judging the weight of loads?

I think there is a difference between what horses “should” pull and what they are physically and psychologically capable of pulling given their condition and experience. If your horses don’t have a lot of experience logging, I would start with small loads and move up from there. Here is a link to estimate log weight based on species: http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/calculators/calc.pl?calculator=log_weight.

Good luck.

George

I use a bobsled in the winter up here in VT and you can really get a lot of wood on that tool. I have found that I can get more than 1000 bf of pine on a load, less for hardwood. The trick for me is the start – if your team can get it moving then usually they will move it along OK. Positioning of the sled at the loading area is critical. Having the runners pointed slightly downhill really helps as that first pull can be really tough if the sled is sitting in a depression of even on a flat. Snow helps to eliminate some of the friction, as I don’t use the sled much without snow cover, as an arch is my tool of choice in the non-winter time. Like others have said, going often with small loads is beneficial, but there is something to be said for a team that can take a days worth of logs out in 1-3 sled loads. Remember that the same load on the ground and then on a sled or arch may produce very different outcomes, and slope and ground conditions also make a huge difference. In general, I have found that it does not matter as much if you have the biggest, heaviest team, but rather if you have the team that is the willing to muckle on to a big load and go for it. But, in the long run giving your horses loads they can manage confidently is one of the best things you can do as a teamster. If the horses trust that you are going to make it manageable they will be willing to pull every time. Good luck!
-Brad

Peyton, the tools used to move wood, arches, scoots, go devils etc. all provide wide variables. The wood you move and the terrain, and the distance, all variables. Your only constant here in the experiment is your horse(s). so get to know what they will and can give you spread over whatever time frame you want your workday to be. I think horses feel better when they sense when the job will end. If you keep a schedule to break for lunch and quit around the sametime of day with them, they can set a pace of their own. Outside that framework, they can get balky if they can’t sense the “end of the job”. Works the same with mowing and so on. Once they know what is expected of them they can give you quite a days work. Back to twitching, once you get a feel for what your team will/can do, you can better judge the variables like size and specie of wood and distance and so on. Start with a ridiculously light load, and add on till the start to work and back off a little, and when they start to muscle up, work it up again. Corn is the “high octane” of the horse fuel world, but don’t over do it. Good luck there.