DAPNET Forums Archive › Forums › Draft Animal Power › Horses › Cultivating weeds
- This topic has 14 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 6 months ago by
jac.
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- May 3, 2010 at 1:44 pm #41584
Ed Thayer
ParticipantPicked up a small row crop cultivator this weekend. Oiled it up and went to work. Ozzie did a good job, but I need to learn how to keep him in a straight line. Any suggestions?
I assume once the corn and taters are up and showing, he would get the idea to stay between the rows. Maybe we will have to lead him a few times untill we get the hang of it.
Please excuse the bald head, I was trying to color it up for summer.
http://picasaweb.google.com/108015252120457183879/OzzieCultivating?feat=directlink
May 3, 2010 at 1:51 pm #59528Marshall
ParticipantNice photos. I hope do be doing that myself soon.
May 3, 2010 at 2:47 pm #59538Tim Harrigan
Participanthighway;17980 wrote:I assume once the corn and taters are up and showing, he would get the idea to stay between the rows. Maybe we will have to lead him a few times untill we get the hang of it.http://picasaweb.google.com/108015252120457183879/OzzieCultivating?feat=directlink
Should work out fine as long as you use him on the planter. 😀
May 3, 2010 at 2:53 pm #59535Theloggerswife
ParticipantThis is not from personal experience, but from what I have read. A rider on the horse driving the horse while the other person runs the cultivator helps. I hope to be putting this theory to the test cultivating our corn this year!
May 3, 2010 at 3:39 pm #59529ParticipantMissy, that is how I plan on doing it too. My daughter wants to learn to ride so what better way than when I can have the lines in reach just in case.
May 3, 2010 at 5:20 pm #59541jac
ParticipantThe whole outfit looks great to me.. thats a really neat looking little cultivator, is it blacksmith made ?? . The kids riding up front is a great idea.. Have to run that one past our Caitlyn..
JohnMay 3, 2010 at 6:02 pm #59531Donn Hewes
KeymasterEd, I think it all looks great too. I know from experience that it takes a while to figure out each of these “new fangled” tools we drag home. The great part is Ozzie standing there like he has all day. Makes the learning curve a lot more fun. I once planted a field of fava beans for a cover crop. As they grew I cultivated them into rows to my hearts content. No lost valuable crops. I just bought a two row cultivator to try for the first time. I am sure I will be scratching my head as my team looks back and asks if I have any idea what I am doing.
May 3, 2010 at 6:16 pm #59530ParticipantDonn, you get those looks from the horses too? My horses and my wife give me those looks!
May 3, 2010 at 7:33 pm #59532grey
ParticipantYou are right about Ozz tracking better when he has a visual cue to navigate by. He’ll pick it up in short order when there’s something to shoot for/avoid. When the horse(s) don’t have a visual cue, your shoulder-steering skills get sorely taxed. If you were on a riding cultivator and had both hands on the lines, you’d have no problem. But when your hands are needed on the implement handles and you have to steer with your shoulders… well, it’s a whole ‘nother skill to acquire.
May 3, 2010 at 7:47 pm #59540mitchmaine
Participanted, set over onto harrowed ground, and run a string from two stakes 100′ apart.try cultivating the stringline for awhile till he gets it. the string will take alot of abuse before it breaks, if it’s strong enough cord.
May 3, 2010 at 9:05 pm #59536ParticipantThanks for the tips. I like the string idea.
I picked up the cultivator for free, that was the best part. I went to buy hay and the guy had it sitting in the hay loft collecting dust. I asked how much he might want for it and he said, “I should pay you to take it so my wife will stop complaining about how I collect things.”:D
There is no brand name on it and looking at the metal work I would figure it is early 1900 or so. It is stamped steel and not hand forged.
I also scored a IH riding sulky plow that looks like it is ready to put to work.
As my collection of horse stuff grows I think to myself, 3 years ago I had horses for my daughter and viewed them as a chore. Horse shows, trailers, clothes, registration fees. None of it made sense to me.
Now I am doing the same things and buying impliments, go figure:p
Ed
May 4, 2010 at 2:55 am #59533jen judkins
ParticipantEd, I have the same cultivator, lol! Haven’t tried it yet.
I think Oz was looking pretty straight in your later photos, so I guess you are on the right track. I had the same issue with Reno…plowing. How to get him straight for the first furrow (where there isn’t one to walk in).
Now that we are home and on our own agenda, my plan is to set out some stakes and teach him to follow the line without the plow for a bit, before doing any real plowing.
You never really know what to teach a horse…till you have a specific job in mind…eh?
May 5, 2010 at 1:59 am #59539Mike Rock
ParticipantLooks just like my Planet Jr. cultivator. Not like my IH of the same format.
The string idea works, as does just following other soil working marks, like the seeder or even drag marks. Lots easier if some green stuff is there to follow, like the potato sprouts. Got twenty pounds in, another hundred to go.
Mike
Breaking 35 acres out of CRP is NOT for horses. Disking several times gets the soil nice and mellow with 30 years of accumulated organic matter. The old M gets a workout. The boys and girls with keep up with the planting and we will then be officially a ‘horse’ farm!!! 151 + 25. About 60 will be under crops these first years. Hope to work up to 75 or so, rotating through crops and pastures following Newman Turner’s good organic farming model. Acres USA just reprinted Turner’s four books. WELL worth the price for some sound knowledge.
May 5, 2010 at 4:06 pm #59534near horse
ParticipantHey Mike,
Where are you bustin’ out old CRP? I’m in the same boat with old CRP although I’m leaning toward working smaller areas – like a couple of acres each year. I imagine that disking at least once before tilling would help alot. Big root masses on our old bunchgrasses.
Good luck.
May 5, 2010 at 8:01 pm #59537ParticipantMike,
I think you are correct. After some investigating it looks just like the planet JR.
Thanks for the tip.
Ed
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