Horse Buggy Restoration

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. You will love some of the Horse Carriage Memorabilia Below.. I know I did.

Places to sell Horse Drawn Carriages after Restoration

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. See what other people are selling their carriages for below before deciding what price to put on yours.

Restoring a Horse Drawn Carriage - Lessons from Experience

 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. Before putting all that effort forth restoring one you should see if maybe it would be a better idea to buy someone elses labor of love below...there are plenty of already restored carriages out there.

What I have learned about Horse Drawn Carriages

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. Well in hindsight after lots of sanding and painting if I had known back then what I know now I would of bought an already restored carriage. As you can see below there are plenty for sale...so shop around and see what other people are asking before going ahead with that restoration project.

Doctors Buggy For Sale

This Completely Restored Antique Doctors Buggy located in Bunnell Florida has been sold. 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

Sand and Paint Everything

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 no longer offer restoration services but you can see what we used to charge for restoration on the restoration price list which can be found on this page: http://vintage-restorations.com/buggys.htm then click on "Click HERE for Cost of Restoration"
You may also want to shop around for an already restored carriage to avoid all that hard work.

Places to Advertise your Equipment

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