[Claddagh Farms]

Thanks all for the replies! They have been very instructive.

I re-raked the field yesterday, with new eyes and learned a lot. Perhaps it was the amount the boys had done the day before or knowing that for everyone’s sake things needed to go smoother, both the lads performed flawlessly raking.

It probably doesn’t hurt that I not only adjusted my attitude, but also made several mechanical improvements…..

Geoff, yes, those rear wheels are a bugger when the turn sideways or stick! I also re-adjusted the inner bar height to be as high as possible–it still drags, but vastly less so. The rake is in near-mint condition for being a 1938, but there have been some modifications/ repairs to it which probably didn’t have the benefit of a manual or mechanical experience. I found once I had undone all the field-made repairs and replaced proper sized bolts and re-calibrated all the bars to be at the same tooth angle, things went much smoother.

George, thanks for reminding me!! I had meant to ease all the edges of the tongue, but skipped that step in getting the machine to the field.

Donn, my yoke and evener are matched 48″, which is why I was surprised they were having trouble turning it. But yesterday I learned a bit more….. day 1 I followed the line of the mower–1st pass counter clockwise to roll away from the fence, all others clockwise. In going clockwise, there was a short, steep section at the beginning of each run at one of the narrow ends of the triangular field. At the top of this run was a right angle turn followed by two long stretches. It was at the first turn and this second turn the horses were balking. Because they were both having fits I assumed–maybe partly correct–that it was my gear. I think Jack–my newer, younger (14) boy–was the problem. He was fighting the turns, slapping into the tongue, riding up on the yoke, bringing Tony–who is more dependable–up short and refusing to work with such a moron.

Yesterday, in re-rolling the whole field I went counterclockwise without out ANY trouble. This way, Jack was the inside horse and knew enough to lean out and step away in the turns. Tony with more experience on all sorts of equipment could pace himself into the turns. I didn’t have to back up once. All the turns were easy–broad or tight–and we rake the field casually. There was still too much draft at times as there is no way to raise the inside of the bar any higher and it was raking the ground pretty hard, but I lessened the outer height so it was rolling the windrows easier.

The good news is my next field is long and level, so of there is a problem with right-hand, clockwise turns we can work on them better without the added hassle of elevation changes and slope.

[Claddagh Farms]

I lasted in the game this year a bit longer….had a good run over last weekend and finished boiling off on Monday. Watched for more sap, but I guess my heart just wasn’t in it….. Too many other things pressing in on all sides now that the season is early.

I dumped my buckets today and pulled my taps and lines in. As I suspected, there was hardly any sap there. Yesterday I noticed the red maples are budding up and today I saw a hint among the sugar maples…..Hate to have such an early season, but standing over a hot sap pan pouring the wood to a fire on these warm days just don’t seem right….:rolleyes:

My trees are between 100 & 160 years old, in an exposed sunny place. It’s no wonder they gave in early. Those further up the mountain or in the woods might see a bit more sap during the cold spell this weekend.

Now on to pruning orchards, getting ready for next week’s lambing spree, and cleaning up some downed logs out in the woods and working the boys together to get ready for plowing…..and then there’s a couple miles of fence to walk and 3 or 4 more to build before grazing and haying….dang…I feel cheated!! Sitting by the boiler, reading & sipping coffee for a few weeks is my winter’s vacation…done got stole from us this year….

[Claddagh Farms]

I got ambitious yesterday while boiling sap and took the plow apart. It was amazing to see under the layers of forest green spray paint and rust, the faintest hint of the original red color of the plow.

[Claddagh Farms]

Thanks for letting me know about the plowing clinic. I doubt I can make it…although it would be nice to bring the team down and play. I’m hoping to have a go with the plow by then here. Hopefully I can talk Elmin Mitchell into working with me for the first few furroughs.

I’m sure we can work something out…it would be great to make that catalog available to a wider audience!

[Claddagh Farms]

We’re almost a month earlier to finish here too…. I was all set to quit, but the buckets were full of clear sap yesterday so we boiled another gallon. I doubt we will get even half of what we got last year, but at least we’ll have enough for the farm….

[Claddagh Farms]

Things seem over here as well…. had a great run early last week and then….and then…nothing. I’ve seen and heard of more people dumping cloudy sap this year. Old timer who brings vegetables…and now HD equipment :cool:….to the dooryard said he got nothing this year and people are packing it in all over our part of Waldo.

Not a night below freezing predicted for over a week, and high temps all the while… time to boil off what’s in the pan and clean up. Barely got a third of last year. Oh well…time to build that shed, restore the plows, spread manure, mill some wood and work on into the season!

[Claddagh Farms]

Erika, thanks for pointing me to Ben’s Mill!! What a great piece…..brought back a ton of memories working with my Father In Law at his sawmill…..Henry was very similar to Ben…they could have been brothers! I learned most of my forging, milling, building, tinkering, machining skills from Henry as a young man.

Plus Ben’s Mill gave me a window into a few things I very much would like to do…..AND I think I will be making my own plow share bolts!

Thanks again!

I will DM you to remind you about the plow catalog…Can you scan it? I would be interested in seeing the 442 walking plow, and their two-way plow. I have 2 two-way sulkies. One is a Syracuse pre-1900, and the other is a JD/Syracuse hybrid from post 1905…..

All the best,

Neal

[Claddagh Farms]

Does anyone know of a source for the square bolts to hold the mouldboard, landside, etc on with? Or can one modify carriage bolts with a grinder?

I’ve got 3 weeks before my plowing mentor returns from Florida, and I’d like to get this operational before he gets here, so I can get hints from him without using up too much of his own plowing time…..

[Claddagh Farms]

I have a sandy patch I might try to draw it through with a single, but really it is not set right for that. I need to break it all down and clean it up, craft some new handles for it before I try. I’ll be working the team together soon to get them in condition before plowing, and then I’ll give them a shot on this thing, provided I can get it operable soon.

Interesting note….these handles aren’t original but appear to be from the 40’s. They must have been stock handles for another plow because there are additional holes which have been plugged. I also haven’t seen any plows with two types of handle stays–round & flat stock. But then I haven’t found many examples of Syracuse plows…. I would love to see the 1899 Syracuse Chilled Plow Catalog but can’t find a copy to buy or view. My feeling is that this plow is quite old but its owner stopped using it in the 50’s sometime and now I own it…..

If anyone more recently had tried to use it, they would be sorely disappointed because it has been mal-adjusted and either lost shims or become loose. Narry a bolt on the thing is tight, although they are all rusted solid!

[Claddagh Farms]

Thanks for the replies. I phoned them up with my wish list of parts…a good three times what I paid for the cultivator!! Now I’ve got to adjust my desires down to reality…. But they did seem to have very good prices and options.

[Claddagh Farms]

Are these English Shepherds? The name sounds familiar, like it is a specific line of the English. I have 2 and a Border. The ES is a generalist while the Border is a specialist…..Borders are very focused on one thing and one thing only. English Shepherds are noted for their traits of Herding, Hunting & Guarding. They should do all equally well, but some have stronger points than others.

The stories of these dogs going back to the 1800’s are amazing at what they can and will do. From experience, my dogs have saved me a lot of grief from vermin & livestock loss. They will work the animals, herd if necessary, keep track of lost chickens or rats under the barn and warn off coyotes.

Often my bitch will disappear for a time and return to get me. She usually shows up a chicken or goose caught in the fence or a pig in trouble. I can trust her around all the stock. Our male is an excellent guard dog, tame around the animals, but his hunting drive is stronger than anything. He once tracked pigs for hours for us when some escaped.

[Claddagh Farms]

Yup…GW is up the road from me.
I just picked up a Mc/D new 4 culitvator & JD 2-way plow from a fella in Stetson who has a 4 person sleigh built at the prison. It’s too bug chewed to use for anything but a pattern, and he wanted way too much for it, or I would have picked it up as well….. I didn’t get a chance to look at his harness, but it probably was all belly backer…..

[Claddagh Farms]

What a great thread!!

I chose the D-Ring years ago based on information presented on this site. Then I moved to Maine.
The farm I bought here has been around since the 1790’s at least, although not in it’s present state. The house I live in was built in 1840. Montville supplied the shipping industry in Belfast with wood workers, tool smiths, blacksmiths and all sorts working in the town. The original barn for this farm was huge by all accounts. It was in great dis-repair in the 60’s when it was burnt/torn down. Apparently it held a veritable museum of local craft & harness parts. A sad loss to this discussion.

There are some photos of various owners in the late 1800’s in front of the farm with their horses. I am trying to track them down. I will work harder now, to see what sort of harness these horses are in.

When I asked Elmin Mitchel over to help me hook my horse, one day, he was surprised to see a “Yankee Harness”. He said no one ever uses them any more and they were a rare thing to begin with. He congratulated me on my choice. He started working on my farm in 1939, aged 10. He kept on working here because of the teams and the harness. The farmer he worked for was older and had ties to the farm dating back to the owner of the house in the 1890’s. I’ll ask Elmin if he can remember the D-ring being used on this farm, in this part of Maine when he was young. I’ll also check into the photos.

The D-Ring is perfect for my farm in particular as it all slopes down hill. I’ve often wondered why they built the new, better house where they did in the 1840’s, on the middle of a ridge. It is very well laid out. Someone spent a lot of time discerning where the sun fell during the year to choose building and field placement. But the long, uphill drive, which at one point must have been circular for wagons and sleighs to pull up in front of the main entry, screams for the D-ring’s benefits. It’s a hard pull uphill for one horse, and trouble going down. I won’t pull my manure spreader down hill on the drive with the team fully loaded, least it run up on them. I couldn’t imagine a taking the family out in the sleigh with ice underfoot, as must have once been done.

[Claddagh Farms]

Ben, thanks for bumping this thread. I was thinking about this topic the other day. I haven’t had a chance to ask my friends at MOFGA what they think/do yet either.

I am not only transitioning to Certified Organic this year–have always been, but am making it formal now on a new farm–this will be the first year I attempt to cultivate every aspect of our crops with horses….

I have been made aware of the 120 day rule for manure…never minded it much before and nothing came of it. I dumped a ton of rabbit manure on the garden last year, in between rows, as I cultivated it and BAM everything took off right up til harvest. It was mid-season. No one got sick, no manure reached the mature plants and what might have was washed away by rain, sun & processing.

I was sort of figuring this year, with the team, on letting it ride. I will be spreading composted manure before planting. Anything the horses drop is negligible then. Planting and first 2 cultivations, while the plants are small, are still 3-4 months from harvest. Anything dropped mid-summer could have the spot flagged in the row and the vegetables kept for personal use. Both my boys are used to being bagged as former cart & carriage horses, but what a bother.

The other option is working on getting the horses to not shit while in the row. I’m having some luck with my lead boy, telling him to hold it for a few more feet–I hate setting a choker he’s just crapped and dragged through. Sawing a log on the mill with frozen horse shit on it isn’t much fun either….. He’s learning–or re-learning–that he can crap while at rest, not while pulling. We’ve got a long way to go, and it really helps having a small buddy to kiss his nose and feed him a cookie when he does the right thing, while I’m paying attention to lines, log placement and everything else…. Horses are very trainable, and if a cow can learn not to crap in the stanchion while being milked–startle them once and they’ll hold it for a half-hour longer–then a horse should easily be able to learn when it’s acceptable to go or not.

[Claddagh Farms]

Been froze up for days here in Waldo County. No sap running, buckets frozen solid. All my storage is frozen. Looks like it will warm up enough by the weekend to get things moving again. Felled some dandy clear ash logs in the meanwhile. Going to mill a bunch of poles, tongues, eveners and sled parts soon.

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