New – Les Barden Forecart question

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I am new to this board, is anyone here familiar with a Les Barden built forecart? I found a never used very inexpensive one listed for sale. It has haflinger sized shafts, and my question is, if anyone is familiar with a Les Barden Built forecart, are his shafts removable? I would like to convert it and put a pole on it so I have a second forecart for my Belgians, keeping my current one set up for single, and another set up for team.

Thanks
Vicki

[Rick Alger]

I have a cart that Les made. The shafts are removable, and it has a pocket for the tongue.

[Ethan Tapper]

Carl Russel has a Barden forecart that he uses with his team a bunch. I’ll bet he’d have some wise words to say about it.

[Gabe Ayers]

Ethan-
I learned to drive horses with a Barden cart that Mark Albee, who was my horse mentor, built at Les’ place one winter. We used it with shafts, set up for a single, but it is very easy to convert to a pole and back again. I find that style cart to be unmatched in terms of ease of use and versatility for field work, as well as durability. Also, it is light and easy to move around by hand if needed. In the field, one of the best parts of that set-up is how low to the ground the teamster sits – safe and easy to reach implement handles as you work. On the flip side, I did find that the low clearance was an issue in the woods with stumps and ledgy, coastal ground, but Carl argues that it is not an issue to him. If I was going to the woods with horses, it would not be my first choice for logging alone, but as a versatile tool it is excellent.
-Brad

[Robert MoonShadow]

Brad – Would changing out to larger tires help the ground clearance?

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