[Carl Russell]

I’m sorry, Marchand, I just can’t make out the gist of your contributions, and I’m verging on discomfort. Could you please try to put your offerings in a written style that is more to the point? I’m sure we could all benefit. Thanks, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Hello Ivy, welcome to DAP. Your ambition to use a cow or single ox is an honorable goal,we need more people putting together power systems like that. Good luck, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Welcome Artie, Great to have you here, we look forward to hearing how things develop in your enterprise. Carl

[Carl Russell]

I am a firm believer in getting one horse as a good place to start. I can not see the logic in the answer described by Jean. There is no way that any teamster should be led to believe that safety be based on the possibility that one of your horses might be more level-header than the other, nor that working them will somehow be easier because they are inclined to moderate each others behaviour.

The beauty of working one horse is that the teamster can concentrate on just one animal. The communication with that animal can be perfected, without the distraction and needs of the second horse. That way there are far fewer possibilities that there will be any problems. (Rod, you may be able to relate to this because of your experience with the steers)

As far as the workability of a single vs. a team, there are many farm tasks that really don’t require a team. There is a huge pastoral aesthetic associated with a team, and therefore it seems to be the ultimate choice. Obviously there is the matter of making sure there are shafts on everything, rather than poles, but buying forecarts and such, or building them, with the capability designed into them to accommodate both is an option.

For jobs like spreading manure, or pulling wagons or sleds, you will need to size down to the capacity of the single animal, but the work can get done handily. There are very few jobs that can’t be done with the single. Only for those long skids with a loaded sled do I really feel that I HAVE to have a team.

I strongly recommend buying a single horse to begin with, and structuring the horse-power portion of your farm around the single animal, you may never need a second. Carl

[Carl Russell]

Yup, it is a bit frustrating, but I’m staying on top of it, and it actually shows how popular this site is becoming!! Please hang in there, thanx, Carl

[Carl Russell]

I am an example of what Jason refers to as more than just a horse logger, but not because I can’t make ends meet in the woods. I personally have so many interests, and find myself consumed with my own land-use enterprises that I practice a lifestyle that I saw all around me when I was growing up, that of a self-employed person who works for himself first, and works out in many different capacities. However, I find this strategy not so much necessary, as preferable to the culturally prescribed alternative of a specialized career.

In terms of horselogging economics, and forest improvement, I think that all of the factors that Jason includes in the equation are valuable and important, but I see more and more landowners thinking about forestland purely in terms of financial forest assets. We are in for a difficult time for convincing people that there are ecological, cultural, as well as financial benefits to timber harvest, with or without horses.

We are up against years of forestry practices that have focused entirely on timber harvest to recover financial assets, with little regard to what it takes to ensure the same in the future, let alone ecological/environmental values. Pure and simply, for years I have conducted forest improvement timber harvests, by charging a reasonable rate, and focusing on improving growing stock with minimal impact on ecological integrity. That said, I have affected such a small number of acres, and minds, that I am still seen as an anomaly.

I have let so many landowners go because of exactly the situation that Simon describes. I would have charged by the hour for non-commercial thinning, and they would have realized an incredible increase in growth rate and quality, but they were only capable of focusing on the short-term.

If I hadn’t been working so hard over the last ten years to develop an enterprise where Lisa and I can concentrate on earning from our own land, I would find it very discouraging to be out there knocking my head against the wall of current forestry mentality.

When it will happen, I can’t say. I have been thinking it would happen for nearly thirty years now. I think many of us see the truth, but holding on financially while trying to maintain a working philosophy that we know makes sense is extremely difficult. As fuel prices rise, and food prices rise, and costs of living in general rise, our natural power and sustainable/renewable/restorative land-use practices will increase in value, but who can forecast how long we will have to endure. This is why it is so important to diversify our income streams and simplify our lifestyles, so we can hold on to our skills and equipment and knowledge.

I don’t question anyone who needs to take on work that may not meet their finest ideals. We all have to do what we need to do. At least clear-cutting or high-grading using horses is presenting a practical example of sustainable power. Every little bit helps. Carl

[Carl Russell]

Recently we had a local school class come to interview us about our power system. In preparing for that I calculated our average daily electrical usage. We have a Tri-metric meter that keeps track of several facets of the power system, including total amp-hours used. We average 1625 watt-hours per day. It has been a while since I actually looked at an electric bill, but this is quite a bit less than the typical home, and may give others some context for my assertion about conservation.

Our daughter has been incubating and hatching chicks this year (trying to break ties with the genetic monopolies). Just having the incubator on, with one or two 75 watt light bulbs on 24-7, has doubled our daily electrical use.

We are adding another 350 watts of solar panels this spring. There goes the economic stimulus!! Carl

[Carl Russell]

Woodland owners need to understand that timber resources are financial assets that increase in value when cultivated to improve growth rate and quality. To think that they can just get a return from the development of such an asset without investment is ridiculous. There have to be forestry operations that cost more than they return in the process of improving a timber stand. Don’t feel bad about needing to make money. If we all work for nothing, there is no guarantee that the forest will be managed any better. Sell your services for what they cost, and don’t be afraid to tell forestland owners the real costs of growing timber. Carl

[Carl Russell]

Mark, for most of my haying experience I have used side-delivery rakes, but for a couple of years while my colt was developing I used my mare on a dump rake. It is excellent work for a single horse. It can take a little getting used to because most of the time we are driving axles that are only about 4 feet long and a dump rake can seem pretty unruly. You will want to “practice” some before you try to beat a thunder shower. I found that I had to get used to how much hay to try to gather at once, because once you start losing hay, you have to go back over that area. I think light hay works best, as many old timers will recount days of raking “scatterin’s” as a child on a dump rake with some old retired woods horse.
I found if I started on one side of the field and worked across dumping at even intervals I could build windrows that I would mow up by hand to gather with the wagon.

One big draw-back, after growing up around side-delivery rakes, is that with a dump rake you lose that last tedding, as the dump just clumps the hay up and doesn’t really fluff it up one last time like you get when you roll up windrows with the SD. Good luck, and practice, Carl

[Carl Russell]

We are very sorry for the recent on-slaught of spammers. We may need to implement another field on the registration, but until then I will continue to manually remove the inappropriate posts, and banning the offenders. Thanks for all your genuine interest and contributions! Carl

[Carl Russell]

Stew, to load logs on a wagon, the bed should not be much more than two bunks 7’6″ apart (6×6 or 8×8), positioned so that the top of the bunk is above the top of the tires. This way the bed won’t be too high, for loading and for center of gravity. Using two skids (4″ dia. poles) 12′ long you can roll logs on with a peavey, or with the animals using a parbuckle (looping chain under log and back across the wagon). Also decking the logs beside your trail so that you can load from an elevated header will give you great advantage. Use long chains to wrap and bind the logs down.

A Nova Scotian Horse Logger described a logging conveyance to me that I built and used many times for long wood. I call it a “bunk-cart”. It is a single axle with a sturdy bunk attached that tops out just level with the tops of the tires. Back the cart against the butt end of the tree so that both wheels are touching the bole of the tree about three feet shy of the butt. Wrap a choker on the log, at the mid-point between wheels, that attaches to the center of the bunk. As the animals move forward, veer toward the butt, which will draw the butt tight against the wheel on that side. Because the cart is going forward the wheel is turning up from in back and lifts the log as it turns. As the log reaches the top of the tire turn completely in the same direction and bring the bunk under the log. Wrap an bind it tight and you’ve got a good jag that will move easily with little ground damage.

Godd luck, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Welcome Stewart,
I have fond memories of making acquaintances with ox teamsters on the South Shore. Where abouts are you? Know anybody around Pleasantville, or Bridgewater area? Sounds like you have great plans, keep us up to date, and good luck, Carl

[Carl Russell]

At first I thought you were trying to protect yourself from rolling over!! I make the rolls on my sleds out of 4×8 hardwood stock (sometimes 2-2×8’s bolted together), and taper down to 4″ steel bands. If your runners are long like 8′, then you may want it a bit ruggeder(?). The most important part will be the steel rod that must be at least 3/4″ and “cold rolled” hardened steel so it will last the shucking. Old silo bands are a good source to cut them to length, they are already threaded on one end. Also cross bolt every place you put a bolt that will bear weight to prevent splitting. The hitch hook should also wrap around the beam and bolt back up through the base of the pole so that the pull won’t roll the roll. If the draft is only on the top of the roll it will put too much stress on the bolts and A-frame. By having the hook on a bracket or staple that holds the roll perpendicular to the draft, you can take full advantage of the dimensions of your roll. Good luck, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Jason, I found one on a stonewall 20+ years ago and have been using it ever since. The pole had been sawn off and hitched behind a tractor so one of the beams is bent, perhaps because it is soft like Neal said, but even with the bent beam I can plow pretty well each way. The springs in the lifters ate worn out so I have to lift manually, oh well. I had to take off the wheels and put spacers in to take out some wobble, but I think the rig is pretty well built, I don’t see any place where it can fall apart without you knowing it.
Carl

[Carl Russell]

Tevis, yeah you’ll want to make sure that the point of draft at the bottom of the staple where the ring swings is about 2/3 the depth of the bows so that the yoke tips forward when they pull. That way they can get under it to lift, otherwise it will ride back and up under their necks. But I think that your description indicates that his biggest problem is between his ears. Have fun, Carl

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