Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1894-05-24
SCIENTIFIC LOADING.
How to Make Heavy Hauling Easiest Fos
the Horses.

the Horses.
In London not,very long ago a stout
draft horse was set to pull a load of
2,O0O pounds up grade. BY straining
with all his power the horse was able,
with great difficulty, nearly to move the
load. The eNperimenters then removed
from the load two sacks, each contain
ing 100 pounds, and placed them ON the
horses back. With hardly more than
an ordinary effort the horse walked up
hill with the loaded wagon.
remember myself seeing on one of
our city streets sight which showed
conclusively the relation between weight
and hauling power A heavy draft horse,
attached to two wheeled fiat dray,
was hauling with apparent difficulty
not very large load. The load, in fact,
seemed the merest trifle for an animal
of his size, yet he was leaning against
the collar, his legs braced, his muscles
quivering with the strain of pulling.
The disadvantage under which he labor
ed was not difficult to recognize The
load, though by no means one that
should have taxed his strength, was rem
dered about double it's natural weight
by being disposed on the rear end of the
dray platform. The tendency of the
load in this position was to weigh down
the end of the dray and throw the
shafts in the air. To counterfeit this
tendency must have required vertical
pressure of several hundred pounds at
the other end. This pressure was applied
ut the saddle by means of the shaft sup
ports and girth, and the force required
to exert it was taken directly from the
weight of the horse. In other words,
part of the weight that should have
been imposed against the load was ex-
pended in holding down the shafts, so
that in reality it was horse of very
ordinary weight that was drawing the
dray. If the load had been shifted SO
as to rest forward of the axle, the effect
would have been to throw part of the
weight forward upon the horses back,
in which case he would have had just
that additional amount of force to throw
into the collar, and the hauling Of the
wagon would have been mere baga-
telle to him.
If Mr.. Briggs could have seen this
rig as I saw it that day, he might have
added another to the collection of pic
lures with which he illustrates his lee
lures, all showing the waste of horse
power.
The lighter the load, says our civil
engineer, the more the vehicle ought to
support the horse When, however, the
load increases, the horse ought gradual
ly to lose that support until, with an
excessive load, he ought to support a
part of the vehicle. In the case of the
horse who was enabled to draw the load
of 2, 900 pounds after 200 pounds weight
had been placed upon his back the adj
ditional weight gave better angle Of
draft. If the load is heavy and difficult
to move and the horse is compelled to
effect horizontal thrust without in
creasing his grip and improving his me-
chanical conditions, it fails
But if the conditions remove some of
the weight of the load and put it on the
horse it is equal to allowing the thrust
to be an obliquely upward one. Mr..
Briggs is perfecting an automatic appli-
ance which he claims will increase or
decrease the weight of horse as occa-
sion requires. Some continuance that
could be operated so as to occasionally
accomplish the latter would be boon
to horsefesh. A horse exerts from 10 to
100 times more force and expends that
much more energy in transporting him.
self from place to place than in hauling
a two ton load on fairly good roads, and
they are so harnessed between the shafts
of wagon as to compel them, even in
the moments during the day when they
are not at work, to rest their weight on
their feet. Any contrivance that would
temporarily diminish this weight would
prove boon to the animal and great
saving in horsefesh.
Experiments show that from one third
to two-thirds more power is required to
draw a given load through mud or sand
than over hard road, yet your average
teamster hurries his horses when he
comes to "bad bit'' in the road. I
asked one once why he did this and re-
ceived the astonishing reply, ooh, it's
easier for the horses to get through it
quickly" This when the animals he
drove were visibly using up, in passing
quickly over a sandy street, the energy
that should have carried them to town.