ground drove the gear around the neighborhood. Bobby was totally easy about it, as if he had been working in shafts his whole life. So I felt confident enough to fasten the gear to the box, which we did this morning. We are close to the end now, mostly just accessories to go, an awning, crates and shelving, a few bits of hardware. And a basic electrical system, and lettering on the side panels.

The springing with the added booster wagon seat springs seems fine, and all the wheels spin very freely.

The VPR radio show “Vermont Edition” has taken an interest in the wagon and its work.

You saw it here first!

[goodcompanion]

This forum is awesome. You have no idea how hard I’ve been trying to find a lead on this subject and now there it is. Thanks.

[goodcompanion]

Fantastic set of images. The ricks blow my mind. I still have it in mind to try building a rick on the farm, but I get edgy about the weather.

Here is a question for you Brits on the board. The question is maybe a little relevant to the pictures as it pertains to british ag history. I am looking for any information on the plowing (ploughing) method developed in the wet heavy lands of East Anglia. I have heard it described as layout of long narrow lands, each one a sort of quasi-raised bed, utilizing interconnected dead furrows to facilitate drainage, which was the limiting factor there as it is for me. I would be very grateful for any leads.

[goodcompanion]

Biomass and the generally positive public attitude toward it are pretty terrifying. Here in Vermont, a pretty well-educated state, few question the basic assumptions of biomass as Jason has done. Middlebury College trumpets its biomass plant as a sustainable energy model.

Everyone wants to sustain our current lifestyle, but few of us are foresters, and even fewer of those foresters will really put forest ecology ahead of the economic imperative to extract.

[goodcompanion]

Some more pictures from the installation of the roof sheathing.

Here you can see how we slit the plywood sheathing into ribbons which allowed us in conform it to the compound curve of the front roof.

Also in there is a shot of the cargo compartment, with a rubber matting type thing on the floor. I’m off to the fabric store to buy some canvas for the roof and some awning material.

[goodcompanion]

All right, here’s a query. I just finished working on the running gear. It’s all painted and ready to go, just not attached to the box yet. The box is still in the shop and needs a bit more work. I am thinking ahead to hitching the horse to the shafts. Problem is, I have never put a horse in shafts before. I use new england d-ring harnesses.

My understanding is that I will use shaft loops and holdback straps. I get the bit with the holdback straps. I have a lot of extra lines around and it seems like any strong strap with a buckle will do the job. But where and how to attach the shaft loops to my harness? I assume that the shafts need to be sort of hugged towards the horse’s sides for good steering, just never seen it done. I am using some new shaft loops bought from Meader’s. Any help appreciated.

Another batch of pictures coming up soon.

[goodcompanion]

@near horse 18664 wrote:

Hi Erik,

Your wagon looks great! I would like to know how you’re planning the roof. Curved “rafters” w/ ply over?

Exactly. Just about to do the roof. It will take two pieces of plywood since the roof is about 9′ long. The curve of the roof is a simple curve up to the frame immediately behind the driver. Then it dives slightly, becoming a compound curve. If you have dealt with plywood much, you’ll know it won’t bend like that. But, by using SCIENCE, we will attempt to make it bend! That is, the plywood will be cut into little fingers, the layout and dimensions of which will be determined by some basic geometry. The fingers all lay on the frame side by side and form a sheathing for the curve.

Long ago I had some training as a lute-maker. This roof technique is the exact same thing. Except that lutes aren’t made out of plywood. And they don’t have wheels. And you can’t play motets on a bakery wagon roof. Otherwise exactly the same.

[goodcompanion]

@Countymouse 18612 wrote:

Thanks Erik, Maybe I’m not giving the wooden wheels a fair shake and $150 is really not that bad at all for a nice set of wheels that will do what I want. I have somehow thought of wooden wheels as less suitable for field work, maybe not… I would still prefer ones that can fit onto modern axles and bearings, but maybe that is an unreasonable bias too… I think I’ll visit the factory, take a look and some advice. They ought to know. Part of my new policy of “getting out more”.

If your field work vehicle will be out getting wet a lot then stay away from wood. But for on-road work they will last forever with care, and are infinitely repairable.

Witmer’s can also set a sealed ball-bearing unit into one of their wheels if you ask for it, I’m pretty sure. You are lucky to live in the same state as them. I never got to visit, just sent instructions and received wheels through a third party. If you do go to Witmer’s, I hope you might consider giving a report and sharing some pictures.

[goodcompanion]

Another type still is spoked steel wheels with pneumatic tires. Like a Garden Way cart. Cheap. The largest I could find was 26″, though.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200331764_200331764

The wooden wheels made at Witmer’s do not change in price according to diameter, only by thickness of spokes and felloes, or in other words, by width and general heaviness. I think there may be a surcharge for diameters over 50″? They can make up a rock-solid wheel that is plenty tall and thick for your cart, with a steel or rubber tire for about $150 each. For my part I am very happy with the wheels I ordered from them. They fit onto the old-style axles with grease and spin with very little resistance.

[goodcompanion]

@Countymouse 18601 wrote:

Denise, I would still try to visit some farms before you get too invested in any plans.

Have to agree with that. You really can’t plan a small farming operation from books and research on the net. If you can find a real person in your area who is doing something somewhat similar to what you would like to do, get to know them and their farm, and let their experiences be your guide. Probably, for someone in your situation, one hour talking to someone with real experience doing this work and taking in the situation with your own senses is worth at least a dozen hours reading books or on the net.

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