doubletree length

[Will Stephens]

So I have my first team coming home very soon. I bought a forecart from the retiring farmer I bought the team from. There are some basic questions I just haven’t found the answer to. Lots has been written on matching the neck yoke and the evener length for lateral alignment. The neck yoke on the forecart is 34″ from ring to ring. Most eveners I have found for sale are 38″-42″. Donn has written in Rural Heritage, etc. that he uses 36″ eveners. I can make a new neck yoke to match the evener but I am worried I am missing something. The other part of the evener question is what length of singletrees do I want for doubletree; what factors go into choosing this length?

The work we will be taking on is wagon rides, harrowing, light logging/brush moving, etc.so I am not concerned with things like row spacing (not yet anyway!!)

Any input would be appreciated,

Will

[Does’ Leap]

Hi Will:

I think you pretty much tagged it – match your neck yoke to your evener and you are good to go. In terms of the evener size, one of the trade-offs is the width of your hitch vs. how much space you have between your horses. I run 40″ eveners. I like some space between my horses for summer work as I think it makes a difference in keeping them cool.

Single tree width is not critical. How broad are your horses? You want to make your single trees wide enough so the the traces are not rubbing against their legs. I would guess mine are 26 inches give or take.

Good luck.

George

[Will Stephens]

Thanks George. I’m going to pick up some steel for a new neck yoke later today. My team are both 15-3 and about 1400(?) pounds; not overly wide. Thanks for the help.
Will

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