The first of these systems is the smarter in appearance, while the other is more suitable for rough work. I will begin by discussing the Curricle.
|Cost of curricle.| An ordinary dog-cart which has removable shafts can be fitted with the requisite gear, including the curricle bar and the pole chains, for about £10. The necessary alterations were made to my own dog-cart by Messrs. Heath of Aldershot, who had originally built it, but with no idea at the time it was made of having a pole eventually fitted to it. I found that it worked admirably from the first, and no subsequent alterations or repairs were necessary, there being in fact nothing at all likely to get out of order.
|How to fit dog-cart with a pole.| To adapt the cart for pole draught, a large square iron loop must be fixed under the front of the cart, and a smaller one under the centre. The latter loop must be very strong and firmly fixed, as it has to take the extreme end of the pole, which at times puts on it a very great amount of strain.
An extra board will therefore probably have to be fitted right across the bottom of the cart, the ordinary boarding of which the bottom of a dog-cart is usually made being too thin and flimsy to resist the strain which the pole loop will put on it. Should this loop tear out, or the board to which it is fixed give way, a very serious accident may occur.
The pole must of course fit both loops accurately, and it must be secured in them by a bolt passing through it and preventing it from being drawn out.
FIG. 11.—POLE FITTED WITH SPRING FOR CURRICLE.
Underneath the pole at the point where the supporting strap will come there should be a strong spring (fig. 11), which will do away with much of the jar on the pole itself, and also on the backs of the horses; and if it is likely that a team of four will be driven, the pole should be made with a hook at the end to take the swingle bars.
|Bars for attaching traces.| For the attachment of the traces two bars must be provided for, and as the front of the cart will be too narrow for these to be fixed to it direct, iron stays projecting about six inches to either side can be screwed on underneath each end of the front of the cart. The bars can then be fixed to these stays by bolts passing through their centres. The bars will then revolve on their centres and give the horses’ shoulders plenty of play, enabling them to do their work with much comfort.
To the dog-cart itself no other alterations are necessary. The addition of the pole does not affect the balance to any appreciable extent.