I am feeling guilty

Ed, I don’t think judging is why we gather here. We all do with what we can do with, and do all we can how we can. Our desire is to use the animals but sometimes it may not be practiccal for any number of reasons. I understand, respect, and admire the purist; but I for one have a tractor and use it because of a lack of time and or horse drawn implements. I am working towards an all horse power end, but at the end of the day I have my doubts. Realistically I think if I achieve it I will not have a full time job, and a windfall of adequate money to purchase the horse drawn implements I would need. Couldn’t we all use an extra couple hours in any given day? Just my thoughts. Don’t get down on yourself man.

Larry

i’m with all above, ed, you probably put a lot of folks here at ease. if it ain’t a tractor it’s a job or something. we just try and do the best we can, right?

I’m guilty too – I use a tractor but try to find ways not to. Going to all horse power is a little more involved than just switching the power source. Some jobs require a team, others 4 horses (or more) and more people. While you can keep more horses it can be a challenge to find more willing help at the necessary time. So in comes the tractor.

Ed, I wouldn’t beat mtself up over using a tractor UNLESS you traded in your horses for it!! Take it easy and enjoy the things you can do with them.

Well, I use a tractor for the bucket, too. I try to keep it out of my fields, but once you have one, they can be really hard to fence in. I believe our energy use is important and will become more so as time goes on. I try to think of new alternatives that may be five or ten years in my future. Personally, I need a bigger barn for hay, and using my old hay barn for winter housing of sheep might allow for pigs turning the bedding before it is pulled out and spread. But that is years away.

Sanhestar, for our 100% grass fed sheep I never think of the uneaten hay as wasted. It does several important things with out being eating. It goes into bedding that keeps sheep warm and dry. It means that the animals have effectively improved the quality of the hay by only eating the best part. This is most important and should be reflected in their body condition at the end of the winter. Finally it helps make a balanced compost.

I think of it as doing my part to run the oil out.

We simply can’t compete in the conventional markets without some machinery, and we simply have no other markets for all of the material we produce.

Meanwhile we broke our loader truck frame in half day before yesterday trying to pick up a big red oak log, so we are looking for another tired truck to put the knuckleboom on to keep working. The u-bolts popped like a gun going off and shot the nuts right into the ground under the truck. Just about sent me flying off the tower, but fortunately it broke before I had the log far off the ground. We have borrowed a larger 4WD tractor to keep working moving wood to the various markets and processing we are doing. It won’t lift the big r.o. logs. We may try to roll them up skid poles with a parbuckle arrangement with a combination of the horses and the tractor.

I would prefer to process all this material into DRAFTWOOD Forest Products, we simply don’ t have enough markets to afford the processing cost and owning he inventory.

No guilt required from working with integrated systems. It is just reality in the modern world. The portion of the process we use that is exclusively animal powered are the ones that are most environmentally sensitive as in from stump to landing where the impact is greatest in conventional logging systems. Road building and skid trail construction in forestry create the greatest amount of sedimentation in streams.

Our biggest challenge is to keep the old machinery running without hydraulic oil leaks or killing us in mechanical failure as described above.

Keep working your animals when you can. Use the machines to keep you going, when you have too. We all have to live in the real world and this forum is more real than any I know of.

~

Um, what’s a “purist”, anyways? Sounds like some sort of elitist attitude. :rolleyes:
Personally, until/unless someone offers to come over and help you do the compost/manure/etc. moving by hand, I’m thinking they don’t have much ground to stand on. Where would you draw the HD/machinery line, anyways? I plan on keeping my old pickup – I’m not harnessing up the donks for a 30+ ’round trip to town and back for supplies anytime soon. I have more admiration for someone who has the intelligence to adapt to the situation they’re in and make use of the needed tools at hand, rather than being narrow-minded enough to try to force the situation in the name of be a ‘purist’.
Just my take on it all.