mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
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Topic author - Posts: 2
- Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2023 10:41 pm
- First Name: Vicky
- Last Name: Burrus
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
Hello,
If we were back in the era of the Great Depression, and you had to turn your Model T into a Bennett Buggy / Hoover Wagon / horse-drawn vehicle, what would you do with the front and back radius rods once the engine, transmission, steering, and driveshaft had been removed?
My husband and I are trying to take a 1:25 scale model kit of a 1925 Model T and make it into a 1:25 Bennett Buggy (named after Canada's prime minister at the time, R.B. Bennett). There are not enough photographs around of the underside of Bennett Buggies to give us an idea of what people did with the rods.
For example:
Would you attach some cross-members to to the frame and attach the radius rods to those?
Would you connect the front and back rods longitudinally? If so, would you attach the connector in some way to the frame’s cross-member?
Would you take the radius rods out altogether? To turn the car into a horse-drawn carriage, would the rods still be needed?
We would appreciate any help you can offer!
All the best,
Vicky Burrus
Toronto
If we were back in the era of the Great Depression, and you had to turn your Model T into a Bennett Buggy / Hoover Wagon / horse-drawn vehicle, what would you do with the front and back radius rods once the engine, transmission, steering, and driveshaft had been removed?
My husband and I are trying to take a 1:25 scale model kit of a 1925 Model T and make it into a 1:25 Bennett Buggy (named after Canada's prime minister at the time, R.B. Bennett). There are not enough photographs around of the underside of Bennett Buggies to give us an idea of what people did with the rods.
For example:
Would you attach some cross-members to to the frame and attach the radius rods to those?
Would you connect the front and back rods longitudinally? If so, would you attach the connector in some way to the frame’s cross-member?
Would you take the radius rods out altogether? To turn the car into a horse-drawn carriage, would the rods still be needed?
We would appreciate any help you can offer!
All the best,
Vicky Burrus
Toronto
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- Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:04 pm
- First Name: Jim
- Last Name: Eubanks
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1926 touring, 1927 cpe
- Location: Powell, TN
- MTFCA Number: 49847
- MTFCI Number: 8340
Re: mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
The oilpan is left in, wish bone attached to it in front and rear end attached to it at the rear.
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- First Name: Mark
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Re: mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
Do you really need radius rods?
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- First Name: Dan
- Last Name: Treace
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: '23 cutoff, '25 touring, '27 touring
- Location: North Central FL
- MTFCA Number: 4838
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Re: mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
Looks like a sort of a horse wagon fifth wheel apparatus to steer the front wheels.
Here's an open car wagon
Here's an open car wagon
Last edited by DanTreace on Fri Jun 09, 2023 1:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The best way is always the simplest. The attics of the world are cluttered up with complicated failures. Henry Ford
Don’t find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain. Henry Ford
Don’t find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain. Henry Ford
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- First Name: George John
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- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1922 Coupe
- Location: Central Pennsylvania
Re: mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
Stuff:
https://www.ivccarriage.com/collections ... e-hardware
Consider contacting the Carriage Association of America ( https://www.caaonline.com/) and inquire about information in their archives.
https://www.ivccarriage.com/collections ... e-hardware
Consider contacting the Carriage Association of America ( https://www.caaonline.com/) and inquire about information in their archives.
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Re: mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
This one is a bit hard to see what they did.
https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/5 ... 1474853020
Each "craftsman" used his own ideas.
I have seen the rear radius rods bolted to the frame with different brackets or even bailing wire.
We found many of them and should have taken pictures.
Rich
https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/5 ... 1474853020
Each "craftsman" used his own ideas.
I have seen the rear radius rods bolted to the frame with different brackets or even bailing wire.
We found many of them and should have taken pictures.
Rich
When did I do that?
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Re: mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
I suppose, if you already had horses, and your engine gave out, you could use them to pull the car. However, they are not as fast as a car and also the horses continue to eat even when not using the wagon. They also leave their biscuits along the way
Norm
Norm
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- First Name: Dennis
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- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1926 Roadster pickup
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- MTFCA Number: 21458
Re: mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
In the picture they have used aunt that attached to the front axle and had a double flat plate on top.the bottom plate was part of the piece attached to the axle and there was about a 5/8 hole thru both plates and bolted together for a turntable. The top piece extended to the rear and was clamped to the tie rod causing the spindles to turn with the tongue.. The top piece also extended forward and in this instance angled up a little then had a pivot so the tongue could move up and down? I see a single tree attached to both harnesses i and the tongue in front of the horses. Normally you would have a double tree attached lower behind the horses and the tongue attached there and the horses could turn easier without the tongue between them.
This unit looks like they cut off the frame and moved the front crossmember back. I do not know if the horses could pull the front axle out if the wishbone was removed but they may have rigged some way of attaching it. There was no torque on the rear axle so the radius rods there could be removed or attached some way to keep the axle straight.
I wonder if the left the emergency brake lever in and hooked up?
Normally when the T chassis was used as a trailer the pan was left in and the front radius wishbone was left hooked up as a tractor would have a stronger pull against the axle. The tongue then pivoted up and down just in front of the axle.
.I have a unit in the attic somewhere that I took off a front axle that was used on a 4 wheel trailer.
This unit looks like they cut off the frame and moved the front crossmember back. I do not know if the horses could pull the front axle out if the wishbone was removed but they may have rigged some way of attaching it. There was no torque on the rear axle so the radius rods there could be removed or attached some way to keep the axle straight.
I wonder if the left the emergency brake lever in and hooked up?
Normally when the T chassis was used as a trailer the pan was left in and the front radius wishbone was left hooked up as a tractor would have a stronger pull against the axle. The tongue then pivoted up and down just in front of the axle.
.I have a unit in the attic somewhere that I took off a front axle that was used on a 4 wheel trailer.
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- Posts: 213
- Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:14 pm
- First Name: Dennis
- Last Name: Brown
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1926 Roadster pickup
- Location: Spring Hill Fl
- MTFCA Number: 21458
Re: mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
In my last post it should read a unit not an aunt.
If you have a front axle with a 5/8 hole thru the web in the center of the axle it was probably used under a 4 wheel trailer.
If you have a front axle with a 5/8 hole thru the web in the center of the axle it was probably used under a 4 wheel trailer.
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Topic author - Posts: 2
- Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2023 10:41 pm
- First Name: Vicky
- Last Name: Burrus
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
Re: mods to make a Bennett Buggy/Hoover Wagon
All of this has been wonderfully useful! Thank you so much!
It's been useful not just for ideas about the radius rods, but also for the hitch. Now I can make sense of some of the photos I've seen.
It's been useful not just for ideas about the radius rods, but also for the hitch. Now I can make sense of some of the photos I've seen.