I pimped my ride...

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ClickMini

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Woo! I got the new stuff for my cart just in time for the Driving Trials this weekend. I bought the new wedge seat for the Pacific cart, and also got brush guards. For a long time I didn't know what "brush guards" are for. But they are really a safety device that keeps your leg from being trapped between the cart and the wheel. They look kinda sporty too.
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I LOVE my wedge seat! I can't say how much! My driving position instantly improved 100%! I feel SO much more secure. It was worth every very expensive penny, I have to say.

Now as for cart balance. My cart is still bumping a bit on the bottom part of the tug when we are trotting. I have the seat moved back as far as it can go, and it can float in the tugs if my weight is shifted back. I can't take it back any further, so what should I do? Raise the seat and or floor, or lower them? I really can't go down on the tugs any more, because the cart is pretty level as it is.

Any thoughts?

I will post pics of my improved ride, after Happ's this week!
 
Pictures ! ! !

Can't wait to see it. I'm trying to figure out how to add a dash for a cup holder, clipboard, and stop watch, etc.

Any ideas ?
 
Ooh, Amy, I can't wait to see it at Happs -- along with you and Ally!

JourneysEnd, I, too, am planning to add cupholder and stopwatch holder -- but in this case to a basic easy entry cart. I want a place for coffee/latte on early morning drives and water bottle for later in the day.

Somebody should market brackets made to fit into the front of the mesh baskets of easy entries for various add-ons.
 
I copied Dorothy's, I put clear plastic pockets on the drivers side, so I can see my stopwatch and anything else. There is probably room for a water bottle.

Kathy

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Anyone with ideas on the cart balance? Leia? Breanna? Margo?
 
Woohoo, ride pimping! I'm having so much fun pimping my new Frontier it's insane. I can't decide if I should pimp it into a nice all-around CDE cart for those muddy winter ADT's, a really cool marathon cart in case someone ever decides to disallow my Hyperbike, or simply the coolest trail cart ever with cupholder, cell phone pocket, cushy arm rests, etc.
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The local welder and I have designed a new lower singletree attachment, I've ordered a classier singletree with brass hook ends and I've gotten black shaft caps to replace the tacky white ones. I was GOING to make a set of marathon shafts for it but frankly Kody seems completely happy running hazards with the straight ones and I've put that project on a backburner as it seems a bit unnecessary at this point.

Heck, I even added flames to my Hyperbike shafts last night. I've wanted those for years!
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So, as for your questions Amy....

The big deal with brush guards on a CDE vehicle is that they keep you from getting a tree or post caught between the cart body and the wheel as you're running hazards. That was a complaint one judge had about the Hyperbike, that it didn't have those. I had to bite my tongue to not point out that neither did the Frontiers, Jerald Runabouts, Grabers, or most of the Pacifics being used in that marathon or indeed my Bellcrown that she was considering a perfectly safe alternative!
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But she was right, they're a good idea.

Wedge seats are awesome, aren't they?
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I'm sure you'll only like yours better after running a marathon with it. I'm still considering switching the bench seat on my Bellcrown to an individual wedge to see if it would save weight or at least keep me in place better for cones. We'll have to see.

The balance thing is difficult and I've been dealing with that myself since getting the seat slider on the Hyperbike and now fitting the Frontier. I asked about it on the CDE4VSE forum and the advice I was given (having already tried leaning back more and getting the shafts to float UP) was to try sitting forward and getting the shafts to go DOWN. To my own surprise it worked. They still float, it's not like they're lugging on the horse's back, but no more of that irritating slapping up and down. When I sit back it immediately starts up again but goes away when I shift the balance forward. You might try that just to see what happens.

Can't wait to see your new turnout! Kody and I have been training hard the last two weeks and I'm confident we're ready. His back's a little out so he isn't wanting to lengthen but he's bending nicely and has developed much more rhythm in the last couple of months so our tests should appear fairly smooth overall if lacking brilliance. We've gotten decent at cones this year and his HAZARDS!!
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Good lord, if what he's been putting out at home the last couple of nights is there on course I'm going to need goggles for the dust we'll be raising.
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Apparently when he decides he's ready for something, he's ready...I thought our tires were going to come off we were sliding so hard.
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See you there!

Leia
 
All right Leia, if I am understanding you correctly, you are setting the shafts down into the tug rather than have a float, to avoid the bumping?
 
Ooh, Amy, I can't wait to see it at Happs -- along with you and Ally!
JourneysEnd, I, too, am planning to add cupholder and stopwatch holder -- but in this case to a basic easy entry cart. I want a place for coffee/latte on early morning drives and water bottle for later in the day.

Somebody should market brackets made to fit into the front of the mesh baskets of easy entries for various add-ons.
Mine's a tricked out ee cart too.

Kathy, tell us more about the one you copied.
 
They're still floating in that they are weightless, but the shaft itself is resting on the bottom of the tug or close to it rather than up in the middle of the tug loop. I think what it does is lowers the point at which the cart becomes unstable (you know how when you're having someone hold the shafts at some point if you lean back enough they suddenly want to flip up?) We're adjusting the balance so that point is lower but not so low that it accidentally puts weight on the horse's back.

I'm still tinkering with this myself so all I can tell you is that Kody hates it when those shafts are slapping around in the middle but doesn't seem to mind at all when they're resting lightly in the tugs. And my sliding backband is still working freely which tells me there isn't any downward pressure on the tug itself- when there's weight in the tugs the backband gets stuck and won't slide freely.

I'm about ready to go back to my wrap straps with the Hyperbike. This is driving me crazy!
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Sure wish Lisa would get back, I'm sure she'd have us sorted out in no time.

Leia
 
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LOl i love pimping my ride too. I actually bought speakers to go in my cart so i could run a walkman ect while driving. I started out with ear phones but i felt I couldn't hear imperative things goin on around me (traffic or just 'things' that needed to be heard)... The speakers are good because I can hear over them a bit more as they aren't blasting right into my ears.

i'm thinking a cup holder and some other things might be useful. I've actually joked about getting one of those portable DVD players that go in cars so i can watch movies while i'm training too! LOL how lazy would THAT be?? LOl
 
Boinky, I went beyond the DVD player and got my own live guitarist...

But now I think I need a vase for fresh flowers!
 
Ooh, Amy, I can't wait to see it at Happs -- along with you and Ally!
JourneysEnd, I, too, am planning to add cupholder and stopwatch holder -- but in this case to a basic easy entry cart. I want a place for coffee/latte on early morning drives and water bottle for later in the day.

Somebody should market brackets made to fit into the front of the mesh baskets of easy entries for various add-ons.
Mine's a tricked out ee cart too.

Kathy, tell us more about the one you copied.
I'll take a picture of the drivers side so you can see what I'm talking about. All it is, is a slipcover that slides over the metal dash. When I'm at home I put my GPS in it, my phone, stopwatch and dressage test. Kathy
 
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[SIZE=36pt]Pictures,pictures,pictures[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]We want pictures of your pimped up rides and all the places for gadgets. Please show EVERYTHING![/SIZE]

f.B.
 
I'm just happy to have been able to order our 2nd smart cart so that my mom & I can both drive one...it will beat both of us fighting over the one cart! I did order this one with the wider axle and the curved seat back. In the spring I can hopefully buy the patine dash to use if/when we want to show with one of the carts...couldn't justify spending the extra money for that at this point in time.

The brush guards--didn't someone on here make mention in a past thread that they really weren't worth the cost--something about them was ineffective, and just added excess weight to the front of the cart? Amy, you'll have to let me know what you think of the brush guard once you've used it.
 
Here are the pics, front and back, with and without, it slides over the bar, just like a slip cover...........

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Hi, Amy-

I'd have to see you driving to really be able to comment, I think...I go a lot by what I see happening with the tug loop support straps(do they show a slight 'slackness, 'seeable' as observer or driver), or, what I can see as I sit behind the horse as the driver. I do think Leia is on the right track; if simply because the shaft is less likely to "bounce" all the way up to 'sproing' off the top of the tug loop, then back down to 'hit' the bottom, and so on and so on, if the shaft essentially can be gotten to 'mostly' just sort of 'touch' the bottom, basically. One of the reasons I'm VERY pleased w/ my Flyer is that with a bit of initial tweaking(it has a car seat slider set up, which can be moved a bit over an inch at a time, setting-wise-so there's a way to change it very slightly, or quite a bit), I've got it to where the shafts float SO nicely, even over pretty uneven terrain or at speed (I've been using it mostly with my Handy, and have been doing more 'intervals' at the lope/gallop(sorry, my background is WESTERN, and I'm GOING to say 'lope',not 'canter'!! ;), and some increasingly tight circles at same(sort of 'finding our limits', you might say!), and even then, I am seeing almost no 'bounce', nor any 'hitting' the top of the tug loops so as to 'jerk' upward on the girth...I'd rather try to adjust the seat so that I wouldn't have to consciously shift my weight(which believe me, is CONSIDERABLY more than Leia's and a point to be considered, IMO, when she talks about weight-shifting, is that she is VERY lightweight, and what works for her might not work the same for us older and'or not-so-wraithlike sorts <winks!>--to affect the balance! Heck, it is hard enough to remember that I DO have a possibly considerable effect on the weight being placed onto the horse's BACK via the tug loops if I lean forward or bend over for some reason(my whip holder is on the dash; I prefer it on the rt. armrest or seat support, but in the Flyer, that wasn't feasible...but having it on the dash means I do have to slightly lean forward to place it or take it out...of course, it is in my hand when I am actually driving, so not a very big deal...even so, I just don't want to have to 'think' about having to 'sit forward, or back'...I want to basically find my comfortable position, and then only sort of 'do what comes naturally' as I drive along...I probably am not explaining this too well; hope you get my point, though!

I DO like the open tugs w/ the holddown strap better all the time, after years of using wrap straps on an 'everyday' basis (because my Smuckers Lite came with them, and what did I know, back then??), and Tilbury tugs for the show ring(on my Lutkes, and on the advice of others). I do still use a Smuckers Lite as my everyday harness w/ my Frontier...knowing how not to overtighten the wrapstraps, I am able to essentially get even those straight shafts to essentially float in the tug loops: there IS a bit more bounce with them than with the Flyer, but not excessive,and the horses seem to remain comfortable all the while.

My only 'tweaking' of any of my carts is that I removed the lovely but heavy oak dash w/ 'heavy' rein rail off the Flyer, replaced it for everyday use w/ a couple of lightweight strips of poplar,and mounted the whip holder to those. I like Kathy's idea of the 'slip-on' dash cover, though, and could probably do something like that for mine...I have a small leather bag that I use as a spares bag when needed, but I don't keep it on the cart all the time.

Margo
 
Margo_C-T said:
I've got it to where the shafts float SO nicely, even over pretty uneven terrain or at speed (I've been using it mostly with my Handy, and have been doing more 'intervals' at the lope/gallop(sorry, my background is WESTERN, and I'm GOING to say 'lope',not 'canter'!! ;), and some increasingly tight circles at same(sort of 'finding our limits', you might say!), and even then, I am seeing almost no 'bounce', nor any 'hitting' the top of the tug loops so as to 'jerk' upward on the girth...
I've found that when I move to the canter (lope/gallop/run/insane dash, whatever you want to call it!) all problems with the tugs stop. They're fine at the walk, fine at a relaxed canter or at speed, it's only when trotting that it's a pain in the you-know-what.

I'd rather try to adjust the seat so that I wouldn't have to consciously shift my weight(which believe me, is CONSIDERABLY more than Leia's and a point to be considered, IMO, when she talks about weight-shifting, is that she is VERY lightweight, and what works for her might not work the same for us older and'or not-so-wraithlike sorts <winks!>--to affect the balance!
*snort* In this case I think that would probably be an advantage! I HAVE to adjust the seat (without a slider, I might point out, which is a royal pain in the @$$) to affect the balance at all as I simply do not have enough weight to affect anything by changing where I sit. And do you know how oxymoronic it is that the lighter you are, the further back you have to sit to balance the cart when being lighter usually means you have shorter legs??
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*sigh* I agree with you Margo, the ideal would be a naturally balanced spot where all you really have to do is sit comfortably and things stay nicely balanced. I have that with one cart, not so much with the other three yet. Someday!

Leia
 
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