Doubletree size

[farmboy238]

Can anyone give me some advice on sizing a doubletree to a pair of 16 hand 1400 pound team of belgian mules? I will use it for general purpose farm work, mainly pulling a utility wagon and skidding a few trees. I don’t intend to use it on any in row cultivating stuff. I was thinking 40″ x 32″. Tommy Flowers has one that is 36″x 26″ which seems a bit too small for my mules. Any advice?

[J-L]

The one I use with my mules of similar size is 42″ with 26″ single trees. The singletrees may be 28′ on the outside. They work just fine inside of that set up for logging or wagon work.

[Donn Hewes]

A 36″ evener with 26″ single trees will work fine. They will work on a bigger horse but would be a little tight for a 1800# or 2000#. A longer one would would work fine too. Just be sure the neck yoke matches the evener you choose, and adjust your lines if needed to make sure the heads are the same distance apart as the evener and neck yoke. Donn

[mink]

donn what would be the best size for 1900-2000 pound horses?….mink

[Donn Hewes]

For work with a tongue, (teams hooked to a wagon or a forecart, for example) you want room between the horses, and you also want room between the singletrees so they are not rubbing on the tongue. If you look at an evener on the ground you can tell if it belongs on a wagon or not. if the single trees almost touch it was made for work like logging or dragging a harrow, etc. I know I said above that 36″ double trees would be a little tight for a bigger horse, but I just went out and measured several ( all the hay equipment is in the front yard at the moment) and all but one of my double trees is 36″. Most have about 28″ single trees. They would work fine for most big horses and most pieces of equipment (my horses and mules probably range from 1400# to 2000#). Ideally you would have all the doubletrees on the place be the same size as that will reduce messing with the lines for different widths. Most mowing machines came stock around 36″ I believe. This allows the animals to fit infront of the mower without walking in the unmowed grass. Maybe that is why the rest of my eveners are that size? in some cases, like long hours of hot work, more room between the horses (read longer evener and neck yoke) will help big horses stay cool. That is the long answer.

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