The stoneboat was a home made contraption used for hauling stones

The stoneboat was a crude sled that could be pulled around the fields so the operator could toss in stones which would then be hauled off the field and piled up. Often the stones were used to build stone cellar walls, stone house or barn foundations, or stone fences.

The runners for a stoneboat were made out of logs, preferably logs with an upcurve at one end. They were chopped to shape with an axe.

Stoneboats were crude and cheap to build at home. All you needed was some wood and a few metal parts that could be hammered out on an anvil. The principle was that they were low to the ground so that the operator didn't have to lift stones up onto a high wagon. Stoneboats were useful for other things as well. They could be used to haul hay out into the fields to feed livestock in winter or for moving heavy objects that were difficult to lift up onto a regular wagon.

In the picture above a member of our Morgan family, Denis Morgan (son of Kyrel B (Pete) Morgan, grandson of George William Morgan, great grandson of William Morgan), examines a stoneboat on a back country road.

Threshing