[Ethan Tapper]

Thanks for the advice, Lanny and George (and for that video, Lanny… Day’s not over when you break your pole, at least not when there’s a stick of hop hornbeam around!). I’d just as soon shave a sapling pole for myself, but my boss wants it really nice (which is good, because it’ll make me have to figure out how to do it really nice). I don’t want to make you all run out and measure the pole on your forecarts, but if you’re in the woods with your logging tape, run a tape on it and let me know how long they are… I’m interested in not seeing pole length as an absolute but really understanding how it can vary, what that means, and what people are trying with regards to poles.

I’ve always seen ash poles, but I’m wondering why that is… Is there any reason besides the fact that it’s a light wood that tends to grow straight and is pretty easy to work? Maybe because it can bend a little? Any one have any experience using other woods?

[Ethan Tapper]

For those of you who are interested in the newsletter, a DAPNet individual membership includes a subscription to our quarterly print newsletter as well as free classified ads in it. For those of you with businesses, a business membership (including listing on our Web Business Directory) is a good option.

Also for those of us with businesses, we are also currently offering discounted rates for those who commit to advertising in each of our quarterly newsletters, and we are seeking sponsors for DAPNet’s upcoming exciting events. Support DAPNet, receive our newsletters and reach out to this great community! Our mission isn’t possible without your support.

Join or contact us online at draftanimalpowernetwork.org.

Thanks, and welcome to the network!

[Ethan Tapper]

Thanks to all those who have become new members or renewed their DAPNet memberships. We still need help, though. Please become a member today and support the upkeep of this forum, as well as all the other services DAPNet provides to the draft animal community.

[Ethan Tapper]

Thanks to all those who have become new members or renewed their DAPNet memberships. We still need help, though. Please become a member today and support the upkeep of this forum, as well as all the other services DAPNet provides to the draft animal community.

[Ethan Tapper]

Thanks to those of you who have responded and become members of DAPNet. For everyone else, we look forward to hearing from you!

[Ethan Tapper]

Thanks to those of you who have responded and become members of DAPNet. For everyone else, please join this organization and continue to support all the positive work DAPNet is doing.

[Ethan Tapper]

I’ll be there.

[Ethan Tapper]

Sounds good. I’ll do that from now on.

[Ethan Tapper]

Can we do it without the webmaster? Jen said she was having trouble contacting the DAPNet.org web guy.

I’ll update the home page, where it says membership and upcoming events are 2011 NEAPFD.

[Ethan Tapper]

Me neither I could do saturday night.

[Ethan Tapper]

I’ll assume we’ll meet on the usual number for this meeting, unless anyone has researched a better option.

[Ethan Tapper]

I don’t know if you get Northern Woodlands magazine, but there was an article in a recent one about a guy in Connecticut who makes a living cutting witch hazel. I can’t remember if he chipped it, or if they chipped it at the buyer’s place, but he sold it by the ton and must have been making some money, though he could have just been in a good place for it.

[Ethan Tapper]

Everything those guys did was tough. Back in the mast-pine days in New England they were felling 6-8 ft diameter pines with no saws. For the ones that weren’t going to be masts they had to hand hew them too. There’s a story of a man who decided to fashion a whole ship out of about 1 million board feet of these hand-hewn timbers and then sail it to England, where it would be disassembled and sold. He called the ship “The Experiment”, and as soon as he could find a crew crazy enough to sail it, off they went. They hit weather off the coast of Maine and the crew bailed right away, left “The Experiment” to crash on the rocks.

One of my favorite stories is out in the Doug Fir in the Northwest. The loggers would go and cut into the heart of these huge doug firs and so much pitch would pour out that they would have to leave it for a day before they could fell it. But they figured out that if they got high enough up the trunk, the pitch wouldn’t flow so much. So they would cut a shallow notch as high as they could, stick a sturdy board (called a spring board) in it. Then, apparently, they would jump on that board and bounce as high as they could and fell those trees one swing at a time. How’d you like to do that all day?

[Ethan Tapper]

There is I book “Horses at Work” that talks about horse-use history in the U.S. and talks about Percherons (and English Breeds) being the preferred horse of most teamsters throughout American history (hence the greys, maybe).. .Though I know there were a lot of crosses too.

Looks like these teamsters are using the method of hooking multiple logs together on a steep downhill discussed in the “Logging Sustained Steep Ground” thread…I wonder how many logs they got on that hitch with that many teams…

[Ethan Tapper]

I agree, Ed. For now we should find a 1800 number and put it in the budget.

[Author]

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