This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Don & Jane Brackett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> anyone want to throw in a few words on brakes or no brakes, bicycle
> tires or wooden with rubber, leather or synthetic harness??? There are
> a fair number of hills where I'll be driving, I thought that brakes
> would be helpful to help hold the cart going down but there do not seem
> to be alot of carts available with brakes, at least at a reasonalble
> cost. The roads are gravel and there are some great woods roads as
> well. Would the bicycle tires be more stable and sturdy to bounce over
> rocks and stones??
Most of those questions have proponents on both sides. For deeper
research, go to the web site for the Carriage Driving List, and poke
thru their archives. It's http://www.trot-on.com/cd-l/ , then look
for a button for , and enter keywords (e.g. "brakes") in the
appropriate slots.
Personally, I like having brakes---but then my driving animal was a
400-lb donkey, who had trouble stopping me and the cart on the steep
hills around here. (With a heavier animal, like a Fjord, it'd be less
of an issue.) I had brakes retrofitted to my pipe cart for less than
$100.
Carts with traditional bicycle wheels (wire spokes, with pneumatic
tires) are intended for arena or road use. IMHO, in the woods, those
wheels are an accident looking for an opportunity to happen. Tires
blow out, or pick up stickers and go flat. Anything that puts
side-pressure on the wheels (traversing side-slopes, hitting a rock or
pothole wrong, etc) can "pretzel" the wheel. If you're going to use
such wheels on rough drives, wear your hiking boots, so you can walk
home! I replaced the wheels on the donkey's "pipe cart" with BMX
wheels---graphite composite, with solid, sturdy spokes---then had them
"rubbered" by a carriage wheelsmith. There's also a carriage builder
who sells steel carriage wheels made to retrofit onto bicycle axles or
forks. Folks on CD-L swear by his wheels! Except that the "give" in
bicycle wheels is a major part of the "suspension" of a pipe cart,
i.e. putting on sturdier wheels makes the cart ride terribly!
In general, traditional "carriage" type carts will give you a nicer
ride than "pipe carts". Their bigger wheels "bridge" over bumps
better, and the elliptical springs on most carts can soak up jolts
better than the wimpy little coils under the seat on a pipe cart. The
advantage of pipe carts lies in their maneuverability---easier to get
thru narrow spots in the woods, and light enough to unhitch and lift
over a cable or gate, which many trails use to keep 4-wheel-drivers
out. (With my donkey, I didn't have a choice---not enough
"horsepower" to pull a wooden cart.)
Leather harness is very traditional, but can be labor-intensive to
keep it in good condition. Also, you get what you pay for---there's a
lot of crappy leather harness out there! Synthetic harness,
particularly Zilco (trade name) and some of the newer biothanes, looks
good, lasts forever, and cleans up with just a quick hosing. If I had
it to do over, I'd go synthetic!
Marsha Jo HannahMurphy must have been a horseman--
[EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will!
30 mi SSE of San Francisco, Calif.
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