Fake Horses Go Up And Down To "Pull" Wagon In Parades

Fake Horses Go Up And Down To Pull Wagon In Parades AG WORLD Ag World Harvey Weir of Henribourg Sask caused a lot of people to smile at local parades last summer He and his 7-year-old grand daughter Sarah drove a pair of horses pulling what looked like an antique wooden wagon
    What amused parade-goers is that once they got a close look they could see the horses were fake and the wagon was self-propelled Sarah held the lines as if she was driving the horses To start up she would slap the horses with the lines and at the same time I would step on the accelerator To stop she would holler æwhoa and I would step on the brakes says Weir who carries a sign on the wagon that reads Harvey s Heavy Horses
    The project started innocently enough
     Last February I got the idea of making two fiberglass horses After completing them I found some harness and then I decided I should try driving them says Weir I then made a self-propelled wagon out of a 1975 Datsun station wagon with the steering wheel and all controls up high on front of the wagon box I mounted a big caster wheel under the pole that carries the horses The axle inside the wheel is 3 in off center which makes both horses go up and down 6 in as the wagon pushes them ahead They look like they re loping along
     He stripped the Datsun down to the wheels chassis engine and automatic transmission removing the entire frame and the seats He shortened the frame and driveshaft by 1 ft then installed a wooden floor on top of it He removed the wooden box from an old 2-ton truck and bolted it to the chassis
    To make the horses he made a heavy wire frame and covered it with fiberglass which he painted black The manes were made from either cow tails or sisal twine and the tails from shredded-out plastic twine
    A 15-in car tire serves as the caster wheel A 10-in long axle goes through the wheel held on either side by metal forks A metal shaft goes straight up from the forks and through a pipe which allows the wheel to rotate 360 degrees
    A pole runs lengthwise from the wagon box straight up between the horses where a wooden neck yoke makes it look like it s holding up the pole
    The drivers sit on a two-part plywood seat and rest their feet on a wooden platform just above the car s engine A steering wheel is located between the two seats and a V-belt runs from it back to the car s original steering wheel so Weir can steer with one hand down between the seats A cable runs from an add-on brake pedal around a pulley to the car s original brake pedal When I push down on the brake pedal it pulls on the cable and puts the brakes on The car s accelerator is also operated by cable The car came equipped with a floor shift automatic transmission lever I extended the lever
     We drove it in seven different parades last summer and it really went over well says Weir Next year I may cover the wagon and add a tape recording of the horses whinnying Also I hope to find some businesses that would like to advertise on my unit It would help with the costs of traveling
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Harvey Weir P O Box 44 Henribourg Sask Canada S0J 1C0 ph 306 764-8343

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