# Cart Wheel Size - 24" vs 26"



## StarRidgeAcres (Mar 15, 2009)

Besides the obvious of one being bigger than the other




what difference does the wheel size make?


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## Kawgirl (Mar 15, 2009)

The larger the wheel, the easier the cart should be to pull, due to the larger tire to ground area. But, I found that when I put 24 in. wooden wheels on a cart that originally came with 20 in wire spoke wheels, the extra weight made it harder for the horse to pull.


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## Margo_C-T (Mar 15, 2009)

Generally speaking--all other factors-wide of wheel, configuration of tread (if hard rubber, flat or round, or if pneumatic, 'knobby', or minimal, such as on the show Jeralds), overall weight of wheel, etc.--being equal, the larger wheel should roll somewhat more easily over the ground, esp. rough or even 'heavy' ground...there is a physics reason for this, actually, but I'm not equipped to diagram it here! Of course, the larger wheel will also raise the axle height, and thus, the entire cart, a bit, but with only a two inch wheel difference, it would be by only one inch.Of course, the overall 'appearance' of the turnout will also be affected somewhat by differences in wheel diameter.

Personally, I like a larger diameter wheel--I got a 28" on my Missouri Flyer--but especially with minis, you need to always consider the 'trade-off' of the higher weight of a larger diameter wheel(you can pretty much figure that a larger diameter wheel will ALWAYS be heavier than a smaller diameter one of the same type /style-big DUH, huh?)- along with other factors, such as how you need to use the vehicle, size of horse to pull it, etc., etc., etc.

Nothing is ever REALLY simple!!





Margo


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## StarRidgeAcres (Mar 15, 2009)

Thanks for the responses!

Makes sense now that I think about it that a larger in diameter would be easier to pull. The show cart I'm borrowing has 24" wheels and I'm thinking that based on Spirit's size versus my size that a larger wheel would be better. Plus I think it may look better to have a larger wheel when the person is larger. Does that makes sense?


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## Sue_C. (Mar 15, 2009)

> The larger the wheel, the easier the cart should be to pull, due to the larger tire to ground area. But, I found that when I put 24 in. wooden wheels on a cart that originally came with 20 in wire spoke wheels, the extra weight made it harder for the horse to pull.


The problem you had with the wheels wasn't the size of the wheel, but the fact that a wooden wheel will not spead and ride over the ground as a pneumatic tire will...instead, it digs down into he dirt, making it considerably harder to pull in heavy going. The_ metal _wheels, with the wider metal rims are better than most wooden wheels, as they are usually wider than they are and therefore don't sink down as much either.


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## Keri (Mar 15, 2009)

It also raises the height of the basket area. That way your shafts aren't at such a high angle if your cart is put on a taller horse. I use 24" wheels on all my minis.


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## Jill (Mar 16, 2009)

Parmela, I used to use 20" wheels on Derby's show cart -- he is about 31". That size, to my eyes, really suited his height and got lots of compliments on the size of wheel / size or horse at shows. Contrast to 24" wheels on a 34" horse I used the same cart on and that size really suited and looked good with him. I know "looks aren't everything" but I think at shows, Spirit would look way too tiny with 26" wheels (?). It was really expensive to purchase the additional wheels from Houghton, and they didn't even include the "hubs". I'm thinking it was about 1/4 the price of the original show cart (that included a set of wheels). We had to take them off the smaller wheels


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## hobbyhorse23 (Mar 16, 2009)

StarRidgeAcres said:


> Makes sense now that I think about it that a larger in diameter would be easier to pull. The show cart I'm borrowing has 24" wheels and I'm thinking that based on Spirit's size versus my size that a larger wheel would be better. Plus I think it may look better to have a larger wheel when the person is larger. Does that makes sense?


Hi Parmela!



You've got some good thoughts there and it's great to see you thinking of Spirit's comfort so much.



Unless Spirit is a B-sized mini however I would not go with super-sized wheels on a show cart for a couple of reasons. One, as Jill said, is that rather than making you look more suited to the cart it makes the entire turnout look too big for the horse.



Another is that the higher the cart sits behind the horse, the higher the center of gravity is, which will make it more difficult for him to pivot and back the cart comfortably. I do plan to use a 26-28" wooden wheel with my 33.5" horse if I ever get them, but that's because the wooden wheels have already made it so much harder to pull and a larger wheel will roll more easily than a small one once he gets it going. (Also I'm going for a particular big-horse cart look and the wheel needs to be up to the seat cushion bar, but that's another story.



)

What you might consider instead is going with a wider tire. I believe Jerald has a "super-deluxe" tire or wheel of some kind that I think has a wider surface area and you might ask them about that as another way to make pulling easier. Pay attention to the level of inflation in your pneumatic tires as well!

A 24" wheel is already plenty big for the size I remember Spirit to be, especially on a closed wheel cart. You don't want to set those shafts up too high- again, it would make it hard for him to maneuver the cart. If you're concerned with a balanced picture (and who isn't?) I'd use a closed-wheel cart with 20" tires or an open-wheeled one with 24". The 24" will pull better the same way a bike rolls across a bumpy field more easily than a shopping cart does.

Leia


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## StarRidgeAcres (Mar 16, 2009)

The cart I'm borrowing is open wheeled with 24" tires. So, seems like I may be OK. I need to ask what size tires are on the one I took my lessons in as it seemed to work for Spirit and be balanced well. I've got a video and if I can figure out how to get it off my camera and onto the computer I'll ask for opinions on what others think about it.

Thanks much.


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