Horses are versatile farm animals that help their owners cultivate land and transport goods outside the village. In the latter case, in addition to the horse, a special cart on wheels should be used, popularly referred to as the “cart”. Together with the animal, it becomes horse-drawn transport and can be used to move along public roads. It is for this reason that it will be useful for each farmer to learn about the features of the independent creation of such a design.

Cart Use

The design of the horse cart and the features of its design directly depend on the purpose of using the finished product. For example, for transporting people on public roads, convenient benches and handles will have to be installed inside the cart, and reflectors on the outside. The sides of this design should be quite high in order to protect passengers from dust and pebbles flying out from under the wheels of passing cars.

If the cart is used only for transporting hay or straw, then its base can be made of lumber, without much concern for the strength of the structure. A good option in this case would be well-dried deciduous trees (but not conifers).For transportation of bulky and heavy loads, carts with a strong frame and a metal base mounted on strong wheel supports are suitable. In the construction of this design, you can use almost any raw material, the main thing is that it meets all the requirements for strength.

In some cases, horses can be harnessed to carts designed for horse riding around the city. Of course, in such situations, the appearance of the structure plays an important role in the choice, therefore, it is desirable that all elements of the wagon were made only of high-quality wood that has undergone appropriate processing.

Did you know? According to historians, the first horse appeared about 60 million years ago and weighed only 5 kg with a height of 35 cm. It was her zoologists who called the eogippus.

A good decorative material is also considered plastic, which can complement the general appearance or focus on specific elements of the cart. Separately, we can distinguish carts used to harness horses in winter. Unlike standard wheel options, they do not have axles, but this does not prevent them from developing a speed of about 6 km / h.

Types of horse carts

"Cart" or "cart" - common names for horse-drawn carts with four wheels. Usually horses are harnessed to them, but occasionally there are cases of using mules, buffaloes and oxen. Most often, the main material for the manufacture of this type of transport is wood, and often the whole structure is placed on the same wooden wheels.

Carts with rubber pneumatic wheels and a towing harness are a more modern version of carts with a load capacity of approximately 750 kg. The weight of the cart itself can vary between 250-300 kg, because much here depends on the specific type of structure. The main varieties are the following.

Truck

Cart - a specially equipped cart for transporting people. In its design, seats for passengers and a cab are initially provided, and handles mounted on the inside of the sides can also be used for greater passenger safety when traveling. The wheels of the trolleys are made only of pneumatic tires, since they have to travel on hard road surfaces.

Drogue

This term is understood to mean a long cart, the front and rear parts of which are connected by long longitudinal boards or bars, with metal sheets transversely stacked on them. Drogs have no body and in the old days were used as funeral chariots for transporting the bodies of the deceased to the place of burial. Today, this version of the cart is perfect for transporting bulky goods, including haystacks, of course, if the owner correctly fixes them to the surface.

Shelves

This type of cart is most often used for the transport of heavy loads. Her body is made in the form of a solid wooden base, on which the load is laid, securing it if necessary. The shelf platform can be made of solid wood: in the longitudinal direction, the boards are laid very close to each other, and fastened on the sides by transverse, shorter, wooden elements. It is desirable to install the entire structure on a solid metal frame with good cushioning, and use rubber inflatable tires in the form of wheels.

Crew

The crew is a closed passenger carriage, the design of which provides springs. It can be uniaxial (two-wheeled) and biaxial (four-wheeled), more or less mobile, which affects maneuverability. Other distinctive characteristics between these species include:

• differences in structural stability;
• capacity of the body part;
• type of springs;
• carrying capacity.

Based on the type of harness, the crews are equipped with a drawbar or shafts. Wooden elements can be used as wheels, but they are more characteristic of small tour crews in the territory of private historical museums, and more comfortable rubber wheels are installed on the remaining carts.

Important! Always pre-calculate the approximate weight of the goods transported in the future, which will help you choose the most suitable materials for the manufacture of the cart.

How to make a cart for a horse with your own hands

Different types of carts are easy to find in the public domain, but not all farmers are willing to pay thousands of rubles for them. It is much more profitable to make them with your own hands, especially if you already have the skills of "home design".

Dimensions and Drawings

In the simplest version, a horse-drawn cart will consist of an axle, frame and mounted equipment of the desired size. As for the parameters of the finished product, then everything is purely individual and depends on the purpose of the future vehicle. For short trips and transportation of the crop, a total length of 2.85–3 m is sufficient, with a width of the hinged part of 1.46 m and an axle width of 1 m. The optimal height of the cart is 1 m, but it is important to consider the size of the horse and the purpose of using the cart. An exemplary diagram of such a product may have the following form:

Materials and tools for work

Not all farmers have the opportunity to process wood in various ways, therefore, in order to facilitate the task, as a wheelbase it is better to prepare metal axles of the wheels, a welded frame and two pairs of tires (together with disks) from any car in advance. In addition, in addition to them you will also need:

• wooden boards (preferably from hardwood);
• metal pipes or profile;
• hammer;
• nails
• metal corners;
• welding machine and accessories;
• tools for working with wood.

You can also prepare a screwdriver and long self-tapping screws, with which you can better fix the parts at the joints.

Important! When choosing metal corners, give preference to large and thick products with a thickness of at least 5 mm.

Production Phase

The manufacturing process of each individual cart has a number of features and, depending on the materials used, implies completely different actions. However, the general stages of creating a design with finished car tires will look like this:

1. Running gear manufacturing: wheel axles and a strong frame base. It is desirable that these components are completely metal, made of a pipe or profile.
2. Creating a fixed rear and movable front axles, attached to a thick metal pin with washers.
3. Making a special mount for the drawbar (if you need a drawbar). The shafts (long wooden bars or iron pipes) should move in different directions, simultaneously connecting with the front axle. This possibility is provided by the fixing mechanism.
4. Additional fixation of shafts with brackets and their reinforcement with bands (the wire attached to the shafts and the front axle of the cart is perfect for the role of this element).
5. Wheel setting (on the existing foundation you just need to "put on" the prepared car wheels and fix them with suitable bolts).
6. Creation of the base of the cart (body part). From the prepared boards, segments of the desired length are cut, after which they are knocked down into a solid platform and attached to the frame. If the cart needs sides, then on the right side you can make 4 longitudinal poles, and attach longitudinal rails on top of them. Solid sidewalls are fixed on the supporting frame, and the rear and front parts are closed with removable parts, which will make the harness control process more convenient.

Video: how to make a cart for a horse with your own hands

How to harness a horse to a cart

Proper manufacture of the cart is only half the successful completion of the task, because in order to cope with the transportation of people or cargo, you must still properly harness the horse.

Did you know? Horses have a very well-developed sense of touch, and lips and hooves are considered the most “sensitive” organs in this regard. With their help, animals are well oriented on the ground.

Usually this process does not differ in increased complexity and its nuances depend more on the type of concrete design, but, in general, the owner needs to focus on the following steps:

1. Preparation and cleaning of the animal itself, monitoring the status of individual components of the harness: the horse must be completely healthy, and all harnesses and connecting elements strong and intact (even the slightest attritions on the belts can cause unforeseen problems on the road).
2. Length adjustment and tug alignment (if you do not pay due attention to this issue, the harness will distort and the accuracy of the cart will be disrupted).
3. Options harness. The abdominal and interweekly connected to a single ring must be fixed on the shafts.
4. Horse outfit. Put on a collar, a bridle and a nurse, only so that the latter is fixed at the bottom of the withers (when placed on the back it will be very low, and at the withers - too high). Put the clamp on the horse, only so that it is first located with its pincers up, and then it can be lowered to the neck and turned over as needed (if necessary, level the part). Now pull the neck around the neck and straighten it just as well. Connect all available straps with buckles suitable for them, tightening them until there is only palm space between these elements and the ischial tubercles.
5. The horse’s plant is deafened, which can be done in different ways. In the simplest version, the animal needs to step over the pole, but if it refuses to do this, then you can try to get the horse backwards. Some individuals react cautiously to this maneuver, so if both options are unsuccessful, it remains only to roll the shafts onto a standing animal. The latter option is most suitable for shy and young individuals.
6. Arc fastening. Take the product and stand in front of the horse, looking exactly at it. Lean the arch against the right foot of the animal, and then twist the length of the tug by twisting. Place it near the edge of the shafts, and then insert the left edge of the arc into the loop of the tug. The second one needs to be thrown over the shaft and secured so that it comes out fixed in the neckline of the arc, which, in turn, has already taken place on the neck of the horse. Now go to the second shaft and turn the arc with a notch to it. Lay the tug on the shaft and the loop on the arc. Tighten the clamp well and wrap the tong around the ticks: after joining, they should be placed at right angles to each other.
7. Final events. When the horse is already tied to the left shafter, it remains only to throw an excuse around the neck of the animal, attach the lanyard to the tug (only so that the horse can raise its head freely) and throw the straps through the shafts so that they are firmly fixed and do not hang out. The final touch is the reins and the bit.

Video: how to harness a horse to a cart

With diligence and hard work, there is nothing complicated in the independent manufacture of the cart, but you only need to choose the most suitable materials, choose the wheels and spend a little personal time, the reward for which will be a relatively cheap wagon.

Watch the video: A simple way to harness a horse - how to put harness on - Barry Hook, Horse Drawn Promotions (November 2024).