Capacity of your average wagon???

[Willthechased]

Does anyone have any idea on what the capacity (in pounds) would be for your average wagon? Assuming two or perhaps four horses were pulling said wagon, how many pounds could reasonably be loaded before slowing things down much????
Thanks in advance for your responses.
-W-

 

[Hand of Evil]

Well, did some searches and did not turn-up too much. Did find that eight horses were needed to pull up to eight tons carrying capacity BUT only six oxen (oxen being stronger but slower), looks as if that was a teamster wagon. I would save average wagon would be a ton.

I guess you could do the math, strenght of animal or even use carry cap of the animal, mule is 600 pounds, two would be 1200, 4 would be 2400 but I have concerns that would not reflect correctly. Some work around would be needed, one mule would pull as two would carry, 1200.

 

[Tatsukun]

Well, in the MM it says a heavy horse can drag 4,500 Lb (which fits with the PHB saying you can generally drag 5 times your max load - for a heavy horse that's 900 Lb).

The PHB goes on to say that favorable conditions can as much as double that number, and poor ones can halve it.

So for two horses in average conditions (normal wagon, roads, and whatnot) I would say 9,000 Lb. If it's a great wagon, perfect roads, and everything else is right, maybe as much as 18,000Lb - though these conditions are rarely met. On the other hand, a bad road, an old wagon, or something else could make it more like 4,500Lb.

So let's make a reality check. First, what IS a heavy horse? Well, according to the PBH, it's a Clydesdale.

So, I found a Clydesdale FAQ on the web (http://clydesusa.com/clydesdale_faq.htm) …

How much can a Clydesdale horse pull?
It depends on what their pulling. When pulling a wagon, a Clydesdale can pull many times more than its own weight, which is why the Clydesdale was so popular in the cities pulling large wagons of goods.

How much does a Clydesdale weigh?
Mature Clydesdales weigh between 1600 and 2400 pounds, as much as a Volkswagon Beetle.

…and another Clydesdale FAQ (http://www.diegelberosecarriage.net/id17.html)

Is it hard for them to pull the carriage?
Clydesdales can pull 5-6 times their own weight on wheels. Considering that our carriages, fully loaded with passengers, weigh about the same as the horses themselves do- pulling a carriage is literally a walk in the park! More convincing is that a carriage is hitched to the horse- so if one of our 100 lb drivers can pull an empty carriage out of our carriagehouse, a 1800 lb Clydesdale can certainly pull a loaded one!

So, 5 to 6 times 1,600 to 2,400 sounds like it's in the neighborhood of 9,000. Seems OK to me.

The real question is going to be cubic feet of space. 9,000 Lb is a lot of stuff.

-Tatsu

 

[kmdietri]

In the 3.0 PHB it listed it in the equipment section I'm pretty sure it was one one... 2000 lbs.

That's off the top of my head though.

That's assuming 3.5 wagons are the same as 3.0 wagons.

 

[Tatsukun]

Oh, I forgot to note that...

If the horses are pulling 18,000 they are heavily encumbered (slower etc.).

If you get enough horses that the weight falls to 5 times the light load, they are unencumbered (faster). That's why old stagecoaches sometimes used long chains of horses.

Also, the weight of the wagon is included in that number, as is the driver's weight. I have no idea how much a DnD wagon weighs.

Good luck

-Tatsu

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Reading everything right has its uses. I just wondered what you meant with "the capacity of a weapon

 

[painandgreed]

From the Arms & Equipment Guide, a wagon weighs 400# and can carry 2 tons of cargo. The speed is poor and costs 35GP. It's pull wieght is the total of wagon, passangers, and cargo divided by four. Then divide the pull weight between the number of animals pulling it and then look at table 9-1 in the PHB and multiply by 3 because horses are large bipeds to find out the encomberance. Controling it is an Animal Handling check at -2 and due to its manuevablity it can't turn in place and can make a maximum turn of 45 degrees in 5'.