{{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A swingletree (British Isles) or singletree (North America) is a wooden or metal bar used to balance the pull of a

draught horse A draft horse (US), draught horse (UK) or dray horse (from the Old English ''dragan'' meaning "to draw or haul"; compare Dutch ''dragen'' and German ''tragen'' meaning "to carry" and Danish ''drage'' meaning "to draw" or "to fare"), less often ...

or other

draught animal A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for tr ...

when pulling a

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...

. It is a kind of whippletree, and the term is also used sometimes for other whippletrees. It is a horizontal bar, attached or suspended in the middle, and able to

hinge A hinge is a mechanical bearing that connects two solid objects, typically allowing only a limited angle of rotation between them. Two objects connected by an ideal hinge rotate relative to each other about a fixed axis of rotation: all other ...

fore-and-aft in a horizontal plane. The

traces Traces may refer to: Literature * ''Traces'' (book), a 1998 short-story collection by Stephen Baxter * ''Traces'' series, a series of novels by Malcolm Rose Music Albums * ''Traces'' (Classics IV album) or the title song (see below), 1969 * ''Tra ...

(the straps by which the animal pulls) attach to its ends, and the vehicle is pulled from its middle. The centre of the swingletree may be bolted directly to the body of the vehicle, this bolt pulling the vehicle along. Alternatively it may hang loosely by a chain or strap from the body of the vehicle, and in this case the pull is taken by chains from the centre of the bar to the ends of the axle. The action of a swingletree is to balance the pull from alternate shoulders as the animal walks. It is used especially when the animal is in a

breastcollar A breastplate (used interchangeably with breastcollar, breaststrap and breastgirth) is a piece of riding equipment used on horses. Its purpose is to keep the saddle or harness from sliding back. On riding horses, it is most helpful on horses wit ...

harness, because this can easily rub the shoulders if the pull is uneven. It is needed less for an animal in a

horse collar A horse collar is a part of a horse harness that is used to distribute the load around a horse's neck and shoulders when pulling a wagon or plough. The collar often supports and pads a pair of curved metal or wooden pieces, called hames, to wh ...

, as the pull does not pass over the shoulders in the same way. For this reason heavier vehicles may have no swingletree, as they are normally pulled with a horse collar.

See also