Rural Heritage June/July 2025

the shafts to be both lighter and stronger than the independent sticks in a traditional set. The three way snap on the yoke strap is easily connected while standing at the colt’s head. No need to step rearward, reaching across her back to try to get both shafts into the loops at the same time. No need for loops at all. The same harness will work equally well single or double. Attached at only one central point, an animal that tries to pivot cannot pry one shaft against the other. The double shafts shown make it very difficult for a beginner to step sideways to avoid backing straight. It is just as difficult for a fractious colt to get over or under the shafts in a struggle. These shafts are all aluminum. They are 72 inches long and 31 inches wide, inside measurements, and weigh 28 pounds on the yoke strap, hitched. The 2-inch-by-2-inch stub is the same as the tongue stub. An offset bracket (pictured) moves the tongue 12½ inches to the side so that it can be used to prepare a young pair for the walking plow. My pair and plow require a 25-inch evener. The cart wheels are on 50-inch centers. The center of the pole is 25 inches from the center of the tire. The offset pole will put the furrow donkey directly in front of the tire in the furrow. Both hands are free to guide her back and forth in the furrow until she learns to walk it with little or no help. Draw Bar Two pieces of 3/8-by-3-inch flat welded into an angle are a solid enough draw bar for a team of about 700 pounds. Fjords can’t bend it. The rest is the same 1-inch pipe and expanded steel as the deck.

Seventy-five or a hundred years ago, a company whose name I don’t know made a “quick” or “safety” hitch. The idea was that you could hold the lines with one hand, lift the implement tongue with the other and back into the draw pin, snapping the hitch shut. I have seen only two in 73 years and couldn’t find one for this cart, so I made a simple knockoff. The flipper closes automatically. Pull the pin to disconnect. Again, nothing is sticking up to snag the lines. The Arch The purpose of this arch is to lift one end of a stick of firewood just high enough to make it easier to drag.

The winch system uses a heavy steel ratchet that achieves a twelve-to-one advantage when lifting a log. The end of the log is lifted from a point between the imaginary axle, reducing the lift on the tongue.

Bob built a hitch for his draw bar that allows the teamster to back a team with one hand, hold the implement tongue with pin already in place and slip the pin into the hitch where it fastens around the pin until the pin is lifted.

June/July 2025

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