Lombard Winter Freighting Sleighs
October 2019
The Lombard Winter Freighting Sleigh are of a cross pole design which makes them good for certain jobs in the bush. they are most popular in the logging with sleighs because the cross pole design kept the sleigh bunks apart where as other designs, the deck of the sleigh kept the sleigh bunks apart. this style of sleigh was not very popular in the winter freighting because the Lombard sleighs pull on the front of the skis which is easy to pull when on a smooth trail or graded surface. but in the bush with the roller coaster humics, the Lombard sleigh does not flex enough compared to the other design of sleighs which pull on the sleigh bunks this lets the skis free float to follow the ground. in 1999 i gathered up all my Lombard sleigh parts and made a nice pile figuring some museum would want them because i built the other designs of sleighs for my cat trains. today i decided to whip up a Lombard sleigh out of the parts so the log bunks from another sleigh would have a place to sit.
i used my mini Hoe to pick out what i needed for parts to build a Lombard sleigh.
it was a nice fall day and we have the lack of snow this year which is nice because my forklift better known as the Rut Maker would not be able to get to the sleigh pile. having 2 machine made for easy work is changing out a broken ski.
the mini Hoe works excellent as a handy little yard crane to dig out the parts needed from the pile.
in 1999 we tried hauling logs with sleighs but there is no money in logs so it was like saying I Do. now 20 years later i'm digging out the cross poles we used for hauling logs.
i found a better bunk in the pile so it was a quick change with the mini Hoe.
i knew the Rut Maker forklift could not pull the Lombard sleigh so the mini Hoe did it with no problems. the Rut Maker would have spun out having a traction problem.
this is one set of Lombard cross pole sleigh that has to be 70-80 years old because it has been a long time since there was any winter freighting.
it did not take me long to get the log bunks off the other sleigh and mount them on the Lombard sleigh.
i had to use my battery powered chainsaw to acquire a couple of tooth pick trees for the photos. i live in a frozen waste land so the trees do not grow very big.
just an excellent view of the Lombard sleighs and the collectables in the Kingdom.
under the piece of tin on the back sleigh bunk is this perfect painted number which is not good. the number 13 is not a lucky number and there is no 13th chapter in my published books.
it was decided that it will be no fun with just one Lombard cross pole sleigh so we need to have another one which i do have in the Kingdom. in 1999 i built an all steel Lombard sleigh for my attempt at hauling logs. i found out there is no money in logs and lost money faster then saying "I Do". we dragged out the all steel Lombard sleigh which has a steel deck for hauling freight which did not take long to pop off with the loader and long fork extensions.
now we have the all steel Lombard sleigh with small log bunks which need to be changed out.
the green forklift better known as the Rut Maker is handy to have when there is no snow or soft ground.
back in 1999 i rebuilt this sleigh with some heavy material because it was hauling 10 tons of logs. even the cross poles were extra heavy duty.
one complete Lombard cross pole sleigh made of steel that i got when i was doing scrap metal recycling in the north.
only problem is that when i rebuilt the sleigh i never included the high-low cross pole hitches on the back bunk only the single draw bar hitch. it was easier to lift up the sleigh bunk to make it level for welding with the Green Toy then try and work on it on the ground.
i did not waste time in welding the high-low cross pole hitches by using 3/16" welding rods at 190 amps of power from the gas engine driven welder.
the Green Toy is a 1976 AM General M816 military wrecker truck and very handy to have around the Kingdom.
the high-low cross pole hitches completed and with a coat of paint splashed on.
now we dug out the last of the original wooden cross poles to be changed over to all steel.
modern day drill rods and riveted steel brackets that have to be 100 years old are in the shop as a shop project.
the wood stove comes in handy for heating up the bent riveted steel parts to be straightened out.
just like a good blacksmith with a big hammer i was able to get the riveted steel pieces straight.
the welding of the riveted steel pieces to the drill rods was easy and relaxing for me. note the ever increasing bald spot.
the mini Hoe came in handy for getting the cross poles lined up as we hooked up the Linn Tractor to the Lombard sleighs.
for the first time in 60 years the Linn Tractor was hooked to the Lombard cross pole sleighs by means of cross poles.
we had to find some toothpick trees to put in the sleigh bunks to show how logging was done.
with a skiff of snow i was able to move the Linn Tractor and Lombard sleighs closer to the shop.
the sleighs are steering on this slight curve which is what they are to do.
i did some welding on the log bunks using the welding sleigh.
as the sun was setting, i got this picture of the sleighs in the Kingdom.
one thing about these pictures is the Kingdom is organized.
