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TheGorenSociety -> RE: Question for human ponies (6/1/2008 1:58:19 AM)
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Hello, I hate to disagree with your posting but,Sorry, you are comparing apples to oranges. First,the carriage as far as I can see in the picture may use a older type of bearing.The carriage pictured is built to deal with one horse with a mass fully loaded 5-6 persons of at least 1000 pounds with another 800 pounds in people. Amish buggies most of which are lighter then the one pictured, are kept on hard surfaces and weigh with two people about 600 pounds give or take.We have a carriage like the one pictured right down the road from us, they use Clydesdale's to pull it. It is setup for both one and two horses. They never trot the horses, they just walk them at most.The Carriage pictured looks like it could be made of fiberglass instead of hard wood. It has a steel under carriage so it has to have been made since the late forties up. It also has hydraulic brakes, so most likely it is a late 70's model or later. Second, the wheels alone weigh a lot more then rickshaw wheels in comparison. Rickshaws are designed to be light weight. Carriages are designed to be more stable with a higher center of gravity. Having owned a rick shaw in real life and having worked on horse carriages in my youth, I understand the load bearing on them. Modern bearings on a rickshaw uses bicycle bearings. More and more they use bicycle parts for the main frame, again this is due to weight issues.Total weight on a rickshaw is around 350-450. Ever try to replace a bearing on a old wheel carriage? They are heavy and cumbersome for a reason. If the wheel hub is made out of a hardwood it can be quite heavy. Although I have been seeing in newer models,some using light weight pine or spruce.From the pics I can not tell whether the wheels are made of wood. Some replacement wheels are being made out of fiberglass composites. As for braking, no way no how will older wheel brakes stop you on a carriage.The horse does most of the stopping, an event that is not quick.However this carriage has hydraulic brakes, which means it has been built to stop the carriage at five miles per hour under full load. As for the average guy who can pull several thousand pounds, great he can come over and remove palm frawns roots for me and stumps.I have broken two tractor transmissions in the last four months with stumps. I have used all kinds of old apparatuses in my life to do the work for me. I do not doubt the guy can move several thousand pounds, but can he do it every day? Not likely, I move trailers by myself that are several thousand pounds each, but I do not trot down the road with them either. Nor do I pull them down trails on wheels that are at most two inch's in width. If you look at the use of animals in general for labor intensive situations, you will see they are leveraged according to their best use. You do not see dogs pulling a carriage. Look how many dogs it takes to pull a sled over snow in the winter, six to 8 dogs min, 10 is common, more dogs the better.Dogs are just as four footed as horses, yet there ability to pull is diminished with their size.Same goes for humans we are not designed to haul carts by pulling them that are the size of the carriage in question,it can be done but do not be surprised at what happens to the persons doing the hauling. What is the use of pony slaves pulling a carriage 50 feet and then having to go to the hospital with back injuries or ankle injuries with ankle hoove boots they normally wear.Most of the pony play I have done or seen has been with a small goat or hand made carts on solid surfaces with one or two max persons on the cart.The distances pulled is far less then a few miles. Just for general testing theory out, go buy a army Buffalo trailer,it is a water tank on wheels, they are a good comparison weight and design wise for what we are talking about, then hook yourself up to it with another person and walk down the road with it empty, see how far you get. Oh just FYI, I just helped a neighbor of mine move a water Buffalo trailer, he has for sale, it was empty and on solid pasture. We had to get a tractor to move it a hundred feet after it kept on sliding to wards the opposite direction. As for set ups, it looks like the current setup up is for one horse with hook up's on each outer side as long as it is flat, one horse can easily pull this on solid hard surfaces. Normally, if you are using two or more horses or mules to pull, you run a center shaft for better pulling and direction control.You can run outer shafts with a central shaft for hook ups. Some of the older riggs have those. If memory serves,some may refer to them as western riggs. Ijust remember doing that alot as a kid at my grand parents. I also used to back the mules and horses up to hook, never moved a rigg by hand.If you do look at the carriage make sure that the bearing shafts are not worn out, if they are you have to find someone who knows how to replace them, if it is a older carriage, pre 80, the shaft is one piece, expensive. Newer ones use metal bearing Assemblies similier to trailers.They can be removed like trailer bearings, the shaft is mounted on a support plate that is attached to the axle. Make sure the central pivot point, that is where the front turns the front wheels, is not worn out. The newer ones have a replaceable center shaft and the load bearing plate is easily replaced.If it has dry rot on more then 25 percent walkaway. If it has termintes walkaway. Hopes this helps.Too bad the pictures do not show better clarity.Be well. trot safe.
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