A few months ago I was contacted by Bob who is building a Shepherds Hut from scratch.  Top man!  He had been searching for a while for a set of wheels but those he did find normally had axle holes that would be too small for a large hut.  So to get the whole thing rolling, I made the steel bar stub axles and had the wheels cast for him, and supplied him with all the other metal work to get things started.

The wheels are cast iron ...the front set are 51cm diameter and the rear are 68 cm diameter.  The axles are 2" diameter and the front axle pivot pin is 1.5".

The wheel rim widths are 75 mm on the small wheels and 80 mm on the large.

The hub length is 169 mm on the large wheels and 122 mm on the small.

Bob has kindly forwarded me photo's of his progress to date and we look forward to sharing his Shepherds Hut build here on the Thurgarton website!

June 2010  Upper front axle with turntable and skids ... 

Front axle timbers with turntable and spindle fitted ...

 

July 2010  Front axle with stubs and wheels in place ...

 

 

Rear axle ...

Rear axle with top beam ...

August 2010  Every Shepherds Hut build or restoration needs a fine canine with a sharp eye on site.  Here's Bonzo the "Chassis Inspector"! ...

Bonzo Bio ...Bonzo is a 14 year old red Welsh Collie.  He was born on a farm in Merthyr Cynog, where he trained as a sheepdog.  By 1999, he decided that shepherding was not his chosen vocation, so he moved to Norfolk where he has spent most of his time herding a flock of chickens.

Bonzo has also been acting as a consultant on Bob's Hut project and has been keeping a particular eye on the chassis construction, spending many hours asleep beneath it ....all in the line of duty!

Where were we?  Oh yes .......

Chassis almost complete.  Chassis side ...

Chassis top ...

Side frames ...

Keep checking back for more progress reports!