Hangers for Barn Tools
Means should be provided to have a place for all the tools used in and about a barn. The forks and shovels are usually stood up in a corner, but they can be more conveniently taken care of by making a hanger for them. The illustration shows how a hanger can be easily made and screwed to the wall of a barn. The hanger is cut from a piece of board and has a hole bored into it the size of the handle on the fork or shovel, then a notch is sawn into the hole to pass the handle through. The board may contain one or as many notches as there are forks and shovels to be hung on it. The implements are hung with the fork or shovel end upward.—Contributed by R. Snyder, Glidden, Ia.
A Notched Board Provides a Way to Hang All the Tools Used about a Barn
Guide Ropes on a Bobsled
The sketch shows the front end of a bobsled or double runner made of a plank bolted upon two sleds. The front sled is so pivoted on the bolt A that it may be turned to steer the bob, and to accomplish this result the steersman ordinarily sits with his feet braced against the projecting ends of the crosspiece and passes the steering ropes outside of his feet, with the ropes crossed as shown. The crossing of the ropes is supposed to add leverage, but that is quite wrong.
The Most Efficient Way of Attaching Ropes to the Guiding Runners of a Bobsled
The rope, running from B to C, has a lever arm from A to E. If the ropes were not crossed, the rope would lie along the dotted line BD, whose lever arm is the distance AF, which is always greater than AE, therefore the uncrossed ropes have more leverage.
Observe what takes place when the sled is steered to the left: The distance AE decreases much more rapidly than AF, and when the crossed ropes have lost all their power, the uncrossed ropes are still useful. Many a spill has been caused by turning the sled to a position from which the crossed ropes were unable to restore it to a central position, and most of such spills would have been avoided if the ropes had not been crossed.—Contributed by R. R. Raymond, Wilmington, Del.