Cannot afford quadbike so...need to improve drag sled ergonomics

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Donkey Basher said:
Many years ago a friend had some ground with fallow on that had a VERY strict no vehicles policy so extraction was a real pain in the hoop!

He got an old golf trolley from a tip for £5 & by tying the head at the handle at the top & lying the animals back into the brackets that were meant for the golf bag & securing with straps he could easily recover fallow.

Thinking about this, friction is your enemy with a sled & the greater the area in contact with the ground the harder it’ll be to pull it. Now if you had a ‘tractor’ unit that you could hook to the ‘trailer’ sled which had nice wide wheels on & could slightly elevate the front of the sled you’d reduce friction. You could probably do that with, guess what, an old golf trolley?!
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From what I have found over time with weights of 130kg (2 fallow bucks) with my deer cart any rough ground that weight moves and will continue to move like a load trying to come undone. Straps/ropes/boot laces! by there very nature come loose, (you will see drivers going around there load checking)
A piece of 5/6mm ally formed to the angle of your tray fixed to the tray with corresponding inside plate either 6mm coach pop rivets or bolts, the outside piece would go past the end with a hole for the ally rod. Lock in place with your collars.
As you will be fixing the skid plate with some type of fixing.

 
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How about a drag sled that clips to a modified electric golf trolly. I'm sure you could find one for quite cheap. Also you could add rear wheels, that contact when the sled is lifted, to connect to the trolly. Or have them removable, with a push pin system like what's on a crutch to extend length?
 
An old snooker cue supplied the reamer core and the threaded end chucked up in the drill a treat 1737045924307.webp. And some 60 grit delivered the resize in no time1737045980058.webp .

Assembly thereafter was quick 1737046066493.webp1737046032059.webp

Axle stows neatly in sled and weighs [I guess] a few pounds 1737046193929.webp
 
Tim.243 said:
How are you going to attach the skid plate
Click to expand...

Been giving that some thought. Really do not want to perforate the tub as you will inevitably get blood seeping through at some point and even smooth-head bolts in the base will snag ground/carcass.

So...my plan is to attach to the top lip of the sled. Hard to describe. So I will get crayons out again...


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James0586

Thread 'Deer sledge'

Advice,

Need to get a deer sledge for fallow extraction. What do people recommend and what works well?

I have seen the trace sledge in action but it could only take one doe comfortably are there anything bigger around or ideas and I will make one?

Must fit in the back of a Dmax next to a dog cage. I used to use a blue barrel cut in half but it was a bastard and kept turning over!
 
zambezi said:
Been giving that some thought. Really do not want to perforate the tub as you will inevitably get blood seeping through at some point and even smooth-head bolts in the base will snag ground/carcass.

So...my plan is to attach to the top lip of the sled. Hard to describe. So I will get crayons out again...


View attachment 401830
Click to expand...
I put white oak runners (steamed to a former) on a pram dingy and used marine Sikaflex around the holes with SS bolts & penny washers and the last place you want was water coming through the holes while rowing up a creek with gun decoys sticks and Dog. Not a drop! Having fitted hundreds of bonded windscreen I learnt how to lay a bead of glue so it would not leak :tiphat:
 
WalkedUp said:
View attachment 401858
James0586

Thread 'Deer sledge'

Advice,

Need to get a deer sledge for fallow extraction. What do people recommend and what works well?

I have seen the trace sledge in action but it could only take one doe comfortably are there anything bigger around or ideas and I will make one?

Must fit in the back of a Dmax next to a dog cage. I used to use a blue barrel cut in half but it was a bastard and kept turning over!
Click to expand...
only 1!! :coat:
 
I have been trialling the set up and now wonder if setting the axle at the balance point might be a better idea. I.e. there is no need for bash plate if the trailing edge is also elevated.

If a rigid lightweight ally pole links the existing rope loops on the sled you would then have a drawbar that could confer more manouverability and less weight [than a stainless bash/friction plate].

Something like this:

1737059886652.png
 
Those inner collars on the axle are not going to keep the tub in place. At minimum I'd set them bit wider apart, and put ratchet strap between collar and side of tub.

And there comes the second problem, you really need some attachment points so you can individually tighten each side of axle. Single strap over the tub and deer will not be keeping the axle in place.

If you make some kind of plates that have hole in the bottom (for axle) and top (for strap) and put them inside the inner collars you probly get by. This would still need attachment points on each side, but using the existing holes on the rim might be enough. Better yet if you use triangle attachment, one fixed length strap from plate to first hole in the rim, and adjusting strap to the other (and actually dual strap holes in the plate, so that it's not revolving).
 
jthyttin said:
Those inner collars on the axle are not going to keep the tub in place. At minimum I'd set them bit wider apart, and put ratchet strap between collar and side of tub.

And there comes the second problem, you really need some attachment points so you can individually tighten each side of axle. Single strap over the tub and deer will not be keeping the axle in place.

If you make some kind of plates that have hole in the bottom (for axle) and top (for strap) and put them inside the inner collars you probly get by. This would still need attachment points on each side, but using the existing holes on the rim might be enough. Better yet if you use triangle attachment, one fixed length strap from plate to first hole in the rim, and adjusting strap to the other (and actually dual strap holes in the plate, so that it's not revolving).
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What type of deer sled/recovery do your use?
 
jthyttin said:
I'd set them bit wider apart, and put ratchet strap between collar and side of tub.
Click to expand...

I have already done that. But they needed to move very little. No more than it takes to ensure the strap is unlikely to jump the collar. [I.e. the taut strap is straight between sled lip and axle without deviating]

jthyttin said:
need some attachment points so you can individually tighten each side of axle. Single strap over the tub and deer will not be keeping the axle in place
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If mode of operation is axle-forward-of-balance-point, then this is probably not the case as forces will tend to push axle in under sled until mass prevents further movement:

1737190977624.webp

If mode of operation is with a "tiller" to keep the axle centered under the balance point, then you may be right. In that scenario, the forces on the axle will more easily slide it back under the sled. What I suspect may work is to place an eye midway on the "tiller" and lace through that. It would additionally bind the tiller to the load. using the existing holes is attractive but may be fiddly with frost-bitten fingers mid-Feb.


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Well...a lightweight cranked antenna pole could supply the "tiller" solution... 1737208309021.webp



But trying that today with a modest load threw up some fundamental sequence issues:

  • if you load the deer first, it is impossible to center the axle without two people [or other aids like blocks of wood]
  • if you fit the axle first, loading the deer is problematic
 
Also, in the configuration described in previous post, the axle does shimmy a bit when there is a load in the sled [regardless of ratchet strap tension]. And if strap is biting into a malleable carcass, that will only exacerbate tendency to loosen/slip further.

So...how about losing the ratchet strap altogether? Applying the KISS principle [and with due nod to preferred carcass loading sequence] I came up with a solution that is just axle and sled:

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First draw the drag rope though the sled eyelets and knot simply on axle

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Then flip sled on side to scoop-load carcass as usual

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Next lift forward edge of sled and kick axle under load whilst simultaneously drawing rope taught in preparation for the drag

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For as long as the drag rope is under tension, axle will remain firmly located. But if you stop for a breather [Devon coombes and hills in view here] the axle might pop forward and require re-seating before resuming drag.

To offset that, I will double lace drag rope through front edge rope handle once taught.

Having probably settled on this configuration, I now need to review the "bash plate"...
 
zambezi said:
Having probably settled on this configuration, I now need to review the "bash plate"...
Click to expand...
Yes you won't be able to maintain load balance with "live" axle (difficult enough with "live load"). And do plan for the eventual slope... might want to consider are you fore or aft the sled...
 
zambezi said:
Well...a lightweight cranked antenna pole could supply the "tiller" solution... View attachment 402087



But trying that today with a modest load threw up some fundamental sequence issues:

  • if you load the deer first, it is impossible to center the axle without two people [or other aids like blocks of wood]
  • if you fit the axle first, loading the deer is problematic
Click to expand...
All this after you run out of light couple of deer wet cold starts raining.
 
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