# what kind of wagon to buy for a standardbred?



## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

What would you use for a wagon for a single strandardbred to haul? You know just for driving around, and maybe a haul a few fence stakes or a little manure or garden stuff or something? 

thanks


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

A buckboard, a box buggy or any light wagon. Good luck finding one. Pretty scarce.

Here's a buckboard:


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

I take back what I said about the box buggy. They are usually end-sprung so you wouldn't have a tailgate. The body is too short to carry fence posts and without a tailgate to drop, you can't let the fenceposts stick out the back of the wagon. Not a great choice for carrying manure either. Here is a little light farm wagon.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

If you got your hands on something like Pioneer's one-ton running gear you could put a flatbed on it and shafts and have a little utility flat deck wagon. You could put stakesides on it.


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

Thanks, I don't think I would be able to find a wooden wheeled wagon around here, at least not easily. I was wondering if the lightest rubber tired chassie I could find would work. I will look around and see what I can find. I want to find the wagon before I buy the harness. I usally do things the other way and have a horse and harness, but nothing to pull so it is no good to me. This time if I can't find/get it all, I will just wait until I can.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

I prefer the cut under Buckboards, they are less likely to tip over in hard tight turns.

There are a couple of places that make them in Canada. Will see if I can find the info.


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Get a one ton pioneer gear and put any kind of box you want on it. Don't go less than the one ton, it would be way to small. Here is a video of mine with the box I built. It is pulled by a team but one horse would handle it with no problem.
http://s384.photobucket.com/user/Rodhorses/media/DSC09787_zpsa6a42d16.jpg.html

http://s384.photobucket.com/user/Rodhorses/media/FB1_zps632dfedd.jpg.html

http://s384.photobucket.com/user/Rodhorses/media/MOV001182_zpsef20a1c2.mp4.html


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

http://www.voituresrobert.com/company.html

There's another but haven't found it yet.

https://www.canadianwoodworking.com/get-more/horse-drawn-wagon


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

What would you think of a wagon like this one. It is rated for 2200 pounds. I can buy one of these locally. 

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/Atv/2200-lb-Utility-Wagon/2440011.p


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Here is a link to a Pioneer Equipment site. Some stuff is pictured with metal wheels. They also come with car type tire wheels too.

http://www.pioneerfarmequipment.com/


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

My favorite 1 horse rig was an old light built farm trailer, 4'x6', made from an old car axle. 3' sides. I added a riser to add the shafts to. It was low enough to step right up into. I had a wagon seat that fit over the sides but I usually just stood in the trailer bed. I have seen some small utility trailers that would be easy to convert. For a single horse wagon, I would want a turntable steering axle, not wagon steering....James


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

I was kind of wondering about a little trailer, but I don't know how to make sure that it is balanced enough to keep the weight of the load off of her back. Any pictures or plans?

The only one I have found on the internet is a picture of a dump trailer. It wasn't hooked directly to the horse though, they had a little two wheeled cart behind the horse and the trailer connected to that cart.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

From that web site, I can't tell if the wagon has just small wheel barrow tires on it? Just buy a Pioneer forecart, set up for a single horse. Then buy a two wheeled trailer to hook to it. You can use the forecart for many things and you can use the trailer behind your horse or your truck.


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## galfriend (Nov 19, 2004)

Might could check here? 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/260696497406784/


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Here are a couple more ideas. A friend of mine builds these three wheel carts. Good for road or level type travel. Not so good for rough country. Look at attachment.



Second would be a pioneer forcart with a trailer with seats. They make shafts for a single horse also.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

The forecart and dump trailer is a very versatile way to go. Spendy, but durable and versatile. Plus, Pioneer forecarts hold their resale value quite well. There's another forecart manufacturer... makes nearly the same product as the Pioneer but sells for about half what the "brand name" Pioneer does. Let me see if I can remember who it is.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

I am reminded that my perception of the cost of a Pioneer forecart is heavily influenced by my geographical location. The freight to get one over here to Washington is tremendous. If you were to buy one over there, it would be a lot cheaper for you. You aren't anywhere near any Amish communities, are you? I&J and Whitehorse make forecarts also. You could order one without wheels and pick some up at the junkyard cheaply.


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

I maybe putting the cart before the horse. Harness is much more than I thought. The two quotes I got from places within 3 hours from here are 1000-1500 $ That is for a "beefed up" driving harness. All I asked them to add was traces with the chains for the swing tree and the belly breeching straps to hold the breeching in place if the I was pulling a stick or something. WOW was I surprised. 

What would you think of the "presidential harness" shown on this website? they are also about an hour from here. 

http://www.ronshorseharness.com/categories/Horse-Harnesses/Leather-Horse-Harnesses/









This is a picture from their site of a team wearing the "presidential harness" 

I would guess it looks ok to me, or is it just a show harness?


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

That little trailer in post #15 looks a lot like the one I had. It was easy to cut off the hitch and weld on the riser and shafts. The axle was centered like that one is. I used an old driving harness that I found at a farm sale and cut down 14 hand pony....James


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## Phil V. (May 31, 2013)

That's a decent price for a single horse. I paid close to $ 4,000.00 for my draft horse harness where I live. The harness was beefed up so I could do farm work as well as pull logs with them. It was made out of the nylon that they use to make harness with.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

Seems like a nice enough driving harness but it isn't really a work harness. Those buggy hames are kind of light for work. Similarly, a narrow buggy collar like that isn't as comfortable for working in. If you will mostly be trotting down the road, that's the harness you want. If you will mostly be dragging stuff around the farm, you might look for something more robust.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

You can buy a single work harness at auction for $400. You can get a dry-rotted one for $50. You can get a used Pioneer forecart with rubber tires, seat, brakes and hitch for $500. Then that cute little four wheeled wagon you have your eye on could be towed behind,


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

For fence posts and manure, I'd probably get a buckboard.

Don't get too carried away. A standardbred is not built to pull a lot of weight.


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

A standardbred in good condition can pull more than you think. One standardbred will pull a double Amish buggy with a whole family (parents plus 6 or 8 kids or more) up and down the hills of southwestern Wisconsin. Many are also hitched in with the big horses for some additional horse power for spring work. Standardbreds also do a lot of the lawn mowing and they really pull hard. Here is a pict of one of my Haflingers pulling one. They put a real sweat on a horse.


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

Do you guys know what this is called? I my be just dreaming here, but, if I built something like this with the traces hooking high like this, then I could yard small sticks with a breast plate harness................. or I might be just dreaming, but I don't know what to call it.


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## Farmerjonathan (Mar 11, 2013)

It's called a logging arch. One end of the log goes between the wheels and is lifted by a cable or chain so the end doesn't dig in the ground and makes the log pull easier.


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

I was thinking that the traces would hook on it up higher than if they were hooked directly to the log. That would keep the center of draft more in the right place for the breast harness. I am pretty sure I remember my grandfather talking about yarding with the front sled, They set the sticks up on the bunk and dragged the back end of the sticks........ Maybe I could just build a little drag and do the same thing...... now to find some "drag" plans and pics.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

http://www.wikihow.com/Train-a-Horse-to-Drive 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt7iHgLODEU


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

hit a problem with the breast harness. I have been putting a breast harness on the mare and driving her around the plowed driveway pulling a palet with a few bales of hay on it. The problem is if one side catches a little on something, then the breast plate pulls around that way too far and the neck strap comes around her neck. It would almost seem that I would need a set of shafts to hook her to and then hook the pallet to the cross bar at the back of the shafts that way the breast plate wouldn't slide.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

minister man said:


> hit a problem with the breast harness. I have been putting a breast harness on the mare and driving her around the plowed driveway pulling a palet with a few bales of hay on it. The problem is if one side catches a little on something, then the breast plate pulls around that way too far and the neck strap comes around her neck. It would almost seem that I would need a set of shafts to hook her to and then hook the pallet to the cross bar at the back of the shafts that way the breast plate wouldn't slide.


 Sounds like you are missing an evener. If you hook the harness traces to corners of the pallet, it, as you have found, pull the traces off to the side. If you had an evener and then hooked a chain hooked to corners of the pallet, it would pull evenly, hence evener.


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

True, I tied a rope around the center of the pallet and hooked the whiffle tree to the rope, but I should have known better. We use to use evener type set up on the whiffle trees on the bob sleds at home. I will do that tomorrow. 

So far I have driven her around 1 hour a day, for three days. 

The first day with just the pallet, the second day I added 3 square bales of hay, and the third day, two square bales of hay and my 13 year old. She enjoyed the sleigh ride. Yes, I had the traces and heel chains good and long, so she couldn't get kicked and she kept her feet out over the side, incase she had to stand up quickly. The mare is doing well though. Of course she raced for miles, she just never pulled much. 

I will put an evener on her pallet tomorrow. Thanks for the help


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Are there any Amish near you? There is the place to go for a good harness, equipment and help on training you and your horse. :grin:


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

No, not that I am aware of.


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## milkman (Feb 3, 2007)

Don't use driving harness for hauling much of anything. I tried it and it may work for a while, but will fail when you really need it not too. I used it and was picking corn one day and some deer jump up and frighten my horse and when he took of he broke one of the traces and it wasn't pretty. Driving harness is what it is. Not work harness.


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