Oooooohhhhh... I could use photos against a white background... maybe close-up of joints, underside? Oh, and... hola, and welcome to the Forums!
No dimensions given, and the business end nearest camera is not visible on top end. If Mark was more complete in his info it would help.
Man that is a familiar shape. Pack animal racks look something like that but I doubt this is one. It looks to be something to work barrel staves, wagon wheels or some such thing. Could also be to store and/or hold and work a saddle. Get us a close up of those parts that appear to be tightening mechanisms of some kind. No tags, stamps or manufacturer's marks on it?
If it is about 3' tall it may be a portable wire dispenser frame. The spindle is missing. A reel of barbed or bailing wire etc. is placed on the spindle so it can pay out as used. The metal things on the sides of the legs are fold-up carrying handles so it can be moved around by two people while the reel is still in place. Little platform underneath may be for added weights to stabilize it while pulling wire. Notch in front rail may be owner's modification to accommodate a larger diameter reel than that for which dispenser was designed. Notch looks slightly irregular is why I think that. I've never seen a wire dispenser but now that we have a possible ID maybe someone can find a pic of one, my truck inspection sticker just expired and I've gotta run out and get an inspection before I get busted.
It reminds me of the base of a "conveyor" belt that I saw at an old saw mill up in NH. . It was at the end of saw so the would wouldn't fall to the ground. I don't know what it was called so I'm not sure I can find a picture but I will try.
The wire-dispenser idea sounds good; but I notice that it has a high cross-piece on the front, but only a low one on the back; that might imply that it was intended to hold something like a barrel stave that was being worked. If one were to saw something, it would make sense to not have a high cross-piece on the back. However, I've seen on the Woodwright's Shop how barrel-staves used to be worked, and this isn't what Roy Underhill used.....
Do you think it looks like the front cross-piece is higher due to the camera angle and the lumpy hay? The thing might actually be same height on either end.
I wasn't absolutely positive the frame was the same height on both ends so I did this little experiment with perspective to find out. I think the three intersecting lines mean that when viewed from the side, the angles we'd see are all 90-degrees, meaning both ends are the same height. Am I correct?
It's a machine base, no doubt. It looks like it has oddments of metal on top and on the sides. Can we see more pics please? I have a machine with a similar base in the loft. I'll look at it later.
I wasn't thinking about what I'd call the ends, but the "front," that is, if you face the piece that has the rectangular notch, and call that the front, then on the front there is a bottom cross-piece, and another cross-piece at the middle (that piece with the notch). In the opposite side, call it the back, there is a cross-piece at the bottom, but no middle cross-piece at all. (Unless something is missing). That is a very weak way to construct a framework, and suggests that there was a functional reason for that construction. It provides clearance, for some purpose. If it were only to provide clearance for a roll of wire, the notched cross-bar is low enough to provide plenty of clearance, and there should or could have been a similar mid-height piece at the back. But when sawing, the saw needs more clearance at the back. On the other hand....the brackets at the top appear designed to hold something; the one on the left seems to have a vertical slot, and the one on the right a shorter slot, or something. It is hard to imagine what could fit into those slots. A roll of wire might fit, but it would be awkward for a round log or a flat board. The metal fittings on the front seem to be different on left and right also. Trying to think what might be logical, without much luck. Better photos, close ups of the metal fittings and the fittings on the top, might help.
