[Donn Hewes]

Register is the same as timing. Making sure your knife and guards are lining up with each stroke. I couldn’t agree more with Jay about the little bits of slop adding to the draft. In repairing hard working Amish mowers it is really clear that those little bits of slop get in the best mower just from hard working conditions. When not addresses immediately they not only add draft but quickly also lead to a mower break down. This time of year, everyone wants pitman straps, bearings, plates, sticks and the knife head rivets have come loose from the knife. All these things started with a little slop in a hard working mower that kept working to finish the field.

[Donn Hewes]

Must be some kind of record! Baling in the rain today. Sprinkles for 20 minutes while we continued to bale. The sky over our head was blue, but the sprinkles kept coming anyway. Now I will watch the bales for a few days. I always tell people how much I enjoy hay making, as my friends point out; it isn’t always obvious. Maybe we will try again in a few days. the borrowed horses took to the baler without missing a step. I hope we get some better hay making weather soon, this 225 bales was pulled from the jaws of defeat at every turn.

[Donn Hewes]

Finally think we can bale some hay tomorrow! Mowed on Friday, rained 1/4″ on Sat, tedded today, and will likely ted 10 am tomorrow if need be. Then rake and bale. It might make 300 bales off 4 acres? I can see where we will be able to mow again before next weekend though. Hopefully we can make a bigger piece then. This summer I have borrowed a horse, so introducing her to work (she had about 3 or 4 years off) and all the tools. So far she has been great, but tomorrow I will introduce her to the motorized PTO. I will let you know what she thinks of that. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

Once again, not a lot of direct experience in this; but lots of plans to build one as several friends want one. I personally think a converted #7 or #9 would make a great one horse mower. I would make the mower bar length based on the number of acres to be mowed, hills? type, size, and temperament of horse. I believe some big horses could handle a five foot bar, for short periods on small acreages. For bigger fields, for more hours of mowing I would shorten it to 4 or 4 1/2 feet. One of the big challenges with a long bar is not strictly the power required, but the side draft created. I see this clearly using a 7 foot bar and a team. The single horse in shafts would not experience this to the same extent.

[Donn Hewes]

I have worked very little with the rubber tires, but I am pretty sure that the best steel wheels will have better traction than the rubber. You are right that the condition of the tires or wheels is critical to the performance of the mower. The longer the bar, the more important the wheel conditions are. I run seven foot bars, and with the mowing we are facing now I was a little dubious, but yesterday we made a few trips around (stll way! to wet – we stopped when we hit the standing water), I was glad to see it was still possible for us to mow this heavy, wet tangled mess. We will face some plugging, but once or twice per lap is just enough to rest the horses. To run in these conditions mowers must be perfectly set up and maintained. I have never minded the ride from a mower, but I use a sheep skin on the seats.

60% chance of rain tomorrow!

• This reply was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by Donn Hewes.

[Donn Hewes]

This week I watched as my Amish neighbors put a few loads in their barns. Not really a good week for making bales here, but that little extra drying time for the baled hay made a difference. Yesterday morning as it was raining I visited a couple farmers that still had two wagons in the mow to unload. Nice hay, but even that loose hay was really as dry as they would like it.

I always like to point out when mowing conditions will be particularly challenging, and the need for the best tuned mowers will be. Sitting in my housing drinking tea! I can see clearly that the 6 acres in front will be terrible to mow. A fertile piece with second cutting coming up through the first, all lodged and laying in every direction. I will be sure to report once I get started. Until then I will be the guy with his head under his pillow! D

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Jake and Emma, Glad to hear no one was hurt. You did well to get them back to work after the mishap. That can be a real challenge. I have often written and talked about working the calm horse. It is not every horse or every second of the day, but the great thing for me in working calm horses is they give me plenty of warning when things are not as they should be.

I also think that in how I work horses, I am helping horses to relax and be calm. In that way I can create the animals I want. Of course they are all different, some more relaxed than others. I have one old horse that will be head up no matter what. I am a mix of relaxed and direct, horses in harness know every second that I am in control. Easy to say, but it is not always easy to practice.

Good Luck with your horses and don’t hesitate to let us know if we can be of help, Donn

[Donn Hewes]

My hay making window is still not that great. Chance of showers almost everyday and high temps of only 70, but at some point you just have to start. Unless the forecast changes for the worse I think I will mow 6 or 8 acres tomorrow. Wishing you all luck, Donn

[Donn Hewes]

Sorry to hear about the loss of a good horse. While we think of them as farm animals and work animals; it is impossible to learn from them, and come through some close calls with them, and enjoy some great successes with them and not have some feeling for them. The best ones don’t stay as long as we would like. talk to you soon, Donn

[Donn Hewes]

It would be interesting to hear from Sam Rich or some of our other most experienced plowmen on this question. I would guess that many folk with two way plows of all types see a difference between one direction and the other. I have known some that couldn’t or wouldn’t use the offending side.

With a one way plow you can always make small changes to make the horses spacing and plow travel just that tiny bit better. But with a two way you have to be careful not to improve one direction while making the other worse. One thing folks sometime forget is how the off horse can throw off a plow. Walking close, or facing out; in front or behind, will all move the plow a little. So if the lines, and hitch and everything is all set up to encourage one direction to be perfect, the difference between the two horses might make it hard to get the same result at the same time in the other direction.

Just brain storming here. Trying to be distracted while my wife digs a thorn out of my hand! I have never owned or used two way plow, but only tried to help a couple friends on different occasions; usually when it worked better in one direction than the other. D

There are really very few things that we do that are asymmetrical in this way. Even in something as precise as cultivating, if you made a slight adjustment for a slight difference between animals, it would remain consistent as you went up and down the rows.

[Donn Hewes]

I will recommend a book and some videos, but first i have to say, the best, safest, way to get started is to find someone to work with. I know it can be hard to find folks that are doing what you want to do, and willing to take the time to share what they know; but it is my belief that difficulty doesn’t change the basic nature of the craft you wish to practice. It is a multi faceted endeavor that lends it self to learning in stages and gradually putting the pieces together.

The book I would recommend is Lynn Miller’s Training horses / Training teamsters (check out smallfarmersjournal.com) and the videos I would recommend are from Doc Hammill. dochammill.com

Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have questions or we can help in any way, Good luck. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Miriam, Unfortunately the pictures don’t come up. I will pass that on to Daniel as you are not the only one with that problem. I am imagining a grease hub that pushed grease under the wheel as it was turned in? There might be a way to add a grease fitting to the wheel itself and then drill the axle? and put on with heavy washers and bolt or pin. I guess finding a replacement wheel might be the best repair, but something else would also be possible. D

[Donn Hewes]

Erika, Thanks for doing that. I was wishing this great FB thread could be moved here but it was beyond me. It was fun and interesting to read. I love the analogy of children when thinking about horses (most parents think I don’t have clue!). Of course we would want to study their psychology and physiology, but the ones who always do the best with kids are those that will let go of all that and be in the moment. Tall order sometimes.

[Donn Hewes]

I don’t think you have done anything “wrong”. Putting horses together and hitching them for the first time is hard work. It takes effort and you are doing it. A couple things to remember about team lines and one horse being in front of the other. When the offending horse is trying to stay a few inches or a foot in front of the other horse (I won’t use the term teammate yet!), The lines in each of your hands are only going to the horse in front. Look at the slack created for the horse behind. This is often not well understood by beginning teamsters. Folks expect correcting the offending horse to turn the team in a circle or upset the horse behind. It doesn’t need to. You can use both hands; with pulses or gentle pressure to put the offending horse back where it belongs, and drive straight while doing it. Always try to give release or partial release as a reward for the effort to relax and work along side the other horse.

Sometimes a quiet (not leader type) will continue to back off as you slow the horse in front, and this can be the “upset the other horse” you are talking about. Here is one other little trick I like to use. With your stone boat or a log you have the freedom to walk where ever you want. This is very handy in the initial phase of starting these two different horses together. Just by stepping behind the slower horse you are moving it forward and exaggerating the lines ability to communicate with the forward horse while the other horse enjoys a light line. I always start the single horses getting use to me driving from each side and moving back and forth while they are moving. Then this is available to me as I hitch a team together so I can fine tune the pressure to each animal with my body placement. Moving myself left, right, and center is just like adjusting my lines three times.

Ultimately it comes down to your hands convincing the forward horse that you want it to relax. Reward each attempt in that direction. They will make a nice team. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Canoe Tomah, That is a good start. Not sure how much input you want on that, but there are some things there I would be careful with. You might already know all this. First, every time I hook to something new I consider it’s possible effect on the animals. A stone boat on the road is not bad, I would have looked for something slightly heavier, and slightly quieter, for my first hook. Being out on a gravel road seems to be a good place. I would also look for a place that has plenty of room to go should they go further than you planned.

Did the black settle into the work after while? Being in front of the other horse to that extent is a risk. It will happen when you are starting a green horse, but you need to recognize the risk. Getting the lines back inside between the horses will help, but this may not be easy as long as the black is reacting the way it is. As long as one is pulling in front of the other like that be careful.

Perhaps that horse settled down right after the video was shot. Keep up the good work and good luck.

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