traveling with a horse cart

You have been working very hard.

Great job!

I've nearly finished the dash and fenders which needed a lot of work. They were knicked in places and cracking in others from dryness. I've spent a lot of time sanding, putty, sanding, putty and am glad to say they are nearly finished and ready to be stained. My plan of action is to do the removable small pieces bit by bit and wait to do the body until late spring. Anyways here's a picture don't mind the clutter, LOL.

Good job. Keep at it
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Thanks to the foot of snow that pounded the front range (of course where I live we got a lot more than most), I sat down and painted approximately 14 of the about bazillion carriage bolts that hold the meadowbrook together. Lol. Theyre the bolts I took off of the dash and fenders mostly.

They look amazing, like patent leather buttons or something. I can't wait to finish the rest of them haha.

Is there a reason the bolts get painted other than it looks really nicely finished?

Also, I'm ready to stain the fenders, piece of wood next to the flip seat, and dash. I'm debating whether or not I'm going to do that tonight. LOL. But gosh it's so hard waiting in-between all of the different steps. I really want to see the finished product.

The way I paint the bolts is I get a length of lumber, doesn't matter what kind or how long, mine board is a 2 x 6, 18 inches long.

Drill holes in the wood about 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep, with a 3/8 drill bit, that should be the right size for most of your bolts, drill holes around the board.

Place bolts to be painted in the holes and spray on the primer, then the paint.
You can do as many bolts at a time as you want.

Hope that is helpful.

Wow you have wonderful patience AMG!! Excellent idea about the board for the screws and hardware Taffy! I need to remember that one for my own personal use.

This cart is going to look just LOVELY when it is done. So glad you are taking before/during/after photos! You are going to have some bragging rights when it is done!

A little off subject, but have any of you heard of MAST Harness/hardware shop in IL? I ran across a catalog that I've had for about 10 years (LOL- I never throw stuff like that away especially when they have rare/hard to find nuts/bolts/screws and such for carriages). Anyway, I can't find them online anywhere. Anyone know what became of them? I saw the exact same catalog sell as a 'vintage harness catalog' on ebay for $15. LOL! Maybe that means they are no longer in business.

I am cleaning my basement trying to get rid of stuff, I came across a bunch of old catalogs, Mast was one of them, I wondered the same thing, if they are in business.
I need to get that catalog out of the recycling bin, I also found a catalog from Smuckers harness in 1985, a delux harness was $595 today it is $1295.

I did visit Mast harness in Il, If I remember correctly it was a great shop.

It feels like finding things we need related to driving are becoming harder and harder to find these days - at least where I am - if it isn't a quarter horse or a western saddle, then they don't stock it.

I am planning to build something like this for mine.

miniature horse trailer. Miniature horses in Arizona, miniature horses for sale, Mini horse cart, mini horse trailer, easy entry cart,

As it holds the axel of the cart, I feel it should be safe to use with the mostly wooden Meadowbrook cart, and bear the weight without really worrying about securing the wheels. My trailer has doors that swing sideways (rather than the ramp that must fold down). I plan to mount it to a single door, so in a panic situation, the door can still swing open, cart and all, to get the horse out. However, if I mount the cart so it sits a foot off the ground, the shafts would be sitting 13 feet in the air, and I have no idea what the minimum bridge clearance would be on roads we'd travel to shows or parades or whatever. So I'm still debating the logistics of it on a full-sized draft cart, but it's the best idea I've seen.
* Edit* According to TxDot, minimum bridge clearance is 14'6" so I'm clear in this state.

Those of you with experience, feel free to let me know any advise.

I'm curious about the leather washers. What size and thickness are they?