[meleon]

When I was a kid I used to help a neighbor with his hay after I finished work on another farm. We would load his two wagons right off the baler, than we would hook up a sled to the baler’s draw bar. The sled would hold 8 or 9 bales stacked by two’s. when you had that loaded, you could push on a sweet spot on the stack and that would the cause stack to dump. (but remained stacked). he called it stooking the hay. I hated it because it meant you had to handle every bale two extra times compared to working directly off the wagon. once to stook it and another time to load wagon. I wish I could get pictures of the thing. the mechanics where neat and simple.
Doubt my description has any value, but your question brought back memories.
Meleon

[meleon]

Are the holes in the metal shoes countersunk? When i made my horse sled, I took carriage bolts the size I needed, put the metal shoe with the counter sunk hole over the hardy hole on the anvil, heated the carriage bolt red hot with the tourch and pounded it into the countersunk hole in the runner. worked well.
just don’t breath any fumes off of gavanized metal, its deadly!
Jamie

[meleon]

Wasn’t going to post this, but here is the link to the video Jean is talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXX-sin0Upw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Jamie

[meleon]

Yes Jean, it was kind of hairy for a second (it seemed alot longer at the time). The camera ran out of memory right after that little outburst.
She calmed down completely in no time, and we were able to make a couple of big circles around the field and back into the paddock to unhitch on a good note.
It’s unfortunate I only have day light on the weekends and I was under the weather this past weekend. So we didn’t get out.
but I think a couple more trips out and we’ll have it beat.
She really a great little horse, I’m so glad I took a chance on her.

[meleon]

Thanks mink, never even thought of hanging up on stuff.
Grey I’d like to put together a little stone boat some time. I still got a few runner blanks that were supposed to become a bob sleigh when there were originally cut. I salvaged them out of an old timber frame barn that was being torn down, but I could only find three of them.
Jamie

[meleon]

Thanks Grey, The shafts are over fifty years old, stored in my father-inlaws loft. They were off of a manure sled arrived on his father’s farm about the same time as there first tractor. My father inlaw said the manure sled got beat to pieces being hauled by the tractor and the shafts where never used. (luckily there isn’t a termite problem here)
I believe the chain setup was quite common here on Prince Edward Island. Since I got these shafts I’ve seen several sleds for sale with the same setup, and I’ve also meet an old timer who still makes and sells them that way.
I agree about the range of motion the single tree provides, I am planning to order some single tree ends soon. I believe the cross member is more beefy enough to attach it to.

I guess my question was more geared toward where I attached the shafts to the runners. Do you think it’s too low?
I just want it as easy as possible for her to pull.

The sled was really fun to build.

[meleon]

Wow Its been over 2 years since I started this. It kinda fell off the priority list I guess. anyway wanted to get the pieces outta my little shop so I started to put it together over the holidays. I’ve basically followed the step by step on the “bens mill” video. I’ve also change the motor She’s a four year old 50% brabant 50% fjord cross. (can you say “accident”)

[meleon]

Waynes Saddlery in truro has some draft stuff I think, 1-877-893-3622 the have a website just google waynes saddlery

[meleon]

Mitch,
Your right, the pictures shows a singletree attached to the sled. The shafts I have did not belong to that sled, when my father in law hard I was building a sled he offered me the shafts. I had never seen shafts setup that way before, hence the questions. My father inlaw assures me that, that was a very common setup for work sleds in these parts.
Jamie

[meleon]

I am pretty sure that I am going to attach a singletree to the sleigh the same way it was on my pattern. assuming that cross member on the shafts doesn’t interfere with the location of the original.

here is a couple of pictures of the runners (they still need final shaping). They are 2 1/4″ thick and 5″ deep. Hard to see in the pictures, but the grain follows the curve, Had my brother mill these out of a crooked log on his woodmiser band mill.
The last picture’s of the motor. 13yr French Canadian mare. (Thankfully she knows English too)

I may make a set of autcad drawings of this as I go. I suck at remembering to take pictures,
Hard to find plans of horse drawn stuff. (maybe there’s a liability thing?)

Jamie

[meleon]

Thanks,
I thought they where actually part breeching, but my father in-law insisted they attached to the collar. There is another clip? on the other side of the shafts where the breeching straps connect to I believe (barely visible in first attached), so I reluctantly believed him.

Here are some pictures of my pattern I hauled outta the woods.
So far I have the runners cut from a crooked yellow birch, and these shafts.
My pattern sleigh has been completely disassembled, working on it as time permits.
Jamie

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