Sleigh Preserves Part Of Iowa Farm Life
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Mark Johnson’s restored horse-drawn sleigh preserves a piece of his family’s history that could’ve been lost when the farm was sold. His older brother knew about sleigh runners in the hay loft of their grandfather’s Iowa barn for more than 75 years. The turn-of-the-century runners were likely stored there when the farm switched from horses to tractors.
When the farm was going to be sold, Johnson searched through the mow’s hay, found the runners, and lowered the three pieces to the ground with rope.
After a good power washing and eight coats of linseed oil, the oak wood regained its deep luster and appeared to be in good condition. The work sleigh has two sets of runners and a section to hold them together.
“It will stretch to about 25 ft. long (with the 12-ft. tongue),” Johnson says. That allowed the sleigh to be used for moving logs. Or a box could be added for hauling grain and other goods.
Johnson built a 38-in. wide by 7-ft. long box to fit inside the runners’ pegs and cleats on the front and back. A couple of the pegs were broken, so Johnson’s brother, Gary, turned four new pegs on his wood lathe.
The wood for the box came from ash trees Johnson cut down for a neighbor, then had sawn at a local mill. The tree was big enough to give him 16 to 17-in. wide live edge 1-in. boards for the side walls. He used 2-in. lumber for the seat frame. To preserve the wood’s natural beauty, he sealed it with linseed oil.
Last fall, the sled became a vintage yard ornament filled with corn, then sleigh bells, garland, and lights over the holidays.
So far, Johnson has only used his John Deere tractor to move the sleigh.
“I don’t have horses,” he says. “But a family in town does, and he offered to hitch it up sometime.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Johnson, 205 W. Harrison, Zearing, Iowa 50278 (ph 641-487-7547; robinj@netins.net).
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Sleigh Preserves Part Of Iowa Farm Life FARM HOME Miscellaneous Mark Johnson’s restored horse-drawn sleigh preserves a piece of his family’s history that could’ve been lost when the farm was sold His older brother knew about sleigh runners in the hay loft of their grandfather’s Iowa barn for more than 75 years The turn-of-the-century runners were likely stored there when the farm switched from horses to tractors When the farm was going to be sold Johnson searched through the mow’s hay found the runners and lowered the three pieces to the ground with rope After a good power washing and eight coats of linseed oil the oak wood regained its deep luster and appeared to be in good condition The work sleigh has two sets of runners and a section to hold them together “It will stretch to about 25 ft long with the 12-ft tongue ” Johnson says That allowed the sleigh to be used for moving logs Or a box could be added for hauling grain and other goods Johnson built a 38-in wide by 7-ft long box to fit inside the runners’ pegs and cleats on the front and back A couple of the pegs were broken so Johnson’s brother Gary turned four new pegs on his wood lathe The wood for the box came from ash trees Johnson cut down for a neighbor then had sawn at a local mill The tree was big enough to give him 16 to 17-in wide live edge 1-in boards for the side walls He used 2-in lumber for the seat frame To preserve the wood’s natural beauty he sealed it with linseed oil Last fall the sled became a vintage yard ornament filled with corn then sleigh bells garland and lights over the holidays So far Johnson has only used his John Deere tractor to move the sleigh “I don’t have horses ” he says “But a family in town does and he offered to hitch it up sometime ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Mark Johnson 205 W Harrison Zearing Iowa 50278 ph 641-487-7547; robinj@netins net
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