[J-L]

Wow John, beautiful harness. That’s the first good look at the dull bio, had to look a couple times to tell it from leather. I also really like the brass spreader rings. Very nice harness.

[J-L]

You may be right John about the subsidy programs. In the livestock industry here we have to learn to live with the ups and downs. Save for a rainy day so to speak. It becomes a problem when you have too many rainy days in a row.
Good insight there Geoff. We cattle producers are tied directly to many of the grains. The downside of the ethanol boom has been the effect on my end of agriculture.
I would not even begin to think I could figure out what to do with the starving countries of Africa. So much turmoil and no stability.

[J-L]

I use a sheep hide. Wool out. Made in USA. Actually made right here in south west Wyoming. 😉

[J-L]

That’s basically how it works Geoff. They kick in as a price support. Most of the subsidies are aimed at row crops it seems. For my area there very little row crops. We grow some alfalfa hay and mostly grass hay, very little in the way of help with these. The way it works for irrigated grass hay is that the gov’t will kick in if the hay crop is under 50% of established yearly yields. If you make 51% you get nothing. You have to buy the assistance like crop insurance every year.
I can see why those guys (grain farmers) need this with the way the market is so volatile. My farmer friend has a budget of 1.25 million dollars, equipment payments, seed, rent, fertilizer, chemical, fuel, etc… When you’re putting that kind of money out it would be nice to know that you may not lose everything you own when say, sugar beets or corn, take a big fall.
He doesn’t really have an opulent lifestyle for all the money he plays with, but does seem to do quite a little better than the average rancher.

[J-L]

Nice team of sorrel horses. They look a lot like my old Belgians. Sure is nice using the bobsled vs. the haywagon isn’t it? We thawed enough to have to use the wagon again for a few days and it like to have beat my knees out from under me on the froze cow turds. Sure was glad to have another storm and go back on the sleigh again.

[J-L]

I found the same to be true Livewater, I’d always use somewhat finer Borium and braze it on good and solid. The trick is to bring it to a point or ‘nipple’ like you say. With all the rocky ground we have here, the bigger chips just tended to be too brittle.

[J-L]

I was actually going to ask how you got along with that rope and pulley set up. I have one on it’s way for my mules and horses and was going to use it on a bobsled and if it works well enough might use it dragging meadows.
John (jac) may have hit on the problem. I looked again at the photo and you would have some downward pressure on the collars and may wind up doing what he said. It may not matter when they get used to it. In looking at several photo’s of Amish using that system they had a straight line of draft so you might want to try that.
By the way, beautiful team of mules and I really like your harness too. What kind of mares are your mules out of? I really like a mule that size and those black mules w/rootbeer noses are sure pretty.

[J-L]

Thanks for posting those Geoff. I have an overshot stacker that’s not quite in using shape in the field behind my house. I think it could be rebuilt and I’ve always wanted to do that.
Also around here are many Beaver Slide stackers. These are a more simple machine and I think you could build one from scratch without too much trouble. Wouldn’t have to be as big as ours were made either.

[J-L]

Great picture. When you know what to look for you can see that the packers know their stuff. When the loads are well balanced and the hitches on right it’s not so bad. When you have to stop and adjust too many times it makes you learn your job better. Especially when you are on trails like that.
I don’t know if everyone realizes how much work goes into it for the guy’s pulling that big pack string. They do more work in a day just taking care of animals and pitching camp than most ordinary folks do in a day. Add packing that many animals on top of it and it’s a days work for sure.
I love pack trips and packing in the wild country like that. The most I’ve led was 8. When your mules learn their jobs they are wonderful pack animals and I think they excell at it more than a horse personally.
Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing.

[J-L]

Hello MuleRyder. Like your mule. Big ol’ stout mule like that makes a very good work animal.
I work and ride mules as well. We have 3 draft mules (1 perch, 2 belgians) and 2 saddle mules that both ride and drive pretty well. We also have 6 head of horses but I do like the mules a lot. The only time I prefer the horses is sorting cows. Other than one mule, the horses are better at that job. They (the mules) do really shine when harnessed though, and for riding and packing in the mountains.

[J-L]

I’ve been hearing rumblings along those lines as well. Fuel went up some more here too. It’s a worry for me as we still use quite a little diesel to put up the hay. I cover too much ground to do otherwise. Putting up six to eight hundred ton of hay without a tractor would be hard to say the least.
I worry about the effect of high fuel cost on just about every facet of life. Puts a strain on everything.

[J-L]

I’ve been hearing rumblings along those lines as well. Fuel went up some more here too. It’s a worry for me as we still use quite a little diesel to put up the hay. I cover too much ground to do otherwise. Putting up six to eight hundred ton of hay without a tractor would be hard to say the least.
I worry about the effect of high fuel cost on just about every facet of life. Puts a strain on everything.

[J-L]

Mark, mine are set up with three holes drilled through in both ends of the evener. It works well for me. Much of the time I’m using a smaller mule with a larger mule (by 200 lb. or more) and I will cheat the little mule out to the end and the big mule in. They are 1″ adjustments.
The evener is a 42″ piece of 1×3 tubing (looks like 1/8″ wall, not super heavy but plenty stout). Welded on top and bottom at the holes on the ends and where the evener pin goes is 1/8″ plate. The single trees are 1×2 tube. I’ll see if I have a picture somewhere.

[J-L]

Looks good Kevin. I love raking hay. My rake is a little smaller than yours. You’d have a hard time doing it here, close to 2′ of snow on the ground.
I’ll bet those weeds are tough! It’d be like mowing willows.
As to the Triticale, I know they grow it over in the Cache Valley, UT area and that is a similar elevation to you guys. It may be a good crop for you. My neighbor tried it on the west side of the valley and it didn’t do well at 7200′.
I hear you on the green, haven’t seen that since Sept.
Nice pictures.

[J-L]

I use the same method that Donn does and it works well for me too. Actually it was Donn who talked me through it (thanks again). I put 4 abreast on my bigger meadow drag in the spring and also on a bigger tractor disk and a grain drill. Gives you a bunch of horse power.

[Author]

Posts