hobbyhorse23
Well-Known Member
Phew!
Leia
Leia
Cart amintenance
- Thread starter Reignmaker Miniatures
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Sue_C.
Well-Known Member
You can take them to a cycle shop.
It would be best to take a spoked wheel (bicycle style) to a bike shop. There is more to tightening or changing out spokes than just putting them in or tightening them up. They should be trued. The spokes are what makes the wheels round and even (true), if they are not trued you will have problems. If one side is tighter than the other, the rim will warp, which if you have ever cycled on a bike with warped rims you will know what I am talking about. True the wheels up and you ride straight again.
Once again, I don't know if this made any sense. I seem to know what I want to say, but can't seem to type it the same way. Boy do I miss spoken conversations.
Donna
Once again, I don't know if this made any sense. I seem to know what I want to say, but can't seem to type it the same way. Boy do I miss spoken conversations.
Donna
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My Jerald spoked pnuematic wheels do not have spokes that can be adjusted. They are fixed. They are not bicycle wheels, they are industrial wheels. They use bicyle tubes and tires, but the wheels themselves are not for a bicycle.
Just because a wheel has spokes does not mean it can/should be adjusted.
I think the idea of articles like this in a club newsletter is an excellent idea!
Sue_C.
Well-Known Member
When I said cycle shop, I meant as in motorcycles...they too have spoked wheels, and are very heavy as you can imagine. NOT all spoked wheels are light duty, believe me, you can get very heavy spokes, and many of them can still be tightened, and or straightened to a degree. The ones I have in a couple of my carts are super heavy duty, but when you take the tire and tube out, and remove the rubber binding, you can see they are threaded.
Marsha speaks truly. This is referred to as a welded hub (style) wheel. If spokes in this style of wheel are, broken, bent, loose or rusted, the wheel needs to be replaced, not later, but now. Not replacing this wheel INSURES a failure.
The wheel is the heart of the cart. As such, a stint, angioplasty or a bypass will not help ( a whole different topic for another board), you need a new heart. DO IT! Blaming the preceding failure on the type of wheel that it is whether pneumatic or airless IN GENERAL would not be true. In this case the failure occurs due to lack of maintenance and attention. Mr. Hance and I share the same engineering based view on this and it was he that clued me into this truism with a quietly asked question. I definitely respect his engineering chops enough to listen carefully! I would be curious to know who is currently making this wheel as the mfr. stopped building them about 3 years ago and it has sidelined one of our older style trail rigs.
As Miss Marsha stated there are other wheels that are tunable and repairable. Both spokes and spoke nipples can be replaced as well as rim and hub and there is far more latitude regarding repair and adjustment of such a wheel. Again if it needs done, DO IT!
Cracked rubber on a tire has been rightfully addressed. Let me add that chronic mis-inflation is also a problem that I consistently see. Now, we use a tire that allows us to play with inflation levels depending on terrain. This is not what I'm referring to. Chronic under inflation can and does put additional stress on the rim during tight cornering. Not to mention the obvious and possible resulting blow-out failure. So pay attention to tire inflation and make it a part of your constant routine.
Miss Myrna has addressed bearings and the packing of open bearings. Examination of such a bearing for knicks and burning should be part of the routine. Again if this is the style of bearings you have...
wait for it....
DO IT!
We use a "sealed" bearing which does reduce maintenance time. However they too need to be inspected at regular intervals. If the bearing faces are cracked or dented, or there is roughness in their rotational operation, they need to be replaced. Usually inspecting the inside of the bearing, hidden from view, can be accomplished with a light while you look in from the other side of the wheel. Shine the light past the bearing closest to you to the inside of the hub to see the inside of the opposite bearing. Perform this check for both sides of both wheels.
Our motto has always been "Save your money and buy well ONCE!" I believe that the same motto applies to replacement as well.
Consider this please, repair and or replacement will ALWAYS be cheaper than having a new hospital wing named for you or your horse. http://www.miniaturehorsetalk.com/public/style_emoticons/default/yes.gif
To work,
Bb
Graham Carriage Works
www.grahamcarriageworks.com
hobbyhorse23
Well-Known Member
Thank you everyone, especially TMR and Bob! That was really interesting to read. I noticed just before the ocean trip that three of the spokes on my EE are slightly bent and made a note to replace the wheel but haven't done so yet and have continued to drive on it. Bad idea! I'll call Frontier in the next few days and order a new set.
Leia
Leia
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Reignmaker Miniatures
Well-Known Member
I can't thank you all enough for sharing your knowledge and thoughts on keeping carts in good repair.
I believe too many of us are just driving without concerning ourselves with the risk we take when we fail to make absolutely sure our equipment is in good repair. It is easy enough to notice a cracked or worn harness part (for those who pay any kind of attention) but so often when nothing 'appears' wrong no one looks. I for one will be going over ALL my equipment before the driving season gets underway this year and I hope that the other members of our local club will find the information useful to them and do the same. Now to begin drafting the article before the next issue of the newsletter. Again if anyone thinks of any points they think should be added please post it.
No problem Bob. We can never over state the importance of checking bearings, having it repeated often and in different ways is always a good thing. It never ceases to amaze me how many people don't check bearings in their horse trailers, let alone their carts. This should be a yearly event.
Just to clarify...The wheel spokes I was talking about earlier, are the thinner bicycle style wheels that come on many cheaper and homemade easy entry carts. These are the ones you could take to a bicycle shop to have the wheels trued. The heavier spoked wheels that Sue C was speaking of I am not as familiar with.
Donna
Just to clarify...The wheel spokes I was talking about earlier, are the thinner bicycle style wheels that come on many cheaper and homemade easy entry carts. These are the ones you could take to a bicycle shop to have the wheels trued. The heavier spoked wheels that Sue C was speaking of I am not as familiar with.
Donna
RhineStone
Well-Known Member
And make sure you check and inflate your tires WITHOUT the horse put to....no matter how "calm" your horse is. I know of a wreck that destroyed an Easy Entry cart because they decided to inflate the tire while put to. The pony got away from the header (no driver in the cart) and proceeded to drag the cart around the farm at a full run until they were able to get her stopped. Fortunately, the pony was no worse for wear and still drives today.
Myrna
