A sling cart is used to transport very heavy objects over land. The cart has a skeletal frame with large-diameter wheels so the object being transported can be suspended above the ground by ropes or chains below the level of the

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

. Typical sling carts have two wheels on a single axle with a long pole or tongue perpendicular to the axle for use as a lever. In the days of muzzle-loading cannon, sling carts were used to move heavy artillery from the place of manufacture or storage to a ship or fortification where the gun would be placed on a

gun carriage A gun carriage is a frame and mount that supports the gun barrel of an artillery piece, allowing it to be maneuvered and fired. These platforms often had wheels so that the artillery pieces could be moved more easily. Gun carriages are also used ...

. Specialized sling carts with two axles and four wheels were used to carry the heaviest guns. Smaller

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artille ...

s were often transported on their gun carriage, but portable gun carriages were unable to withstand the recoil energy of very large guns.

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{{reflist Carts Artillery Human-powered vehicles

Animal-powered vehicles {{Cat main, Horse-drawn vehicle This category is to list all animal-powered vehicles. Animal-powered transport Vehicles by fuel ...