[Baystatetom]

With 3 kids playing on 3 different sports teams it is going to be a little tricky but I hope to bring my team again.

~Tom

 

[Baystatetom]

Just read an article that says larva was found in Concord NH.  That is a long way from the infestations in NY, CT, and MA (3-4 hours drive).  My guess is it must be in between as well, we just have not found it yet.  Honestly our ash is in such poor health anyway it could be hard to tell.  The same article states that ash is 6% of NH forests, that is about what I would have guessed for Mass as well.

~Tom

[Baystatetom]

Just heard it has been found in New Hampshire

[Baystatetom]

Kevin Why don’t you come out for the DAP get together in September, then you can bring some home.  My friend that I work with sugaring put 200 taps out 3 weeks later then the rest about 200′ higher in elevation.  Those taps were running well the first half of this week.  Another client of mine retapped half his bush and got a good run this week.  But we all know its the last of it.

~Tom

[Baystatetom]

That is a great little video for nonforestry folks.  I really liked it.  I sent the link to the head of the Massachusetts Forest Alliance encouraging them to make a slightly more New Englandy version.

~Tom

[Baystatetom]

Like Brad said I found I had trouble getting my oxen to walk up the hill multiple times a day on the last job I did.  I started bunching logs at the top of my steep spot and would then pull a monstrous hitch down to the toe of the slope, then pull logs one or two at a time the rest of the way.  Fortunately it wasn’t such a sharp drop off that the logs stayed suspended until they tipped.  I can see how that would be trouble some.  At least with the steers I am driving out front away from the log.

~Tom

[Baystatetom]

The farmers around here used to get “fresh air kids” in the summer.  A kid from inner city New York would come live on the farm in the summer, get some fresh air and help out on the farm.  This one guy lost a ox and hadn’t been able to finish whatever job he was doing so he had his fresh air kid hold up one side of the yoke reassuring him that the ox would do all the work.  Somehow the ox got spooked and took off on a run dragging the kid along until they stopped in a hedge row.  The farmer finally caught up and frantically starts trying to free the kid who starts yelling “I’ll stand, I’ll stand, unhook the ox!”

Tom

[Baystatetom]

The buckets with direct sunlight on them were full today, any shade at all and they were bone dry. I had 12 kids from my neighbors pancake breakfast joint following the sled through the woods collecting buckets and they didn’t care at all how much was in there, so we’ll call it a success anyway.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

My father in law likes to tell about how when he was 12 he was hired for the summer by a local logger whose horses would go out to the header on there own. So he would ride them back into woods for the guy, go fish in the nearby stream for awhile and when he heard them coming down the hill he would go unhook the log and ride them back in. This only lasted a few months as for some reason or other the logger was forced to sell the horses, lost bet or business deal gone bad what have you, and he replaced them with two teams of oxen. I guess the logger was humiliated to have to work with oxen, he thought they were lower class and hated them for it.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I am so envious! I hope someday when my kids are grown and gone I could do something like this.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I have been administering timber harvests for 15 years now and have never seen a tractor/forwarder wagon in use. I am not saying that they wouldn’t be a great addition to a horse crew but that is not the road most crews take when stepping up from a cable skidder or farmi winch. On the other hand moving costs is definitely something to think about, a couple hundred bucks between every job can bite into the profit made by the added production.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

It got me surfing for them as well Erica but I guess I need to find a good kid pair before I start looking for me again. 🙂

[Baystatetom]

Thanks Bill, I’ll just be patient.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I have always said anything crossed with a holstein makes a good ox but in this case I am afraid they would get to tall. My boy is only 6 and I was hoping for something that would stay sort of short. I can get pure bred jersey bulls locally for free, the problem is when they are 2 or 3 years old and its time to start a new pair they have very little resale value for the time and feed put into them. Thanks any how.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

Ben I am curious how are you handling those 500 bdft oak logs now. I see them occasionally and always wonder if my oxen would be able to get them to the header. Down hill on snow I suppose but for some reason uphill in the mud seams to the more common situation.
~Tom

[Author]

Posts