Antique 85.5" Wood & Iron Draft Horse Main Evener — 4–8 Horse Scale, Worm Boring

At 85.5 inches — nearly three feet longer than the largest catalog-size draft doubletree ever manufactured — this antique wooden main evener was built for a four, six, or eight-horse hitch. On American farms from the 1870s through the 1920s, a main evener this wide was the spine of the entire pulling system: forged iron strap brackets and rings at each yoke end received trace chains from the outer horses, while the through-mortise clevis slot at center connected to subordinate doubletrees for the inner teams. The timber is single-piece construction in the tradition of farm-shop fabrication — hickory, ash, and straight-grained oak were the prescribed materials for this application, chosen for their ability to absorb the dynamic snap-load of a working hitch without splitting. The yoke ends are shaped into a flowing, multi-lobed wave profile, and worm borings distributed throughout the surface provide a reliable authenticating record of genuine age; insect tracks of this density require decades to develop and cannot be replicated.

Wall-mounting hardware is included. At over seven feet wide, this piece installs with the architectural weight of a barn beam — which, in every working sense, is exactly what it was.

CONDITION

Good. Iron strap hardware is fully intact and structurally sound, with heavy surface rust consistent with age and working use. The wood displays deep checking, pronounced grain separation, and dense worm boring throughout; one yoke end has material loss at the tip.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Height: 8"
• Width: 85.5" (7' 1.5")
• Depth: 2¼"
• Weight: approx. 25 lbs
• Construction: single timber with through-mortise clevis slot
• Hardware: forged iron strap brackets with rings
• Wood species: likely hickory, ash, or oak (consistent with period standard)
• Worm boring present throughout
• Wall-mounting hardware included