Methods to protect the chain from rubbing

@Countymouse 33834 wrote:

Ha, funny how much a firehose can look like a strap with a ring on the end! I had to double check…

When I first saw that picture I thought it was some sort of tow strap as well. I thought maybe it was to put a little give in the pull, but then that doesn’t really make sense with oxen. With the new scar on Joe my team will only be showing in the misfit class, so I don’t think I have to worry about the rub either.

This is interesting. I never even thought to try and not have them touch the chain at all. Of course I try and not make them turn too tightly, but I found that they rub the chain a little bit all the time. Now my boys are still young and not pulling tons so I wonder if I need to work on this with them now. I have never had the chain draw blood, yet, but if they get in the habit now maybe it will get worse when they are older. For me it is the off ox that contacts the chain more often on a gee turns. The nigh one stays pretty much out of the way on a haw turn. I can see this being a difficult habit to break once they are larger and set in their ways. I do like the pipe on the chain idea as it would have some slip as opposed to the fire hose that would still rub, but not pinch.

@Kevin Cunningham 33856 wrote:

Th….. For me it is the off ox that contacts the chain more often on a gee turns. The nigh one stays pretty much out of the way on a haw turn. …..

This is because you can step up and out on the nigh side encouraging this animal to follow you, while the off ox has to be encouraged in another manner, usually a snap on the tail-head, while the nigh ox needs to be held back, usually accomplished with body language (not stepping toward the animal, almost holding back so the steer wants to stay with you and not push on the off ox, stepping behind the shoulder and reaching over to the off ox instead of reaching out in front of the nigh one to reach the off one).

Carl

I have never had a problem with this, probably because from the start when they were young I used a pole and taught them to hold the load and sidestep to square the load up and then pull. I would do it in increments with a tight turn when pulling a log or stoneboat…. swing, pull until the chain started to crowd the leg, hold the load and swing, etc. Of course, with a wagon you can just pivot right around that way. A pole helps emphasize the need to swing when they are young, and it helps the teamster because it is more visible and it does not bend so it is easier to see when they are being crowded by it. So typically with a chain I either make wider, gradual turns or I will stop and swing as needed. Losing a little hair is one thing, but if one ox starts walking into the turn and the chain angles around the leg of the other on a heavy load, you are going to put tremendous lateral loads on the leg and joints. Bad deal. Good discussion, this is a huge oversight and bad practice for anyone allowing this to happen. Put this at the top of your list of things to correct, right now! A training video might be needed here.

If you are attentive to this you will begin to see how tight you can turn with specific loads. For instance, if you have a stoneboat that is front loaded, and you want to turn tight, it tends to pivot around on it’s nose in a tight circle and the chain does not move laterally very much. With a back-loaded stoneboat or something like a log with a center of gravity set back from hitch point, the load will want to pivot around the center of gravity or maybe the center of resistance and there will be a lot of lateral movement and tendency to swing the chain into the legs. It will take multiple swing/pull increments to get the load straightened out so it does not lay into the leg when starting out.

[A few hours later…] Droverone and I posted at about the same time so look at the next post, I think he describes the same process for turning that I am describing, but I am unfamiliar with hemmick chains. I think the Canadian head yokes will differ from American neck yokes here in that the head yoke will tend to keep the cattle together, both front to back and side-to-side, at least their fronts. Neck yoke cattle are held together at the front as well, but one can get out in front of the other in a turn so it takes some effort to keep them where they should be. For instance, if the off ox gets too far ahead on a haw turn it puts the nigh ox at a disadvantage for staying off the chain because it pushes the chain to him and he has to almost walk sideways to stay off it. That is very hard to do when pulling a load. Not only that, it shortens the lever arm of the nigh ox so it increases his load while simultaneously forcing him to pull in a very awkward position.

I believe this differs also from a horse hitch because horses are pretty well bucked into the harness and square to the evener as they turn. So they are always pulling square to the evener. The dynamics are quite a bit different with a neck yoke and single chain. If you can not picture this process or figure out how to implement it, we need to continue this discussion. This is an animal comfort and health issue.

Andy, it’s important that you are thinking about safely turning with heavy loads, but I’d say don’t overly sweat it. The way I think about the turning issue is that what you have been doing is building a bond and a language with your oxen. Don’t underestimate the value of that in future fine-tuning and application of driving. Now you will work on “teaching” one ox to step away from the chain or pole under a load. I am pleasantly surprised at how “smart” most steers are at getting this concept after a short time of practicing . For me, the practice was a slow controlled series of small moves to redirection their fronts, then setting one out, then taking up the slack with a step or two, repeat… My oxen don’t do much heavy like yours and Tim’s do, but now they “know” how to do this and I don’t have to give all the interim commands whenever we drag a stoneboat. My observation has been that in general, younger teams want to hurry to “get it done” and will be sloppy and risk getting hurt with the chain or pole, so you have to teach them to go slow and subtle and include their back end movements. They figure it out and I find I do not always have to micro-manage their movements when they are experienced. Using a pole or slipping PVC over the chain makes it easier at first because it prevents backchaining.

Maybe you could watch video of distance pulls to see how they turn the loads at the ends. Often there they will readjust chain length to give more chain on the pivots.

The 4 year olds I’m working with seem to have not learned to step away. I have to work on that with them. Since I can’t reliably get then to set out all the time, it will be challenging.