DAPNET Forums Archive › Forums › Draft Animal Power › Oxen › pulling power
- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 11 months ago by
Carl Russell.
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- December 26, 2009 at 5:51 pm #41218
Anonymous
InactiveHey folks-
My pair of durhams are about 7 months old and right about 500 pounds.
I have been working them pretty frequently, dragging a tire with two cinder
blocks in it that they can pull easily, and just the other day I started to do
some logging, just light stuff I don’t want to strain them.
I wanted to ask you what you think they can pull? conroy says 10 percent
of body wieght for 2 month calves, but these guys are in pretty good shape.
I just read in a posting here tim harrigan saying that 250 lbs on a stone boat is
pretty good, and I was looking for some other comments.Thank you all
Merry Christmass
Happy HanukkahDecember 31, 2009 at 9:38 am #56419Carl Russell
ModeratorHey Miles, I thought others would chime in before now, so I held off.
At this stage of the game (7 mo) I wouldn’t be too worried about “straining” them. Muscle-wise, they actually need the exercise, and 250 pounds is only about 25 board feet. Pretty puny log. Sure they can handle that, just make a lot of trips. That’s not bad either, but I think they could handle up to 500 pounds even, and probably more.
The actual poundage is not so important as the fact that they get used to moving the weights you hitch them too. If you keep hitching to weights they can move then they will not only build muscle, but they will learn that they can pull whatever you hitch them to. Just play with them, and you will learn what they are ready for. And every once in a while put them on a good challenge, just to see how they handle it, and to keep them informed that they always need to be ready to pull more than they ever have before.
Have fun, and a good new year, Carl
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