Chaining the bobs

[Rod44]

How do you go about chaining the bobs for going down a steep hill with a load? Does anyone have any pictures or a good discription? How do you get the chains back out from under the bobs at the bottom of the hill? I loaded bobsled doesn’t back that well.

Thanks
Rod

PS We got snow last night!!!:)

[LStone]

I have wondered about those same things too.

Larry

[Carl Russell]

Rod, it works best if you use a chain made for the task. They are called bridle chains. They have a large D-ring clevis that attaches around the roll at the front of the sled. When not employed the chain will drag loose on the trail under the sled. In the attached photo you can see the off chain laying in the sled track.

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The loose chain is pulled out from under the sled and laid in front of the runner that you want to brake. The end is then wrapped over the runner and back to where the D-ring is attached to the roll.

A traditional bridle chain will have a loop link on the end, and on the D-ring there is a “finger” and ring, similar to the end on a tire chain. The “finger” is slipped through the link on the end of the chain, and folded back to where the ring can be slipped over the end of if.

As the sled moves forward it will ride up over the chain which will eventually tighten up like the one in the photo. It should only be long enough so that the loop ends up positioned just in front of under the bunk.

When you want to release the chain, slide the ring off of the finger. The finger should have a slight bend in it so that when under pressure the ring will be held in place. When the ring is removed, which may require an axe, hammer, or peavey, then the chain lays slack under the runner.

As the sled moves forward, the chain will be pulled out from under the runner from natural action. It is important that you stop the sled before you get on level ground, or at least stop it where the chain won’t cause too much friction, so that you can actually get the sled started because while the chain is being pulled free it is still acting like a brake.

The bridle chain is usually made of large links, bigger than normal logging chain, so that they can really cause extra friction.

Hope that helps, Carl

[Rod44]

Thanks Carl.:)

[Mike Rock]

Thanks from me too. Just got the bobsled out of the barn and put together.
We are getting up to 14+ inches of snow tonight and tomorrow…..followed by -4 degrees and 30-40 mph winds.

Thanks for the question Rod. Are you guys in the path of this storm or a little too far north?

Mike

[Vicki]

I described this on the Rural Heritage front porch, and posted photos in the Photo Gallery here under “Equipment.” Thanks, Carl, for letting me know they are called bridle chains.

[Rod]

Excellent photos Vicki. They make it easy to understand.

[Carl Russell]

Vicki;13251 wrote:

I described this on the Rural Heritage front porch, and posted photos in the Photo Gallery here under “Equipment.” Thanks, Carl, for letting me know they are called bridle chains.

Vicki, the photos you posted look like you are describing chains that limit the swing of the pole on your sled. Bridle chains are actually designed to drag under the runner to keep the sled from sliding on its own.

Downhill on snow you can easily haul 3-5 times the weight of your animals. That kind of weight will push even the best team into the brush without something creating drag.

Carl

[Rod]

Vickie

Is the metal plate on top of the runner attached to the runner by anything other than the pin holding the rings in place?

[Rod44]

Got one bobchain done. It worked OK going under the bob and coming out again (hooked it to the tractor). Will get the other one done tomorrow. Need somemore rope. Will take a picture when my wife comes home with the camera.

We got a good foot of snow our of the last big storm and will be going out in it tomorrow morning with the bobsled. A couple other old guys from our coffee cluch are coming up after coffee in the morning for a ride.

[Carl Russell]

Carl Russell;13257 wrote:

Vicki, the photos you posted look like you are describing chains that limit the swing of the pole on your sled. Bridle chains are actually designed to drag under the runner to keep the sled from sliding on its own.

Downhill on snow you can easily haul 3-5 times the weight of your animals. That kind of weight will push even the best team into the brush without something creating drag.

Carl

Sorry Vicki, I misspoke, I missed the photo showing the bridle chains. Interesting design.

Carl

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