1,080 lbs. of Wooden Wheels

Off Topic
1

I thought this was fascinating.

But I assumed this was a “larger than life” reproduction for some reason.
It turns out, the WHEELS are slightly larger than the original 20-Mule Team Borax wagons, but the wagons themselves are exact replicas.

Apparently there are oodles of videos out there, if you’re interested in the Engels Coach Shop repro team, but I found the wagon build and wondering about how, exactly, this was done in the 1870s, much more fascinating than the rest of it.
Then there is the logistics and reality of trying to maneuver 20 animals towing 33+ tons of cargo&equipment (the water alone in the tank trailer would have weighed 9600 lbs!) , comprising a 155+ foot convoy…

4 Likes
2

You never know what @jast will come up with (like greased palms) but its generally pretty good!

1 Like
3

Best line in the comments of the video after a “discussion” on blocking was:

“If OSHA was around in the 1800’s, we would have never crossed the Mississippi.”

2 Likes