[bendube]

Won’t make it this year, but I had a blast last year. Hope to do it in the future.

[bendube]

Kevin- I think we miss a word sometimes- we’re “working ON the boys” not just working them. Its pretty incredible how quickly someone can train an animal to do the wrong things when they are “working them, not training them.”

Carl- I understand what you’re saying. Sometimes I do think I’m “tricking” them which I agree is not the way to find improvement. On the other hand, we only get to end a session once, and if the perfect time to do that comes at a spot that is inconvenient or odd for the working process, then, depending on the day and the conditions, I might have to take that opportunity.

Based on the last few sessions, I’d definitely recommend fall plowing as a great time to start with a team and/or teamster that hasn’t plowed before- no hurry, 5 months of weathering ahead to smooth the field out for harrowing, and the planting season still far away out, of sight, out of mind. Makes it much easier to keep the team as the real focus.

Makes me want to revise something that Wendell Berry wrote (I don’t have the text in front of me, so I’m paraphrasing): The three greatest crops are the mind of the farmer, the condition of the soil and the trust of the team. If a farmer achieves a crop, by belittling himself, degrading her soil, or confusing his team, she has gained nothing, and must start again next year, diminished.

[bendube]

Kevin, I go even a step further sometimes- I will leave the harrow in the middle of the field. I know its a little inconvenient, but I can finish it up the next day.

I’ve read that if you leave the plow in the field, its best for the share and the moldboard to be left in the ground, so I ended the last work session with the plow 80 ft from the end. They had walked the previous 100 ft perfectly in the furrow at the right pace with scarcely a word from me. Seemed like a good note to end on!

It also makes a very nice visual to show students how the plow works.

[bendube]

Hi Erika,
Loving your little plow! We’ll try to send along some pictures.

I’m going to try adjusting the ring staple on the yoke over towards the off ox to help with the side draft. It goes over about an inch. I’m not sure if that’s going to good by straightening out the line of draft, or mess the animals up by having them work less effectively. Does that seem like a decent idea? I’ll report back.

[bendube]

That sound fascinating. Can you provide a link??

[bendube]

Oh, and one more thing: if you’re serious about oxen on sloping ground, maybe you should become the first person in the US to breed Dzho- yak-cattle hybrids for work. Supposedly the mules of the Himalayas.

I’m not sure that I’m serious about that.

[bendube]

That IS a doozy.
How steep is sloping? How wide are the path’s/beds

Some issues to think about:
1.) If you are keeping animals on the farm, the steepest open land should be pasture. So that may remove some of the issue.
2.) Usually to me, permanent beds means controlled traffic (don’t walk or drive on the beds). Depending on the width of the beds and paths, then it could be really difficult to have oxen pull equipment over beds without they themselves walking in the beds. There would be ways, but I wouldn’t recommend them.

3.) If the areas that the animals work are very clearly delineated, (i.e. grass vs bare dirt) the animals should, over time become easier to drive as they know where they need to be.
4.) I don’t think cultivating would be super difficult (unless its very steep), since you’d probably want to do it with 2 people anyway. You’d want a riding cultivator and/or a walkbehind cultivator. If you like to tinker, antiques of both can be found lying around for cheap, and a couple manufacturers make new ones.

Good luck.

[bendube]

send me a message: dubeben2 at greenmtn dot edu

I think the pm function may have been lost in the switchover.

[bendube]

Thanks Erika,
Our boys are still a little out of shape from their 2 year hiatus from work (4-H team that had been living with heifers and dry cows at a dairy), so the 14″ riding plow is a bit of a struggle, even set shallowly.
They wander a bit side-to-side as they struggle, and spend most of their time blowing. I hope we can work up to our large plow, but I think the small plow would be more pleasant for all involved right now.

-Ben

[bendube]

The potato attachment works quite well.

[bendube]

Nice job putting that tool together! Looks like everybody had a good time.

Thanks for sharing this work and please let us know how this field plays out next year.

[bendube]

I’m to understand that one issue in sub-soiling in New England is soil moisture. If you’re trying to really bust up hardpan, the soil should be dry so that the chisel shatters the hardpan. If its too wet, the tool will cause smearing instead. This year especially, getting the subsoil dry enough could be very difficult. On our fairly wet bottomland soils, its a pretty rare year that we don’t have a lot of subsoil moisture. Also, if the pan is usually wet, then this means the biodrilling would work more easily, roots would penetrate easily.

Cool project, excited to see the results.

[bendube]

Vetch has killed cattle when they feed on it in large amounts over a moderately long period (more than a week.) I believe it is less toxic to horses, and it certainly would be subject to a lot of dilution (hay, grain, and the rye.)

https://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2004/winter/vetch.asp

If this issue concerns you and you think you might want to graze cover crops in the future, crimson clover could replace hairy vetch.

We grazed down our rye with the cattle this year, and that worked quite well for us.

[bendube]

The economist in me thinks that the right price is somewhere between the farmer’s costs to feed the dry cows and your costs to do so. If you think their costs might be pretty high, then start with $1.25.

It seems like the grass is “Free” because you have too much and the increase in labor isn’t a lot for moving them.

Are they beef cows or dairy? If they are dairy cows, that could be a lot of handling to do as some cows get near to calving and others dry off. Do you have good facilities for loading/unloading?

Its pretty easy to imagine loading and unloading cows all the time taking enough labor for $1/day to not be profitable.

[bendube]

I was just out tinkering with the mower getting it ready, and I’m pretty sure that the gauge wheel could be attached where the shoe attaches. Later this summer, we’ll probably try attaching the wheel. If no one else tries before, I’ll let you know how it works.

Also, our mower (a Deere #4) can’t mow in transport, because the pitman arm runs into another piece of the mower. I don’t know if this was an intentional safety feature or an oversight in the design.

[Author]

Posts