Single ox in shafts

[Plowboy]

My mother tried to get red belted out of Ayrshire cows and Dutch Belted bulls. We ended up with three solid reds and two black belted. We did some research and Dutch Belted Markings only breed true 98% on purebreds. That made our crosses less likely to come out belted. I would have thought it to be a strong trait like a white head on a hereford cross. Nice even tempered cattle and the first heifer is fresh now and is giving a good amount of milk.

[Rod]

@Howie 4543 wrote:

Rob

I just looked at your web-site. I am sure 36 inches will be enough for a Dexter or Lowland. That ain’t no Dexter or Lowland in that picture.

Which picture were you looking at, the bull?

[Howie]

Rod

The steer hitched to the cart.

[Rod]

Here is the basic Golovan ox cart. Work left is painting, sideboards and the tailgate latch. I am guessing it weighs about 300lbs.

[IMG]http://www.dayspringfarm.com/upload/IMG_0310.JPG[/IMG]

[Howie]

Hi Rod
Man that sure is a nice looking cart.
My steers would think they had died and gone to heaven if they had some of that hay.;)

[Rod]

Did you mean died and went into the freezer?

[Rod]

The cart will work for a team or single, with shafts or pole, horses or oxen, or behind a forecart or tractor and will have a removable seat on top. It also accepts my movable third wheel for a three wheel vehicle. With 12″ side boards it will hold a little over a cubic yard or about a quarter of a cord of fire wood. I also plan to try using it for barn cleaning and dumping manure and possibly spreading gravel on my driveway by chaining the dump gate partially open.

I buy that nice second cut mixed hay locally which I feed my heifer and steer calves mixed with some cheaper round bale first cut. The calves love it.

[Robert MoonShadow]

Rod; Is the reason for the two ‘receiver’ tubes for adjusting the height of the shafts/pole or just the top for that & the bottom for your removable wheel? How much ground clearance does it have?
I really like this cart…

*adds to birthday wishlist*

[Rod]

The lower receiver fits my wheel, yes, and also the shafts from my White Horse forecart. The upper is for a pole setup which can either have the evener attached to the pole or the evener can be plugged into the lower receiver for a better angle of draft same as the WH forecart design. The pole or shafts also fit into the outboard end of the extra wheel.
The ground clearance is what ever the wheel radius is. Roughly 12″ but I haven’t measured it.

[Robert MoonShadow]

Thanks, Rod. I like those White Horse forecarts, but I wrote them & they said they’re too big for a donkey or two. *sigh*

[Rod]

I agree, the are much too heavy built for them. I think if I were to build one for my Donkeys I would make it real light weight, light trailer wheels and axle, smaller steel frame, light weight seat, lots of wood etc.. The WH adjustable axle position is real nice for adjusting the tongue weight, the “D ” New England harness also helps with the tongue weight.
Another thing to consider is to put a seat on the equipment you are pulling if possible and avoid the forecart load all together.

[becorson]

hope i succeeded in attaching a picture of my single ox cart set up.

[Patrick]

I agree with the others Rod. That cart is some nice. I can’t wait to see a picture with the seat in place.
I had a hard time picturing how the rear door was hinged, from looking at the plans. What do you have planned for the latching mechanism, especially to hold in all the weight, if you had it loaded with something heavy like gravel?
What is the purpose of adding a third wheel? The plans say that their version would weigh in at over 300 kg. You sure about your estimate of 300lbs?
Anyone have any idea of what they would have to get for one, if they were making one similar to sell to others?

[Rod]

becorson: Nice cart. It’s hard to find one like that in decent condition anymore and to make one unless someone had wheels could be costly, mainly the wheel cost. But I bet it rolls nice and easy and it sure looks the part.

Patrick. The third wheel is optional. It does take most of the load off the animal however so depending on what you have pulling it and what the load is it may be handy to have available. I estimated the weight based on picking up one wheel. I could just about lift it myself. I will try to get it on a scale in the future and post the weight. The weight can vary a lot depending on what steel was used and the axle wheel combination. My axle is a 6000 lb. one which I already had. A new cart could use a much lighter one.
The latch is done now and I can get a photo tomorrow to post. As for the cost I will talk to the young man that welded it for me and see if he will put together a price for the whole cart. On mine I had the axle and wheels, and most of the steel on hand.

[Robert MoonShadow]

Rod, I take it the seat will either be forward so its out of the way, or perhaps flips forward/to the side, for access while loading? Also, does this have the ability to open only partway; so as to do a ‘running dump’ = spreading/dumping while moving? Which leads me to ask; can you open the door while on the seat? Or have to dismount, go around back & unlatch it? I just picture the usefulness of dumping “on the go”… spreading gravel for a driveway comes to mind. Thanks for sharing this with us.
becorson: Nice cart. And that ox looks pretty darn good, too. So, does the dog do the driving or is it just ‘supervising’?

[Author]

Posts