The Bob Sled

This is a story written for and linked to Facebook Memories by John Cawthorne dedicated to my brother Ben

The Bob Sled

To set the stage for this story we will have to look back at Grandma’s home and neighborhood more than 55 years ago when the landscape looked very much different than today. When growing up, us kids had a real neat hill and large slough about 1/2 mile from the old farm house called Shady Dell. On each side of the hill there was a wooded areas and a hollow at the bottom filled with water so this made an excellent area, summer or winter to go play after asking permission when the chores were all done. Each winter and summer we would head to Shady Dell to try our hand in riding on anything that would go down the hill on grass or snow. Sleigh and toboggans were non existent so cardboard, boards, tubes, tires, tubs, large wash basins and even old car parts like a motor hood upside down or old car doors were great to side down the hill on. One year I remember using the metal top off an wrecked four door sedan car, turned turned up side down where we could all jump in and slide and spin flying down the hill praying that we wouldn’t go out of control and hit a tree before coming to a stop out in the middle of the frozen sough. In the summer time it was the same, flying down the hill with anything with wheels or any contraption we could put wheels on, baby buggy’s, toy wagons, and some home built go carts. If we got tired pulling the contraptions back up the hill for another ride down we could always construct a fort in the wooded area and even build a rafts to pole our way around the slough. The location of Shady Dell was about where the small strip mall is just South of Wal-Mart, on the East side of 37 St between Wal-Mart and 17^Th Ave.

Here is Google Earth with Grandma’s house and Shady Dell circled.

Once upon a time as the story goes………..

I built a fine Bob Sled from parts and pieces gathered up around the yard. Four runners about 24” long made from 2 X 4 boards on edge, two runners for each set nailed together with cross boards to make it solid. Then the sets of runners were fastened to a plank to sit on with a small board nailed across the plank to place your feet while riding the sled. One set of runners mounted on the front of the plank with only one big bolt allowing the front set of runners to turn for steering, a rope loop was secured to front set to steer the sled or to pull the sled to the hill and up the slope, the other set of runners were fastened solidly to the back end of the plank where I would sit.

A fine looking sled indeed, it was time for the big test run. I dragged the sled over to Shady Dell and tried my first run down the hill; it was a bit disappointing to say the least. It didn’t impress anyone of my friends. After a few more tries, I dragged the sled home to see what I could do to improve the down hill speed. Out come the tools, using a hand saw I reshaped the angle on the front of each runner so it would ride on top of the snow better, next came the sand paper to smooth the bottom of the runner. Then as a finishing touch I borrowed some of Mom’s Johnson paste floor wax and polished the runners real good. The next chance I get, it’s back to Shady Dell to try the sled again, somewhat better this time but about the slowest craft on the hill still.

That’s the way the sled stayed until my brother Ben and a few of his friend including our cousin Herby Knight were looking for some excitement one winter afternoon. Of course they, being a few years older and driving their own vehicle, weren’t about to be bothered with pulling my sled up a hill to have a short ride down. They had bigger plans and wanted to know if they could use my sled to tow behind the car, each taking turns riding the sled behind the car. I don’t know where they went with my sled, I assume they drove the country roads for miles over hard packed snow, ice and even gravel roads, yes I said gravel roads with my sled, yikes. After their fun was over they dropped the sled off at home, I went to have a look to see if it was still all in one piece. It was in one piece, a sturdy sled I built and then I took a second look at the runners, I couldn't believe my eyes, the runners were worn almost half away through by the road gravel. The 2 X4 runners were worn thin at the leading edges and thicker toward the back. The bottoms of the runners rather than being flat edged were all rounded and scratch by the gravel. How am I going to steer this sled with no edges if it even goes down the hill.

Next chance I get to go to Shady Dell I drag the Bob Sled to the top of the hill and give it a running push and jump on. To my surprise the next thing I know I’m flying down the hill at break neck speed over jumps and bumps and out to the middle of the frozen pond. Wow, that was fun so back to the top again and again until we were almost too tired to pull the sled back home.

As the story goes, things sometimes aren’t how they first appear, a sequence of events made my home built sled far better than my all my efforts put together, by honing down the runners so the surface contact was evenly place on the snow creating fewer pressure points and reducing the friction.

I dedicate this story to Brother Ben

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