Grandpa's winter commuter.

[Rattlecan ★]

I have previously posted that my paternal grandparents were old order Mennonites. You know, horse and buggy folks. Back in my childhood days, when we got actual winters, with snow on the roads and stuff, horses and buggies gave way to horses and cutters, or sleighs.

 When my grandpa died in 1974, my dad inherited his cutter, and he had big plans to make it into seasonal yard art, but that never happened. Might have had something to do with how he hoisted it into the rafters in the shed, and how much of a chore it would have been to pull it out and put it back every year.

 Well, now Dad is gone, and Mom is ready to sell the house, so it is time to de clutter (or de cutter in this case) . We put the call out to all the cousins to see if someone in the family would take it.

 My cousin's son said he has a place for it, so we are happy it will stay in the family.

 Anyway, the job today was to take it down from the rafters and put it on the ground, ready for them to come and pick it up.

 It was quite a big job, as Dad had built a storage crib under it that was full of wood scraps and other junk. So last time I was there, I tore out the crib, and made it ready to just pull out all the loose stuff so we could set the cutter down.

I really don't know how my dad got it up there 48 years ago, but my youngest brother who was 10 at the time said he was there helping and all he remembers is that it involved ropes and pulleys.

Well, we were a bit better equipped for setting it down. We used my 2 ton engine hoist, to which I bolted a transverse channel iron to the lifting beam. Once we had the weight off the wires suspending it, we just cut the wires and lowered it with the hoist.

 Once it was down to waist level, with one man on each corner, (me, my two brothers and a nephew,) we were able to carry it out and set it on the trailer.

 

[Further]

That thing is cool looking.    

[Parsnip Totin Jack ★]

You sir, are a mover and a fixer. Job well done.

[Airehead]

I’d love to hear more memories of your grandparents. 

[groupw]

When my FiL was a kid, their farm was about 4 miles from school. In the winter they would frequently ride their horse drawn sleigh to school. When it was really cold they would all huddle under the blankets with their heads under as well. The horse knew the way. He would make a loud exhale when they got to the school so they would know to get out of the blankets. 

[jsharr ★]

That cutter is bad ass!

[Longjohn ★]

Now you need some reindeer to pull it.