Figure 167.—Bobsleighs, Showing Three Kinds of Coupling. The upper sleighs are coupled on the old-fashioned short reach plan except that the reach is not mortised into the roller. It is gained in a quarter of an inch and fastened by an iron strap with a plate and nuts on the under side. The bobs in the center show the bolster reach, principally used for road work. The bottom pair are coupled by cross chains for short turning around trees and stumps in the woods.
Bobsleighs for use in the woods are hitched together quite differently. The old-fashioned reach with a staple in the rear bench of the first sled and a clevis in the end of the reach is the old-fashioned rig for rough roads in the woods. Such sleighs are fitted with bunks instead of bolsters. Bunks are usually cut from good hardwood trees, hewed out with an axe and bored for round stakes. Log bunks for easy loading do not project beyond the raves. With this kind of a rig, a farmer can fasten two logging chains to the reach, carry the grab hook ends out and under and around the log and back again over the sleighs, and then hitch the horses to the two chains and roll the log up over a couple of skids and on to the bunks without doing any damage to the bobsleighs. Bobsleighs hitched together with an old-fashioned reach and provided with wide heavy raves will climb over logs, pitch down into root holes, and weave their way in and out among trees better than any other sled contrivance, and they turn short enough for such roads. The shortest turning rig, however, is the cross chain reach shown in [Figure 167].
MAKING A FARM CART
A two-wheeled cart large enough to carry a barrel of cider is a great convenience on a farm. The front wheels of a buggy are about the right size and usually are strong enough for cart purposes. A one-inch iron axle will be stiff enough if it is reinforced at the square bends. The axle is bent down near the hubs at right angles and carried across to support the floor of the cart box about one foot from the ground. The distance from the ground should be just sufficient so that when the cart is tipped back the hind end will rest on the ground with the bottom boards at an easy slant to roll a barrel or milk can into the bottom of the box. Under the back end of the cart platform is a good stout bar of hardwood framed into the sidepieces. All of the woodwork about the cart is well braced with iron. The floor of the cart is better when made of narrow matched hardwood flooring about seven-eighths of an inch thick fastened with bolts. It should be well supported by cross pieces underneath. In fact the principal part of the box is the underneath part of the frame.
Sidepieces of the box are wide and are bolted to the vertical parts of the axle and braced in different directions to keep the frame solid, square and firm. The sides of the box are permanently fastened but both tailboard and front board are held in place by cleats and rods and are removable so that long scantling or lumber may be carried on the cart bottom. The ends of the box may be quickly put in place again when it is necessary to use them.
To hold a cart box together, four rods are necessary, two across the front and two behind. They are made like tailboard rods in wagon boxes. There is always some kind of tongue or handle bar in front of the farm cart conveniently arranged for either pulling or pushing. If a breast bar is used it handles better when supported by two curved projecting shafts or pieces of bent wood, preferably the bent up extended ends of the bedpieces. The handle bar should be about three feet from the ground.
