The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: mab on October 15, 2013, 08:42:17 pm

Title: maiden voyage of my new tools/supplies transport system
Post by: mab on October 15, 2013, 08:42:17 pm: Well actually Rosie's been with me for a while, but this is the first time she's actually pulled a 'cart' (about 100yds - I haven't got things fitting very well yet - the harness is off fleabay, and was described as sized for a shetland pony, but it must be for a much bigger shetland pony than Rosie).

Also struggling to keep the shafts from rubbing against her big barrel - another adjustment there methinks...
Title: Re: maiden voyage of my new tools/supplies transport system
Post by: lachlanandmarcus on October 15, 2013, 08:48:19 pm: I just love it!! Doesnt she look smart with her white tennis socks :-) :thumbsup: :horse: :hshoe:
Title: Re: maiden voyage of my new tools/supplies transport system
Post by: Mammyshaz on October 15, 2013, 09:24:11 pm: She's lovely and looks very at home with her cart :thumbsup:
Title: Re: maiden voyage of my new tools/supplies transport system
Post by: Bionic on October 15, 2013, 09:36:46 pm: Perhaps pulling the cart will trim her big belly down. she looks quite at home though
Title: Re: maiden voyage of my new tools/supplies transport system
Post by: mab on October 15, 2013, 10:11:43 pm: Quote from: Bionic on October 15, 2013, 09:36:46 pm
Perhaps pulling the cart will trim her big belly down. she looks quite at home though

I can hope - she pulls like a train when she heading towards fresh grazing ;D - though I'm not particularly confident it'll make a dent in her girth; I'll just have to move the shafts apart a bit more.
Title: Re: maiden voyage of my new tools/supplies transport system
Post by: cloddopper on October 16, 2013, 11:30:32 pm: MAB, ever thought about cutting two similar sized willow or ash poles and bunging them in a stream bed for three weeks or so then bending them on a simple peg jig so that they are going to dry out and end up more accommodating to Rosie's figure

OR

Make your own simple steamer tube and steam then for six or seven hours to get them really pliable .

It would be fairly easy to make a cardboard template with glued on card strips of her side profiles and then transfer that to a peg jig on say a sheet of 8x 4 construction ply , diagonally set to get a ten foot length or so of shaft profile
Title: Re: maiden voyage of my new tools/supplies transport system
Post by: tizaala on October 17, 2013, 05:03:51 am: Fitting the shafts to the outside of the cart will give you more width !!!! simples
:innocent:
Title: Re: maiden voyage of my new tools/supplies transport system
Post by: mab on October 17, 2013, 11:33:36 am: They are ash poles that I selected as they had grown in approximately the right shape (though one could be improved somewhat if I could bend it a bit more). I like the idea of soaking and bending, but wondered if they subsequently got wet again, wether they'd revert to their natural shape?

Tiz - I was thinking about that - although putting these poles on to the sides would clear Rosie but would also leave them a bit far apart at the 'tugs'.

Also wondering how tight the traces/ breeching(??) straps should be - they were going alternately slack as we went up and down the slope, allowing the shafts to move a lot - so I tightened them a bit, but I'm worried about over-tightening things and squeezing Rosie between breech and chest band.

It would be so much simpler if someone could breed a horse that could take a standard 50mm ball hitch.
Title: Re: maiden voyage of my new tools/supplies transport system
Post by: funkyfish on October 17, 2013, 11:37:20 am: She looks fab :D ! I NEED one! ;D
Title: Re: maiden voyage of my new tools/supplies transport system
Post by: Womble on October 17, 2013, 12:03:05 pm: Quote from: mab on October 17, 2013, 11:33:36 am
It would be so much simpler if someone could breed a horse that could take a standard 50mm ball hitch.

You'll need a boy horse for that I'm afraid ;)