How many inches apart are the skis on your bob sled across the front, center to center?

depends on where you want them to track. Today I'd make them 66 inches, same as most pickups. Narrower and going down most farm roads the team will be sliding of the middle into the ruts

Used to be about 38-42". I'd follow Dales advice these days and brace them heavily because the wider track means more torque on the members.

the distance should be the same as the evener width back in the day it was 38 as most farm eveners were 38" but logging slelds were much wider, the main thing is the horses shoud walk in the sheigh track. so make it the width that suits your use.

I agree with Dale… and make sure you mount the bolsters in the back third of the bob's.. I have an old blacksmith book and they talk about this… they pull easier when mounted that way. First one I had I made and made short runners and centered them, then got another and it had longer runners and mounted more to the back and it sure pulled a lot easier.

54 was a wide track studabacker as I remember. Most the ones I build are 48 on the big sleigh and 42 on the smaller one.

48 inches-just went a measured it

Question for rdennis

Does the book recommend this back third spacing for both front and back bobs?

Thank you all for your input and the effort of going out and measuring your bobs.

Dick Hutchinson….Not sure… I'd have to go dig it out and reread it… I think so tho'…. might not go the full third on the front bob.. I know I need to rebuild mine and am going to go to the back third…. more I think about it, I think you DO go the back third on the front bob also… as the old man who wrote said, "if you want to find out where to place the bolsters on, go get a childs runner sled, slide on it in the front, the middle and the back"… I know that when your skiing on snow if you lean back and put weight on the back of the ski's you will shoot ahead. So I see no reason not to go to the back third on the front bobs also.. from the sounds of this winter, I will not get to use a bobsled this year, much… this is poor sled country, we get too much wind that drifts the snow… one year, I fed cows for 90 days straight with a bobsled, but them ol mares I was using sure could tell when dirt was coming and they'd really pull on the eveners! :D

RDennis- any idea on the title of that book? Sounds interesting. I have a big mess of horse logging material, but they never discuss the specifics of bobs.

The way it was described to me. Draw a line from front runners at the tip where the roller attaches to the bottom of the runner directly under the bolster. that line should be an extension of the tongue. This provides a slight lift on the front of the runners to help keep them from plowing snow.

Having built a few sleighs and runners now I am learning that the old runners with the gentle curve were that way for a reason. Look at a snowmobile ski, water ski, or down hill snow ski. The departure angle from the horizontal is so slight. And never gets turned up in a cutesy curl at the end. The only runners I have ever seen that turned way up were made for hard pack almost like ice surfaces. These runners were narrow and pulled a little different to cut down into the surface. This avoided sliding sideways as much.

Bill Smith I think it was called "Encyclopdia of Blacksmithing". Just a book with a plot of smiths from years back and how they would build or repair different things… not sure where it is, may have loaned it out… I like the way KM describes it...

Thanks rdennis. I have a few patterns for bob runners I've traced out over the years. The hard part these days is finding good metal for the bottoms. The old curved bottom cast runners were great, they slid over rock. Mild steel tends to catch on rock and bend too, where the cast would spring back. Some form of profiled and tempered steel would probably work but finding it is the problem.

Has any one tried leaf springs?

Dan, the problem with using leaf spring is that you have to anneal it to drill the holes and to form it match the curve you want and then re-temper to a suitable level. Not as simple as it sounds, especially on an item as long as a bob runner. Plus, finding one long and wide enough isn't so easy. There's probably a perfect solution out there someplace, I just haven't found it yet.

They make plastic stripes for slides in industry. Wonder if that could be be used on the runners.

I'm going to use AR plate (Titus 400 series). It can be bent and is weldable.

Late Thanks to rdennis

Older catalogue from Creekside Carriages lists, sleigh shoeing in widths from 1¼ inch to 4 inch. No web site but phone 519 595 8838 and fax 519 595 2608