[J-L]

Looks like plenty of slack in the pole strap/quarter straps, belly band is fine. It would look different hooked to a wagon with a team mate though. Probably too loose I’d say.
Other than that the mule seems to work pretty well to me.

[J-L]

Until last year I didn’t use a mower conditioner. We just mowed with sickle mowers and raked. In this dry environment hay dries very well in the swath, no tedding or turning. I like the mowers still in the river bottom with tree lines where no breeze can get to the hay. It seems like the hay in the swath takes longer to dry in that situation. Also this is grass hay I’m talking about, not alfalfa.

[J-L]

I have friends that pull. Lost Farmer on here pulls his ponies. They seem to get along fine with them at other chores.
Personally I really hate horses that jump into the collar so hard. I have driven teams that were pulled and it didn’t help them as a farm team in my estimation. My neighbor up on the hill is working two belgians that were pulling horses. He’s had them for five or six years and they still just about jerk the reach out of his wagon every day when he’s feeding cows. Also they cannot/will not work on a slack line and he has to have a driver just to feed his little herd of cows. That’s not a luxury I have or want.
I have to say that it would depend on the teamsters pulling these horses. I’ve seen a few that come to fair that have nice teams. They drive nice and hook up calmly. Most of them I wouldn’t want to work though.

[J-L]

It was an interesting read.
Every time I drive to the metropolitan area closest to me (Salt Lake City), I can’t get over the sheer mass of humanity there. I realize this is far from a large city like LA or NYC and their suburbs, but still it’s huge compared to where I live.
What I can’t wrap my mind around is feeding these folks with small gardens or truck farms. It SEEMS impossible on the face of it. I’m not saying it IS impossible though.
Driving through Nebraska this fall I couldn’t get over the huge amount of corn being produced by those farmers. Not living in farm country, maybe I’m easily impressed, but the fact is that they are growing huge yields on those farms. I don’t see how you can expect to replace that kind of productivity with some hoe’s and elbow grease.
Picking on agriculture’s use of fossil fuels seems silly, as does the cow fart issue. It seems silly in the face of the many millions of people firing up their cars daily for short commutes to work. Especially when mass transit could do much to help that. If/when oil becomes so extremely limited and expensive, I’d just as soon see it being burned making food rather than for something less productive for all.
Maybe I don’t see all the angles here. After all, I’m just a simple, small rancher.

[J-L]

I think that is a great idea. It would make for some very interesting reading as it seems we have members from all over the globe now. Scotland is one place I’d like to hear more about John.

[J-L]

You just have to say “WOW!” to that.

Lingodog13 has some old logging pictures from the mountains above our ranches. I’m going to put a bug in her ear to post a few of them.
So interesting. This country was tie hack country and we run into the remnants of old flumes, splash dams, and tie hack cabins all the time. While I was a kid I wondered about the 4′-5′ tall stumps all around the cabins and realized they were cut in the winter on top of the snow.

Thanks for sharing that neat old picture.

[J-L]

Good luck to you JimB. Sounds like you have some options open to you.
The part of Wyoming you’re in is quite a lot different than the western part of the state for sure.
Let us know how it all turns out.

[J-L]

Thanks Carl. The metal framed roller was made for my 800 lb tight core bales, but we have been using it on those 1250 lb bales too. I just used it today behind my little mules. It makes them little buggers pull hard when you hit a flat spot on the bale, but works great.
The reason we made the metal one was that my fiberglass spears were really hard to get through the tight core bales. I had to drive them through with the butt of my single bit axe. These hard little spikes go right in.

[J-L]

Forgot to put the picture in of getting bales off the stack. I thought we had pictures of the hooks I’m using. They are 5/8″ high carbon steel made from a potato digging implement. I use 10′ of chain between the pair of them and just stab them in the bale I need and hook to the cart.
Then if I need to orient the bales, I just tip them whichever way they need to be using the hooks and the team.
Thanks to lingodog13 for taking the pictures and the young Percheron in the last series is her good filly Valentine. Thanks again Nonie.

[J-L]

One more of this one in action, then here are a few more of a different rig I’m using on the other side of the place.

[J-L]

I’m pretty sure Grey had it right! What a stupid wreck.

[J-L]

What Grey says is true on the overcheck bit. We used them (and still do sometimes) with the Weymouth set up. Top bit was the bar bit Grey describes, bottom bit was the snaffle. We used it to get elevation with the bar bit and collection with the snaffle. Never though of using it driving, but it’d work well.

[J-L]

I have always used those traditional deer hair with pillow tick material. They take up enough space to make my collars fit when my animals thin down with work. I will use them to make a collar fit a horse that’s in between sizes also. Just this fall I got some with the vinyl face, but they are foam filled and thinner. Don’t know how good they work yet.

[J-L]

That’s what it would look like here in south west Wyoming Scott. Looks pretty bad when there’s more brown than green surveying the pines in the Uinta Mountains.

[J-L]

Crazy!! That sounds a lot like Wyoming. Many of us still rope and drag to the fire at branding. The cows are similar to a lot of range cattle in this neck of the woods. Many people still use that cow model and cross breed like that too. I’ve been using more Simmental x Angus and cutting back on the exotic club calf type stuff. I really have to watch what Angus I use, the altitude gets many of them with PAP. Our calves ship mid October and usually will weigh 580 to 610 on the steers but I have excellent pasture.
Interestingly, I was in West Point, NE this fall at a female sale. I have a friend who is a Simmental breeder near there and they held there sale at the West Point Auction (nice place), and their bull sale is coming up shortly at the same place. That’s kind of neat country to see, although chopped up and crowded compared to Wyoming. It amazes me how productive that farm ground is.
Enjoyed hearing about your operation.

[Author]

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