Bobsled Questions

[Does’ Leap]

I picked up a steel sled last year that I would like to use to haul firewood and larger logs. The sled came with a drey (local name?) that trailed behind the steel sled via a 5th wheel type attachment. The steel sled will accept a 1″ pin (turned upside down in the picture below).

I have a section of 4.5″ steel i-beam. My plan is to weld a piece of 1″ cold rolled steel to the i-beam and use it as a bunk. On the ends of the i-beam I plan to weld short section of 1″ pipe that will accept 3/4″ pipe to support the log/s (stout enough?). I also plan on welding some hooks that would accept chain to bind the logs to the bunk. This would be a similar rig to one posted by Iron Rose on a previous thread I had about moving big wood. One difference is the sled is much heavier (or seems so based on the pictures).

I also would like to put a pole on it. I plan on modifying the pole support (dug into the ground in the picture below so that it supports the pole on 3 sides with a grade 8 bolt pinning it to the sled.

Instead of attaching the evener to the sled, I want to attach it to the pole via a hammer strap (a pole from a manure spreader).

Here come the questions:

1. Seem like it is worth the effort based on what I have to work with? (The bunk would end up being about 12″ off the ground).
2. Is the evener attached to the pole kosher given the weight I will be pulling? The hammer strap is rugged (1/2″ steel).
3. The sled is about 6.5′ long by 4′ wide. Is it ok that the bunk is not centered on the sled?
4. How long should the bunk be (I am thinking 4′ to match the width of the sled)?
5. Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

George

[Carl Russell]

Does’ Leap;13545 wrote:

…..
Here come the questions:

1. Seem like it is worth the effort based on what I have to work with? (The bunk would end up being about 12″ off the ground).
2. Is the evener attached to the pole kosher given the weight I will be pulling? The hammer strap is rugged (1/2″ steel).
3. The sled is about 6.5′ long by 4′ wide. Is it ok that the bunk is not centered on the sled?
4. How long should the bunk be (I am thinking 4′ to match the width of the sled)?
5. Any other suggestions?…..

George, yes it looks worthwhile. I am more concerned about how low the underside of your roll and bunk will be. You may find you end up “plowing” a lot of snow, at least at first. It may also reduce your clearance for other variations in terrain. These will not be limiting though, just things to work around. I might consider moving the roll up on top of the runners, and welding in another block between the runner and your bunk.

12″ off the ground is an ok height, but I like 18″ better.

Hitching the evener to the pole will put a lot of “responsibility” on the pole to turn that sled under the load. Hitching to the roll directly, or at least welding the hitch to the receiver will be better. In my mind the pole is not a lever, it should float between the horses when they are turning a sled.

The sled looks long enough, but the bunk should be located at about 2/3 length back from the roll. Maybe weld your bunk on in front of where the pipe goes across now. It won’t be a huge problem, but a load on the sled will probably let the horses lift the front of the sled up a little too high, moving your line of draft back farther. They should be able to lift the front of the sled, but there should be enough weight directly down on the front of the sled so that the angle of draft remains the same.

My experience is that 3/4″ pipe is entirely inadequate for securing logs. I would go more like 3-4″. Even 3-4″ pipe sockets to stick wooden stakes in.

My only other observation would be that I don’t like steel sleds because the welds make everything too rigid. With wooden sleds, reinforced with steel, there is always a little shuck here and there which helps when moving heavy loads on variable terrain. But of coarse I am more of a wood worker, and don’t have the metal-working skills that you demonstrate.

Go for it, Carl

[LostFarmer]

To be honest I am not sure I would put the time and effort to get that sled working. Just as it takes no more feed to care for a good horse than a poor one it is about the same with equipment. It takes no more to fix and maintain quality equipment than it does to deal with cobbled together stuff.

Carl I would in general agree that metal sleighs are not as good but disagree in particular as I have seen some incredible steel bob sleds. My neighbor and mentor builds them and I was skeptical at first. After a couple of uses I was a convert. My grandfather was so anti steel sleigh that he would not have one on the place. My uncle built one and grandpa fought it until he used it, once. Then he was singing the praises. I love the way the sleds track and “walk” over the frozen turd tundra known as a feed ground.

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t323/lostfarmer1/Winter%20Feeding/Sleigh2.jpg
http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t323/lostfarmer1/Winter%20Feeding/DSCN0003_1.jpg

These work and work well. LF

[mitchmaine]

i can’t say anything about steel bobsleds, but what george has was welded up to move 4′ wood behind a crawler tractor. it did its job cause no one looked back. carl is right. it was heavy, went right to the bottom, pushed snow ahead of it, and couldn’t track. but who cares with a bulldozer. it had a set of runners that trailed on the ground that held your wood. i tried to make one work once. maine was full of them. the horses hated it, and so did i. it slid sideways and barked trees. the only thing you could say good about it was it didn’t rot. a bobsled with moccasin runners floats in the snow, sometimes higher than the horses. its light in draft and tracks well and spins on a dime. much easier on the horses. carls right about the pole to. i think you are trying to pull the pole that is pulling the sleds that are pulling your log. hook your horses as close to your load as the sleds let you. that said, that is only my experience. you should have your own. we could talk about it later

[Does’ Leap]

Thanks for the replies. After seeing those slick sleds Lost Farmer posted, I am thinking my time might be better spent building something new. Any chance of getting some rough plans for those sleds?

George

[LostFarmer]

No plans that I know of. I have a couple of these sleighs and P-L has one. LF

[Carl Russell]

I agree, LF’s sleds look great. I am a wood man because I can’t build something like that out of steel, whereas I can, and have built and rebuilt wooden sleds. These steel sleds look relatively light but well-built. I’d try it if I could make them myself.

Carl

[Author]

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