The Modified Garden Cart

A low cost adaptation for hauling reasonable loads with a pony.

Mya and Jenifer trying out the 2nd/final version. 19 February 2001	Mya and Jenifer trying out the  first prototype (cottonwood shafts). 18 February 2001	Mya and Jenifer trying out the 2nd/final version. 19 February 2001

First prototype version. 18 February 2001

The basic idea is to take a standard garden cart, available from most garden supply stores, and add shafts and a single tree (the pony kit).   It is best if the width of your cart accommodates the width of your pony so that you don't have to make too many modifications for shaft width.  Garden carts come in a variety of sizes so this should be a reasonable proposition.  

This design is for hauling loads with the teamster walking alongside or behind the load.  We have seen modifications that put a seat on top of the cart and use the cart primarly for riding.  In our estimation the garden cart construction isn't adequate for that sort of use.

One of our initial design criteria was to make it relatively easy to remove the pony kit (shafts & single tree) and be able to use the garden cart for its intended use (with a human as the draft animal).   We discovered one drawback with the design that evolved from that.   We first tried to use the cart with the front stand fixed in place.  We found that the stand often caught on bumps in the terrain.  This placed a significant jarring load on the whole system and caused the pony a bit of consternation as well.  One encounter of this sort actually broke our first set of shafts that were made out of cottonwood poles.  We finally ended up using 2'x4' lumber for the shafts.  We did some carving at the ends that connected to the harness to improve the fit.  We tilted the stand up.  The idea being that we could lower the stand if we needed it.  We have found that unless the stand is screwed in place it isn't real useful as it easily falls down.  We have since decided to just remove the stand and dedicate the cart for pony use.  The pony kit can still be easily removed and the stand put back on for human-draft use.

As you can see from this photo taken from the rear the fundamental design has four cross pieces connected across the shafts.  The purpose of the rear cross-piece is to provide a bit of a push for the cart.  The forward movement of the cart is ostensibly provided by the forward most cross-piece which is also the single tree.  The cross-piece just forward of the rear, mounted on top is what keeps the pony kit from dropping down onto the tires.  It should be placed just far enough forward to allow the rear gate on the cart to be easily slid up and down.  The cross-piece third from the rear is placed slightly forward of front of the cart body and below the handle.  It helps to lift the handle and, more importantly, it pushes the cart back when reversing.  The front cross-piece is also the single-tree (see the photo at right for more detail).   Two fairly heavy hooks set into the 2'x4' cross-piece accept the tug chain.   The blocking behind the handle helps to pull the handle (and the cart).  The blocking on top of the handle pivots to cover the handle and keep it from rising up.

It is really easy to remove the pony kit from the cart, though it can be a bit of a puzzle if you don't have an idea of how to do it.  You have to swivel the blocking on top of the handle to free the handle.   Allow the shafts to drop while you lift the cart handle.  You are then going to lift the rear of the pony kit above the back of the cart and pull the cart back from within the pony kit.  

Since we had not worked Mya in shafts much, other than in a travois configuration, we decided it was best to try her out in the pony kit without the cart.  It turns out that it can function as a bit of a travois.

One of the most common uses of the cart is to haul and spread manure on the pastures.  Mya and Jenifer are quite handy at the task now.  They have also hauled bales of hay, split firewood, t-posts, a dog house and a collection of wooden posts.  

And, of course, a good teamster and her team doing good work are a happy team!

This page was last modified on 22 January 2008 .
This material is not copyrighted and can be freely reused.  It would be nice if you'd give us a bit of credit for the notion.