FARMERS' REGISTER— MAKING OX-CARTS. 



349 



DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING OX-CARTS, AND FOR 

 USING THEM. 



For the Fanners' Register. 

 Essex County, September 20th, 1834. 



The tongue of an ox-cart .should be about fifteen 

 feet in length, spUt as usual, and let into the cart 

 axle by .mortice and tenon, and confined by three- 

 quarter inch iron pins. Tlie axle should be rather 

 more than seven feet in length, (I cannot say ex- 

 actly, as some hubs are rather longer than others) 

 and about six inches by four and a half, of season- 

 ed timber, or ii will spring and the friction will be 

 very great. Saw up a hickory large enough for 

 several. Lay ofl' the shoulders four leet apart, 

 neither more nor less, as this is the usual length, 

 and if more or less, the labor of the oxen will be 

 greatly increased, as one Avheel will run in the rut 

 that other carriages have made, and the other 

 wheel over the uneven surface along side of the 

 other rut. Draw a line down the middle of the 

 broad side, (the side intended for the tongue to be 

 up) which will leave three inches on each side of 

 the line: lay off the diameter of the in-box from 

 the bottom, leaving all at the shoulder to be taken 

 ofl' at top. The difference in the diameter of the 

 in and out-box divide into two equal parts, and lay 

 off one part from the bottom of the axle at the 

 end of the length of the hub: then lay oft' from 

 that the diameter of the out-box. Now the diame- 

 ter of both boxes is laid oft', draw a line from one 

 to the other, and hew off bottom and top. The 

 reason for dividing in half the difference between 

 the size of the big and little box, and taking all 

 oft' under the axle at the little box and none at the 

 big one, is to bring the wheel perfiictly plumb. 

 After finishing the broad side of the axle turn the 

 narrow side up, (the one that is intended for the 

 top) and draw a line down the middle, which will 

 leave two and a quarter inches on each side: then 

 take the diameter of the in-box, and divide it into 

 two equal part.?; one part lay oft' back of the line 

 at the shoulder, the other on the other side of the 

 line; then lay oft' the length of the hub from the 

 shoulder near which will come the linch pin, take 

 the diameter of the out-box, and divide it into 

 three equal parts; one part lay off' back of the line 

 at the end of the length of the hub, the other two 

 parts lay oflf on the other side of the line. Now 

 the diameter of both boxes is laid oft', draw a line 

 from one to the other, and round the squares. The 

 reason for laying oft' at the little box one part be- 

 hind and two before, is to make the wheel, in run- 

 ning, gently press to the shoulder of the axle. 

 Were it equally divided into two parts, the wheel 

 would be as apt to run oft' as on, and the conse- 

 quence would be, should it pass off, there would 

 be an open space between the hub of the wheel 

 and the axle, into which the wheel would throw 

 mud and dirt, which would at once sweep out the 

 grease, and the constant and regular supply of grit 

 would wear out boxes and axle. But what would 

 be worse than all, it would so much increase the 

 labor of the oxen. Inattention to making cart 

 axles probably costs Virginia 1000 oxen annually. 

 At bi'.-!t tliey are badly ])rovided for, and the ad- 

 ditional labor which this imposes upon them, they 

 are very unable to bear, and as they become re- 

 duced in strength, the lash is applied to supply the 

 place of strength, and thus the poor animals are 

 murdered. An axle made in the way here recom- 



mended, requires no additional labor to overcome 

 unnecessary friction. 



The body should be made of seasoned timber 

 to prevent it from being shaken to pieces; the sills 

 should be three and a half by three inches, the 

 length nine feet, and twenty inches deep in the 

 clear; the width should be four inches greater be- 

 hind than before, to tacilitate the discharge of the 

 load; and to pre vent the sides from being broken 

 by a sudden turn of the oxen, the sides should be 

 confined by four iron rods half an inch in diameter, 

 made with head.s, taps and screws, and placed at 

 the sides near each end — a set will last one's life. 

 The greatest breadth of the body at the axle can- 

 not exceed four feet, unless elevated above the 

 hubs, which should not be the case, for the load 

 will be constantly pressing forward and give too 

 much weight before; if to obviate this, a piece 

 should be put across the tongue, or nailed to the 

 sill of the cart where it rests upon the tongue, the 

 body is raised and of course more inconvenient to 

 load — the centre of gravity is also raised. From ex- 

 perience, I think by far the better way is, to hang 

 it with strong hooks and eyes, not in the way they 

 are generally hung, for they have too much play, 

 and throw the body in contact Avith the hubs, but 

 to make the eyes of three-quarter inch iron, allow- 

 ing as little play as possible. The shanks to those 

 that go into the axle, should not be more than six 

 inches long; when over long the body is inconve- 

 nient to put on and take oft. Taper them a little 

 just at the point to make them slip more easy into 

 the axle, sink the eyes a little into the axle and let 

 them stand up straight, not bent down. The 

 shanks to those that go through the sills of the 

 cart should be three-quarters of an inch square, 

 and confined by screw and tap. Sink the eyes a 

 little into the sills. They should be put one foot 

 nearer the hind part of the body than the fore part, 

 and no more, or it will give too much weight be-_ 

 fore. That mode of loading, as if the necks of 

 oxen were stronger than the cart Avheels, is a very 

 mistaken notion: it is death to oxen. In many 

 countries they have carriages so constructed as to 

 give no weig'ht. A cart-man requesting assistance 

 to enable him to discharge his load by throwing 

 up the body, is a proof that something is wrong 

 and should be at once examined into. Are the 

 hooks and eyes too fiir behind.^ Has he passed 

 over uneven ground that has caused the load to 

 press too much forward? Or has he loaded im- 

 properly? 



The yoke should be, for common sized oxen, 

 from four to four and a half feet in length, the 

 holes for the bows one and a half inches in diame- 

 ter, and about five mches apart, more or less, to 

 suit the size of the oxen, and so bored as to be 

 rather nearer at top than at bottom. The yoke 

 should be rather round than flat between the bows, 

 to prevent galling. The chain of the foremost 

 oxen should not be hitched to the staple in the 

 yoke of the tongue oxen, but to a device attached 

 to the end of the tongue of the cart, which should 

 not be nailed to the top and bottom, but to the 

 sides: and the wooden pin under the tongue which 

 is used to prevent the cart from running on the 

 oxen, should be sufficiently long not to let the end 

 of the tongue touch the ground, which will pre- 

 vent the device from being broken loose by the 

 dropping down of the tongue. When fixed in 

 this way they pull much more, but cannot in any 



