Restoring Horse Drawn Carriages

Horse Buggy Restoration

2011-10-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

Restoring horse drawn carriages is a fun way to learn about the carriages of the 1900's. I really didn't know much about horse carriages until I went and bought an old used one and started restoring it. Then I started doing research online about horse drawn carriages from the 1900's and learned about all the different types such as cut under and piano type horse carriage bodies. I also learned about all the different types of carriage lamps that could be added as well as foot boards, buggy whips, buggy lamps, carriage tops, and carriage seat upholstery. Make no mistake restoring horse drawn carriages is no easy task as it can take many hours of sanding before you can even get started painting one. Sanding the buggy wheels is the hardest part as you have to do that by hand to get in between each spoke on the wheel.

Places to sell Horse Drawn Carriages after Restoration

2011-10-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

I created a page with a list of places you can post classified ads for free to sell your horse drawn carriage.
Whether it is before you restore your carriage or after you can sell just about anything here on my Free Classifieds website. I have helped sell other peoples horse drawn carriages before both thru the free classfieds as well as on my website advertising horse drawn carriages for sale.
It is fun also to shop around for the horse drawn carriage of your dreams on these same free classified websites.

Restoring a Horse Drawn Carriage - Lessons from Experience

2011-10-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

You have to really love horses to put what it takes into teaching them how to drive. We lunged the horses in our ring and walked them around the carriage to get them used to it. Put all the driving gear on them and walked them around the ring. Bought horse driving videos. Read books on horse carriage driving. But life happens and many things got in the way of the daily routine required to teach a horse how to drive a carriage and so we never did get a horse to do it. Time went by and I have since sold all my horses and now the carriage sits there for sale. It is completely restored but never got used.
I am sure many people have similar stories of unfinished projects and dreams thrown by the wayside.
Maybe you just have an old horse carriage you inherited or found in an old barn and you want to restore it.
You don't have to have a horse to drive it - maybe you just want it sitting out in front of the house all decorated for Christmas. Or maybe you have a friend that has a driving horse. Restoring a horse carriage is a labor of love...don't expect to make any money off selling it after you restore it ...just like restoring classic cars....there is no money in doing it - you always put more into it than you can sell it for.

What I have learned about Horse Drawn Carriages

2011-10-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

After working very hard finding an old used carriage years ago and working very hard restoring it...
I have learned alot about what to do and what not to do.
I think I may have gotten the "cart before the horse" because I bought the carriage I now have without
having a horse that could draw a carriage at all. I am sure I am not the first person to do this.
I had high hopes for my Arabian horses thinking that it would be "so easy" to teach them how to drive a carriage - boy was I wrong. Just seeing it made them skittish. So much for that idea.
So I bought a spring wagon that needed restoring too...sorry but my budget only has me buying used stuff. So here it sits still unrestored....I bought 2 actually - a nice looking one that didn't seem to need alot of work and one that I figured could be used for parts. Well time and circumstances being what they may they are still just sitting...and my life has changed considerably since those purchases...
check back later for the rest of the story.

Doctors Buggy For Sale

2008-07-29T06:33:00.000-07:00

Completely Restored Antique Doctors Buggy located in Bunnell Florida.
Originally Manufactured in Waterloo New York including all documentation
This Antique Doctors Buggy was restored by Vintage Restorations. It is a Cornish, piano type body.(not cut under). It still has the manufacturers plate on the back showing that it is originally from Waterloo Manufacturing Company in Waterloo New York. With the manufacturers owners names also on the plate-Leonard Story and Paul G.Walsh.
It is rare to find an antique buggy with the plate still on it.
I have corresponded with the Waterloo Library and Historical Society, and Terwilliger Museum in Waterloo NY and they have sent me some documentation to show that it was manufactured there.
Read more about it at:
Horse Drawn Carriages

Click on any listing below then click on REGISTER at the top of the listing (it's FREE)
to get more information about the HORSE CARRIAGE that you are interested in.
You can also Find a particular Type of Horse Drawn Carriage you are looking for by entering it into the Search Box Below.

Sand and Paint Everything

2006-05-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

Recently someone asked me what to do about a buggy on which the wood was very dry.
And here is my reply:
It needs to be sanded and painted and then a sealer put over the paint.
We use automotive paint-it is more expensive but lasts longer.
The metal has to be sanded and primered and painted just like when you paint a car.
Metal must be primered right after you sand it or else the rust will come back.
I recommend doing the metal first.
If you have metal around the wheels and it is coming away from the wheels you may need to buy new wheels at:
http://www.hansenwheel.com/ - it is hard to find someone that repairs existing wheels-ask hansen if they do it.
New tops can be bought at http://www.buggy.com/

Another alternative to painting it yourself after it is sanded completely is to take it to an automotive paint shop and let them paint it for you.
If you decide to take apart the metal in order to sand it and paint it-be sure to label every single screw and nut so you put them back in the same place because some are made by hand-sometimes that is the only way to get them back together. Also label the springs so they go back in the same place. Putting it back together is like doing a gigantic jigsaw puzzle so don't do it unless you label everything.
We also offer restoration services and a restoration price list can be found on this page: http://vintage-restorations.com/buggys.htm then click on "Click HERE for Cost of Restoration"

Places to Advertise your Equipment

2006-04-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

There are lots of free places to advertise. Here are a few that I use quite a bit to sell. When you open a new account you can put two free ads in the http://www.truckpaper.com/ Be sure to put your website address in the description of your ads.For used Antique Tractors and Equipment try YTMag.com-they only allow one picture though.You can post as many ads as you like with lots of pictures at http://used-heavyequipment.com/ and let's not forget one of the biggest free advertising sites on the internet http://www.craigslist.org/.Of course be sure not to abuse these sites and follow their policies. It's also a good idea only to place ads on craigslist that are close to home if it is a vehicle you are advertising as most people won't travel very far to look at it seems. But I have been wrong about that before as I recently shipped a Kenworth semi truck to Italy so your buyers can come from very far away.I even shipped a Mack truck and dump truck to Africa last year.I hope these links come in handy for you - thanks for visiting my internet advertising blog - Ann Menke

Valuation of Horse Drawn Carriages

2006-04-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

I have quite a few Horse Drawn Carriages for you to look at to compare them to your own. I often get people emailing me asking what the value of their buggy is worth and the best way to tell is to look at buggys that already have prices on them. Look at the ones on my website Vintage Restorations to see if they match what you have. I usually tell people that if it has the manufacturers plate still on it that adds about $800- $1000 to the value of the buggy because this information helps you to get more information from museums in the area where it was manufactured. For a small donation if you write to a museum and send them a picture of your buggy they may send you back a copy from the manufacturers catalog. This further documents the history of your buggy. If you don't have a manufactures plate then try to find a buggy that looks as much like yours as possible so in case someone asks it's value you have a comparable to show them.
Thanks for visiting my Buggy Restoration blog - Ann Menke

To Strip or Not to Strip

2005-12-13T06:53:00.000-08:00

-In order to show your buggy in an antique show you must strip it completely down to original bare wood and stain it "Au natural" and document everything you do with photos and text in a photo album. Search ruthlessly for it's roots. Or leave it "AS IS' for the purists to judge it. Go to a few shows first before making a committment to what you are going to do. Sign up to join caa.org Plan to devote a certain amount of your spare time to this particular project each individually or it could stretch out to years and you could get burnt out on it and end up despising it or each other for not devoting the same amount of time. When it's a joint project one person always feels they have put more money or time into a joint project at the expense of pissing off the other party to it. Don't let a project ruin your relationship. Decide ahead of time how much money each of you will put in and how much time you expect from each other to be put into working on it. We have had many restoration projects some of which can been seen at Vintage Restorations. Such as a Doctors Buggy, '66' Case Backhoe, 1976 Kenworth, and a 69 Caddy that is still waiting.

Before You Do A Restoration Project

2005-12-12T18:04:00.000-08:00

I was recently emailing a young lady that had alot of questions about restoring a horse drawn carriage that was given to her from a deceased friend. She wasn't sure what to do with it but knew she was in love with and wanted to restore it. I had been thru many a restoration project and wanted to offer my best advice and hopefully save her some time and misery. So the excerpts following are replies from me that I had sent to her in reply to some of her questions.

She had found me originally thru viewing my Waterloo Piano Buggy at my website: Vintage-Restorations.com

To Maribeth: Sorry but without the original maufacturers plate you can't find out who manufactured it and where. You must have the company name of who manufactured it and city and state. Save the old top and any old parts-you can get a new top- put the old stuff in a box where rats can't eat at the straw stuffing. If you decide you want to restore it then...Replace it with a new top from Justin Carriages at: http://www.buggy.com/ that's where I got mine done. You can get a whole new top frame or send him the frame you have if it's in good enough shape and get him to replace the top on the existing frame and ship it back. They do all kinds of restoration work and their prices are reasonable(I shopped around) go with them. They've been in the business a long time-I got mine done like 6 years ago. Tell them Ann Menke from Vintage-Restorations.com referred you. My husband Russ did do alot of the restoration work on our buggy himself - but Justins Carriage did the top and seat. You can also get the seat done at a local upholsterer which I recommend as Justin's seat upholstery was not that great. He did a great job on the top though. I got mine with an oval opera glass in the back-which to me adds a hint of elegance to the buggy, so I do recommend it. Please check back for further excerpts of me trying to help Maribeth decide on whether to restore her buggy.

Thanks, Ann Menke