[Gabe Ayers]

I received it as well. Thanks.
-Brad

[Gabe Ayers]

George-
I have had this same question come up when replacing collars. I took in a Belgian in Maine who came with harness, including a pulling style collar. It was certainly bulky and well-made, but I did not see enough of a difference to justify the increased price to purchase one. I have had good luck with well made farm collars, though it is worth investing in a good one. Others with more experience using the pulling style may know more…
-Brad

[Gabe Ayers]

Well I hope Claude is smarter than me, because I did this on a project for fiber optic a few years back (19) and really cheated myself. I priced it by the day instead of by the foot (.25 per ft.) and basically made the contractors thousands of dollars according the the guy from Wisconsin that hired me…after the fact of course. He let me make my own deal but mislead me by saying it would take 10 days…when it only two three to do seven miles complete. If he had paid what he had budgeted by the foot – to pull the strand, cable and wrapper, it would have been worth thousands. We went through some rough company and everyone knows how much fun right of ways are with random debris.

Hope everyone makes as much as they can with their horses, particularly when they are providing a superior service.

Jason

[Gabe Ayers]

John,
Go on down south there and get you some young chesnut geldings. There are plenty and you can’t raise them for what you can buy them for over there either….
We saw plenty of geldings while there. There is a man name Clark near Birmingham that had several candidates. Simon may help you find some over the phone, when he ain’t working 16 hours a day. Hardest working man I know.

Jason

[Gabe Ayers]

John-
Not sure about your three abreast question, as I have only run NE d-ring style on my horses. Also, this harness is well used so given the cost might not make sense. If you remain interested let me know and I will take an exact measure of the hames on the harnesses.
-Brad

[Gabe Ayers]

J-L,
I am impressed with your documentation of the financial gains of using the team versus the tractor. That is the kind of detail we need to convince the rest of the world the horses are the right tool for some jobs, and the only tool for others. Sure are some tasks for which a tractor makes sense, but having those numbers helps make a convincing argument beyond the fact that it is so much more satisfying to work a team rather than sit on a tractor seat all winter.
-Brad

[Gabe Ayers]

Jac-
I have an old set of d-ring team harnesses that came off a pair of big Brabants. They need some TLC but are still very usable.
-Brad
PS – have no idea what it would take to get them to you – might be too much to bother

[Gabe Ayers]

Carl,
I really like this, short and covers it all very well. I only wish I could offer input that would help say it better. I can picture this on the “t-shirt” already. Thanks, Kevin

[Gabe Ayers]

Thanks for posting this, hadn’t seen it yet and didn’t know it was going to air. Some of this hasn’t airred yet, so it may be interesting to see if anyone else sees it.

We are still working on the details of SDAD 2011, probably will be ADAD this time around… if we can pull it all together again.

Best Regards DAP

[Gabe Ayers]

Eastern CT Draft Horse Assoc. and Northwest CT Draft Horse Assoc. Both have web sites and are active clubs. If you need other contact info let me know. Thanks Erika

[Gabe Ayers]

we often use an ax and stout pitchfork to get them started unrolling. Often we keep this degraded material near the barn and used it for bedding in a deep litter method in some of the stalls. We don’t always have enough sawdust, hay chaff or straw for bedding and this beats nothing if you are keeping them in a stall overnight.

[Gabe Ayers]

Here are a few modern southern ones:

snaking logs – meaning weaving in and out around trees with small wood on the ground or saw log sized material on an arch.
scooging – means stepping the log forward a bit to get the suspension just right for proper lift before skidding to the landing.
Chain Monkey – entry level job by an apprentice or low paid helper, the person (trail monkey) that clears skid trails including proper turn around space at the log or stump to attach to log. This work helps a beginner learn the nuances of various attachment methods.
Making a bed – cutting the trees that will be crushed by falling a big tree on them, thereby preventing spring poles and leaving shattered snags sticking up in the woods post harvest. May prevent limbs being thrown back toward the feller.
compound angle skid trail – one that goes up/down and across the hillside a once. Usually requires a bumper put in place to keep logs in the skid trail and not slipping off the edge and cause harder skidding and more danger for the skidder, with our with log arch.
pro-passive water bar – a water diversion method that adds a piece of wood across a finished skid trail instead of digging a traditional water bar which causes more erosion from exposing uniform particle mineral sub soil. The purpose is to divert water from following the disturbance cause by extraction. Works good when former skid trails are ridden over by animals, not favored by folks that ride four wheelers in their woods post harvest.

[Gabe Ayers]

I suspect most of you know this but be careful to dry the rags you use for rubbing in your linseed oil and solvents, they can spontaneously combust if left in a pile. Hang them up to dry in good ventilation.

Jason

[Gabe Ayers]

Ed-
I was always told that one hand laid flat should just fit in beneath the windpipe. I also had an old timer from Maine tell me that no matter what it looks like in terms of gap and hame fit, if it works for the horse it is the right fit. In other words, if the horse works comfortably without rubbing or soreness and the tugs extend from the points of the shoulders, then it fits. He said the rest is just for the teamster, not the horse…just one opinion but it has helped me think about the issue for my team.
-Brad

[Gabe Ayers]

I just returned from five days in Maine in the MOFGA woodlot, a mixed stand of pine, fir, spruce, and hack, mostly low grade. A group of us have been working there for about 10 years now, trying to take out the large, low quality stems to open up space and light for younger, healthier, more economically viable trees. I took my bobsled and MOFGA had a couple of two bunk scoots for us to use. I started my team on the bob, but we quickly realized the scoots were the right tool for that job. The ground is fairly flat there in Unity, and the road from the brows to the landing did not have any tight turns. Also, forwarders with hydraulic grapples were used for most of the loading at the brows and unloading in the landing yard. Bridle chains were not needed and some loads did not get chained at all. As Carl described, the scoot was more suitable for those conditions, but here in VT on steeper ground with tighter turns the bob is more efficient and easier to utilize. I found that with the short logs (mostly 8 foot logs) I did not get as many board feet on each load as when I am able to put longer logs on the bob, but the scoot worked quite well. We took out between 9 and 14 loads a day, up to 6,000+ bf, each day, and the scoots were perfect for that job. I need to build myself a scoot to have in cases were the bob is not a good fit. Now I am back to good old VT with plenty of steeps and turns, and I will go back to the bob for now.

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