Horse Powered Pickup

Horse powered pickup AG WORLD Ag World 14-5-17 People don't believe their eyes when they see this horse-powered "pickup" coming down the highway at them. It's only gota 2-hp. "engine" but Reese Clark says it drives down the road just like any other vehicle on the highway. Only slower. The Elmwood, Okla., farmer takes the truck to antique engine shows and runs it in parades. He says it's legal to drive down the highway so he sometimes drives it into town. There's a slow-moving vehicle sign on back. The steering and brakes work normally in the cut-down car but the motor and trans-mission are gone. A team of horses or mules are strapped into a harness that pulls against rails on either side of the animals. Clark uses two sets of reins to control the team. The reins run through pulleys back to pulleys behind the animals. One set of reins, painted red, is used for forward. The other set, painted blue, is used for reverse. He uses the wheel for steering, and both the reins and brakes to stop. "A good team gets used to it real quick. I've been using a big team of mules that learned how to push it in one training session," says Clark. The mini truck was made from a small French car with the back end cut off. He says it's important to leave plenty of room for the animals' heads. Clark says he has talked with a state high-way patrolman who told him he could legally take the vehicle on the road because the transmission and engine have been re-moved. For more information, contact FARM SHOW Followup, Reese Clark, Rt. 1, Box 61, Elmwood, Okla. 73935 (ph 405 768-4423).

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