reverse gear so to speak

thanks Howie. actually i was looking at a picture, a painting, from years ago here in Newfoundland of a milk cow hitched to a single yoke with the shafts of a sled loaded with wood that were attached directly to the yoke where you usually see the chain or traces. answered my questions on the spot and i spent quite a few minutes staring at that painting i can tell you. sort of ask and ye shall receive went through my mind.

dean

patrick wrote;

Actually, it is probably more traditional than many care to realize, as back in the day, they’d use whatever they had to pull what needed pulling. I do know that when I first started asking around at my local fairs, and even at Fryburg of all places, I was greeted with laughter and even hostility a few times, when I had the temerity to ask about something as foolish as working a single. Lucky for me, it hadn’t even occured to me yet to even think about stooping so low as to ask about using a single, female

actually the animal in the picture was a cow not a male at all. BTW the picture is one we are giving to a retiring friend. i remember when i was small, hearing the old folks talking about so and so having to go out to milk the cow before the men went into the woods to haul firewood and saw logs in the winter, it was important to milk the cow first so that the udder wouldn’t hang to low and snag on brush or something injuring the animal. most folks had Newfoundland Ponies but some had other animals for draught work even the family goat could haul wood and some would use Newfoundland dogs. so people used what ever worked.

dean