# Wooden VS. Metal Shafts



## Dreamer (Feb 1, 2013)

HI,

While neither new to horses or minis I am new to the forum( I have been lurking recently and soaking up the wealth of knowledge on here but joined so I can ask questions). I have been driving a couple of years now but I still have a lot to learn. I have been looking at easy entry carts and wondered about the difference between metal and wooden shafts. Which is better in your opinion and why? Thanks


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## Callie (Feb 2, 2013)

Where in Texas are you? The Tejas Carriage Club is hosting a Beginner to Winner day Feb. 16. The meeting is out of Greenville and there will be a number of mini drivers. You can get lots of different views there.


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## Jill (Feb 2, 2013)

What do you plan to do? If just for fum, I would recommend metal shafts. I think they are less expensive, and safer


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## Renolizzie (Feb 2, 2013)

Jill said:


> What do you plan to do? If just for fum, I would recommend metal shafts. I think they are less expensive, and safer


Why are they safer. The lady that I took lessons from insisted that I needed wooden shafts so I am curious. I would like to consider a lighter cart for my little guy.


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## Jill (Feb 2, 2013)

Metal shafts will it break and puncture your horse..


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## Sandee (Feb 2, 2013)

Some harness, depending on how they are made, do not fit or hold metal shafts well because they are usually so small in diameter. If they were as big as the wooden they'd weigh TOO much. I prefer the wooden shafts myself. I have both. My "easy" entry cart (which it isn't "easy") is heavier but my 32" guy can pull it without too much trouble as the wheels are the bike/rubber ones and they are larger [26"]. While this makes it easier to pull it also makes me sit, IMO, way too far above the horses.


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## Margo_C-T (Feb 2, 2013)

The reasoning seems to be that wooden shafts *can* splinter, and present a risk of severe injury to a horse in an accident. On the less expensive metal carts, the shafts, in my experience, are of fairly thin metal, and *could* bend or even break in an accident; however, there is usually less chance of a bent/even broken, shaft of this kind to do serious injury. Once bent, such shafts would not be safely repairable, and should be replaced.

In higher-end metal carts, the metal of the shafts is generally a good bit heavier, thicker-walled, and therefore, harder to damage in an untoward event. Either type of shaft can generally be replaced and the cart again made usable, as long as the shaft was the ONLY part damaged. Cost , and ease of actually performing a replacement, can vary considerably.

I personally prefer metal. I have an 'original' Frontier EE 'pipe' cart, which is my 'go-to', everyday, vehicle, and has been for MANY years...I've had my current one for @ 15-17 years now; the one I sold to buy this one is still in heavy use as a training cart for the friend I sold it to--I had @ 10-12 years of use on it; sold it only because I liked a newer color scheme better...and, the back of the backrest had been 'chewed' by horses I'd led while driving it! I also have a Bennington(made in the UK) that is my all-time favorite cart. It is all-metal except for the seat base; the shafts are of aluminum, heavy-wall, w/ a 'rubbery' black coating; it is a considerably higher-quality cart. I also have an all-wooden cart, from a well-known maker, and of high quality. It is 'prettier' than the metal carts, I guess, and rides well, as does the 'Benny', but I don't use it because I prefer the 'Benny'.

Overall, the weight of the higher-end wooden AND the better metal carts is often very comparable; in mini horse size, tends to hit at about 110-120 lbs.

Edited to add, in response to the post above: I have never noticed a problem with any of my harnesses related to the diameter of the shafts. Mine are all high quality harness, however...even my 'everyday' training harness is a Smuckers 'Lite'( in russet leather). I have used Tilbury tugs(on my Lutke show harnesses), wrapstrap, and open tugs w/ a holddown strap-type harnesses; no issues w/ any of these. It IS generally true that wooden shafts will be of a larger diameter than most metal ones...though on the Benny, the aluminum IS of a larger diameter and thicker walls. I have encountered metal carts w/ solid steel rod, of smaller diameter, for the shafts, and ones w/ heavy-walled, small-diameter, steel pipe for the shafts...but none were a problem. If using wrap straps or Tilbury tugs, the material needs to be flexible(one possible 'problem' w/ bio or beta-bio harness; the strapping material *can be* stiff...) You may indeed need tug stops on the shafts, and those could be harder to install(yourself) on metal shafts.

Margo


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## Renolizzie (Feb 2, 2013)

Thanks for some nicely detailed info, Margo.


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## Dreamer (Feb 2, 2013)

Thanks to those that answered. Callie I live near Fort Worth and that is a great idea. Don't know if I will be able to make it or not becuase I have an anatomy and physiology exam that following Tuesday I will be studying for. My plan is to use it mainly as a training cart (I drive in one of our pastures) and this last fall I joined a local mini driving club. They do some parades which I have joined them for three now and my boy Dream is getting better at and some occasional traildriving which I would love to try. They are a great group and I've had a lot of fun with them at the parades. I currently have a jog cart which was great for training him in and working in my pasture but not so great in my opinion for the occasional traildrive so am selling it and would like to get an easy entry cart. I want something that will be well balanced, sturdy and safe for my boy should the the worst happen. I have done a lot of looking lately and am just trying to figure out if the metal or wooden shafts would be safer for him.

I originally was hoping to find something used locally but Dream is B sized at 36"-36.5" depending on when he was trimmed and a little long bodied. He does not fit in the 48" shafts and I haven't found any with longer shafts used so I figure I am buying new. There are a few that I like but knowing whether to go with metal or wooden shafts will help to narrow my choices down.


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## hobbyhorse23 (Feb 3, 2013)

A lot of it depends on personal taste. I don't like thick wooden shafts such as the Jerald Runabouts have because to me they look bulky and the wider the shaft itself is, the less room there is between the horse and the shaft. I bought a Graber showcart partially because the wooden shafts were a much narrower diameter than the Jerald ones and the cart itself was lighter. Generally I'm very happy with my metal shafts but have wondered, now that I've moved to a much hotter climate, if they're going to burn me in the summer. Not something I've ever had to think about, coming from the Pacific NW!

What I think is much more important in the end is the shape of the shafts and how they fit your horse. The horse needs to have plenty of room to move his or her hips over as they turn and shouldn't get poked in the shoulder or neck as they step into the shafts. On top of that, it's nice if the shafts go uphill to your horse as this allows the breeching to lay flat rather than being pulled up in the front where it wraps around the shaft. So much of your satisfaction with a cart is going to depend on the overall fit and balance of the vehicle, the material of the shafts are really an afterthought. Focus on how the shafts are bent and how the cart sits behind your horse.

Leia


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## Dreamer (Feb 4, 2013)

Thanks Leia. The shape of the shafts is not something I have thought about but a very good point. So a cart that has shafts that have that bend in them much like the showcarts do would be better than the carts that have just the straight shafts?


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## Margo_C-T (Feb 4, 2013)

I really prefer the 'gooseneck', or even the closed-end, marathon-type of shafts, but you would be hard-pressed to find them in any but a higher-end cart, be it metal(which is more commonly seen, esp. in miniature-sized carts) or wood(where they would likely be designated as 'gig-type' )shafts.(Closed-end shafts do require a special type of tug loop; one that opens up via a quick-release; most high-end harness makers can supply them.)

Most of this type that I've seen are: Adjustable(in both length and to a degree, in width-between at the harness saddle)--where they are 'attached to' the horse.They have excellent width-between back at the horse's hips, so that the horse can more easily/freely turn, and the shaft front ends, which curve upward and slightly outward, will not tend to poke the horse in the shoulder as it turns, esp. in tight turns.

Some examples of carts that have this type of shafts in miniature horse size would be: the Pacific Smart Carts, the Bellcrown Mini and Aero Crowns, the UK-built Benningtons(I have one of their 'original' design for minis, and I LOVE it!), the custom-built IteBte I had which I sold to TMR, of this forum, and I *think*, carts from such builders as Susan Ahonen and Frey Carriage...just to name some off the top of my head; there well may be others that I'm not aware of.

All of the above-mentioned are basically 'all-metal' carts, w/ metal shafts.Can't recall ever seeing a wooden mini cart w/ this kind of shafts--one reason being that wood would have to be soaked and 'bent' for such shafts, which would be a more extensive, and expensive, procedure...esp. if trying to do so for the shorter, 'finer' shafts that you'd want/need for a miniature-horse-sized vehicle.

Margo


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## BBH (Feb 5, 2013)

Dreamer and Callie.....

would love to see you at the Tejas Carriage Beginner to Winner day on the 16th......it is a great place to meet others in the club, join if you want, and see alot of vehicles. Someone will be there with new amish made easy entries that she is carrying now plus a tack dealer and a hat lady.......it is just afun day.....more info availalble on their web site or I can send flyer if you have not rcvd it.


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## aliasmel (Feb 6, 2013)

My nan has trotting horse (standarbreds.) One day myself and a friend were harnessing up the next horse to be worked and we hear a horse tearing down towards the stables.

Our hearts sunk when we realised it was the horse my nan has been working on the track. The sharves were wooden. Horse spooked at something, took off bucking, hit the sharves a few times and they splintered and broke. Horse came back covered in blood and full of splinters around the rear end from the wooden sharves. My poor nan was in hospital for two weeks after that. I HATE wooden sharves.


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