Sprung cart and unsprung cart are terms used mainly in Britain and Australia to denote a utilitarian type of two-wheeled horse-drawn cart, and indicating whether or not springs were used to support the body of the cart.
Unsprung vehicles, meaning without any springs, were simple sturdy two-wheeled vehicle used by roadmen, farmers and tradesmen. They would be used at slower speeds or carrying heavier loads, such as farm carts, those carrying coal or peat, and some heavy delivery vehicles. Farm wagons were usually unsprung, as were most of the freight and dray vehicles such as lorries and trollies. [1] : 79 A vehicle without springs was also called a dead axle. [2] The bandy of India is an unsprung cart. [2] : 11
Constructing with springs adds to the cost of the vehicle. [3] : 47 A vehicle would be sprung if it was to be used at faster speeds, carrying certain loads, or carrying passengers. [3] : 47 Milk floats were usually sprung. [2] The Australian spring cart was a simple cart designed for carrying goods and did not have seating for driver or passengers. [4] Two-wheeled carriages such as gigs and dogcarts were not usually referred to as "carts", though they would be described as "sprung".
Most of the utilitarian carts did not have a seat for the driver. The driver would either stand in the cart, sit on the load, or walk beside the horse. [5] [6] In America, many vehicles had unsprung bodies, but instead were constructed with a sprung driving seat. [2]
Starting in the late-1700s in England, taxes were assessed on horses, wagons, carts, carriages and coaches. Conveyances with springs were taxed as luxury goods, while crude agricultural vehicles were taxed the least, leading to creative vehicle construction to avoid or lessen taxes. The so-called taxed cart was the cheapest and crudest of carts, rating the lowest possible taxed category; it was completely devoid of adornment, springs or cushions, and the owner was required to conspicuously paint their full name on the rear. Jane Austen used a donkey cart made as a miniature gig. Though it utilized springs, because it wasn't pulled by a horse or pony it was not taxed. [7] [8]
A cart or dray is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs.
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are drawn by six horses.
A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping or, on those made in recent centuries, steel springs. Two-wheeled carriages are usually owner-driven.
A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people.
Suspension is the system of tires, tire air, springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels and allows relative motion between the two. Suspension systems must support both road holding/handling and ride quality, which are at odds with each other. The tuning of suspensions involves finding the right compromise. It is important for the suspension to keep the road wheel in contact with the road surface as much as possible, because all the road or ground forces acting on the vehicle do so through the contact patches of the tires. The suspension also protects the vehicle itself and any cargo or luggage from damage and wear. The design of front and rear suspension of a car may be different.
A buggy refers to a lightweight four-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse, though occasionally by two. Amish buggies are still regularly in use on the roadways of America. The word "buggy" has become a generic term for "carriage" in America.
A chaise, sometimes called shay, is a light two-wheeled carriage for one or two people. It may also have a folding hood. The coachmaker William Felton (1796) considered chaises a family of vehicles which included all two-wheel one-horse vehicles such as gigs and whiskies, whereas a similar carriage pulled by two-horses was considered a curricle.
A gig is a light, two-wheeled open carriage with large wheels, a forward facing seat, and shafts for a single horse. The gig's body is constructed above the shafts, and it is entered from step-irons hanging from the shaft in front of the wheels. Gigs are enclosed at the back, and have luggage space under the cross-seat. Early gigs were crude and unsprung; later gigs were elegant for town driving and were constructed with springs. The term "gig" is short for "whirligig".
A gun carriage is a frame or a mount that supports the gun barrel of an artillery piece, allowing it to be maneuvered and fired. These platforms often had wheels so that the artillery pieces could be moved more easily. Gun carriages are also used on ships to facilitate the movement and aiming of large cannons and guns. These are also used in the funeral procession of any higher authority of any state and country.
A buckboard is a four-wheeled wagon of simple construction meant to be drawn by a horse or other large animal. A distinctly American utility vehicle, the buckboard has no springs between the body and the axles. The suspension is provided by the flexible floorboards of the body and a leaf spring under the seat(s). The buckboard has no sideboards on the body, leaving the floor quite mobile. In rough terrain, the floor can flex and "buck", lending the vehicle its name.
A bullock cart or ox cart is a two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen. It is a means of transportation used since ancient times in many parts of the world. They are still used today where modern vehicles are too expensive or less suitable for the local infrastructure.
A horse-drawn vehicle is a piece of equipment pulled by one or more horses. These vehicles typically have two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have mostly been replaced by automobiles and other forms of self-propelled transport but are still in use today.
A lorry or lorrie was a low flat horse-drawn vehicle with no sides, related to the trolley and dray.
A dogcart is a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle pulled by a single horse in shafts, or driven tandem. With seating for four, it was designed for sporting shooters and their gun dogs, with a louvred box under the driver's seat to contain dogs. It was developed in the early 1800s to afford more seating than the gig, which seats only two. Seating is two back-to-back crosswise seats, an arrangement called dos-à-dos from French. There is a hinged tailboard which lowers slightly and, supported by chains, acts as a footrest for the rear-facing passengers. Some dogcarts had a mechanism to slide the entire body forward or rearward along the shafts to help balance the weight for the horse.
A tonga or tanga is a two-wheeled cart drawn by a single horse. It is used for transportation in the Indian subcontinent. There is a canopy over the body, one seat faces forward for the driver and one passenger, and one seat faces the rear for a second passenger. Some space is available for baggage below the carriage, between the wheels. This space is often used to carry hay for the horses.
Driving, when applied to horses, ponies, mules, or donkeys, is a broad term for hitching equines to a wagon, carriage, cart, sleigh, or other horse-drawn vehicle by means of a harness and working them in this way. It encompasses a wide range of activities from pleasure driving, to harness racing, to farm work, horse shows, and even international combined driving.
A horse harness is a device that connects a horse to a horse-drawn vehicle or another type of load to pull. There are two main designs of horse harness: (1) the breast collar or breaststrap, and (2) the full collar or collar-and-hames.
A coach is a large, closed, four-wheeled, passenger-carrying vehicle or carriage usually drawn by two or more horses controlled by a coachman, a postilion, or both. A coach has doors in its sides and a front and a back seat inside. The driver has a raised seat in front of the carriage to allow better vision. It is often called a box, box seat, or coach box. There are many types of coaches depending on the vehicle's purpose.
A trap, pony trap or horse trap is a light, often sporty, two-wheeled or sometimes four-wheeled horse- or pony-drawn carriage, usually accommodating two to four persons in various seating arrangements, such as face-to-face or back-to-back. In the eighteenth century, the first carriage to be called a trap was a gig with a hinged trap door, under which was a place to carry a dog. In late nineteenth century USA, four-wheeled dog carts with convertible seats also started to become known as traps.
A float is a form of two-wheeled horse-drawn cart, often with a dropped axle to give an especially low load-bed. They were intended for use by deliverymen and the carrying of heavy or unstable items such as milk churns.
Histories of springs in horse-drawn vehicles:
