[J-L]

Good for you Jen. There is a satisfaction that you can’t get with using a tractor, vs. a horse, when getting a job done. I’ll bet that was a great feeling for you.

[J-L]

Hello to you. It’s good to see a fellow cow man on theis site. On a ranch, that’s probably the most important job for your teams. If you figure your savings in fuel, wear and tear, etc. your team is giving you a lot of bang for your buck. While your trucks and tractors are parked in a shed all winter, your neighbors are wearing theirs out.
Equipment dealers don’t like draft animals.

[J-L]

The first few steel poles I used bent because I used too thin gauge pipe. By the time I got one heavy enough not to bend they became fairly heavy. I have one on a wagon that I loaned out and the other is on my work sled. They are actually heavy duty square tube. Although they are on the heavy side for my smaller animals, I think they are alright for my 1200 lb plus animals to pack all day.
I think your idea is a good one. It sure beats having to lay out cash for one on all your equipment. I have tongues on everything I use mostly for convenience sake. If you set it up with a quick disconnect like you describe, that would take care of the convenience problem.
Let us know how it works and make some pictures please.

[J-L]

I’m with most of these guys here. I will switch them around. When I need to plug one in somewhere I don’t want to have to worry about which side they’ll work. I really think it makes them a better rounded driving animal.

[J-L]

My son has a pair of ponies that weigh around 600 lb apiece. It surprises me often how much they can do. Pound for pound they are tough little critters. I think you could accomplish all you need with one and have a lot of enjoyment in the doing.

[J-L]

I’m afraid we’ve got a lot on our plate after the election. I hope we don’t lose a more of our rights.

[J-L]

Dan, I haven’t seen the Western Horseman article yet but I can tell you these we had around here ran off of a Wisconsin motor mounted on the front of the rack.
The hayracks that used these were quite big compared to my little wagons and sleighs for square bales. It takes a lot of room to get two ton of loose hay on a wagon in addition to the hydrafork.
No I haven’t gotten a round baler yet. I had one lined up and then the calf market took a dump. I could have financed it anyway, but decided to be a little conservative and get by one more year.
Interestingly enough, I leased out my father-in-law and he has a round baler. We put up 800 of them over there. Thats where the boys have been all winter, unrolling round bales. I kept 3 other mules home feeding the young and old.
If you get that gadget figured out be sure to let me know. My father in law would be interested as well as myself. I may still get a round baler in the near future. My haying crew will dwindle down as they leave the nest.
By the way, I did find a Hydrafork up in the Hilliard Flat country. Actually two of them. One is in pretty decent shape. My cousin uses one to feed his bread loaf stacked hay. It’s mounted on a trailer and tractor.

[J-L]

Man I sure fell asleep on this one! You need to find some more of those. I’d love to have it too.
I don’t know about the replacement stones. I had an electric one at one time. The motor crapped on me but the stone is still good. Might be that it’d fit.

[J-L]

That’s how many outfits did it around here too. Some still do. When I was working a job over by Big Piney, WY I watched one of the big ranches feed for a while. They ran over 1500 mother cows and some yearlings at that time. They would head out with four teams of 4 up. One sled had the Hydrafork and would load all the others then go feed. It was quite a sight, and worked real well.
Now I see their beaver slide stackers are falling down and their stackyards are full of 3×4 square bales. When they need a bobsled they just pull it with a Cat now.
There are still some using teams around here besides me though. Most of them won’t hook a team unless they can use a bobsled. My uncle and cousin who border me use theirs on a wagon still.
All of those who don’t like to use a wagon say that it makes their team nervous having a wagon rattle behind them. I tell them this it true if you don’t do it enough to get them over it. You just have to stick with it until they get over it, which usually don’t take that long.
I have to tell you my loose hay story Iron Rose. Up until I got to high school we put our hay up loose. When times got tough my folks got jobs off the ranch. My Dad had two of us older kids pitch a load of hay on after school and feed it before school the next day. We used to make our old team trot across the froze turds on the feed ground to bounce all the hay off that we could and save on our backs pitching hay off. We thought it was a great idea until the old man came back and caught us one day. Sure was hard on the wagon. We always wished for a Hydrafork.

[J-L]

Donn your wife is right. Giving mules shots is a bear sometimes. Usually the first on isn’t bad, but after that they can spot a needle a long way off. I did have to give on antibiotics for a while to get her over an infected cut. After the first shot I had to scotch up a hind leg to get it done.
My vet learned the hard way about the mules and needles. He had to knock my black mule out to fix a tendon. We got it fixed and woke her up. I went to the truck to get my checkbook and wasn’t there to warn him about the next shot. He didn’t get hurt but he learned how far forward a mule can reach with her hind leg!
He told me that now he gives them all their shots while they’re on their ribs if he can do it. Not many mules around here though.

[J-L]

Sorry Jason, there was supposed to be a smiley face after the ‘pick on lawyers’ remark.:)
Didn’t mean it to come across so harshly.

[J-L]

It’s an important tool for your team to have for sure. I too believe it’s learned gradually. Patience doesn’t come too easily for some of them.
I finally got to where I catch the young, fresh ones and they get tied up while I’m doing chores. Sometimes with harness on, sometimes without. Then they may get hitched to whatever I’m pulling while I go in and eat breakfast and look at this site!
They have to stand in the stackyards while I’m loading hay. At the grain shed while I’m loading grain or salt, etc. I also like to make it a point to stop at different times even if I don’t need to. Maybe to look my cows over and walk around the wagon or sled. It just gets them used to the idea of standing for a while and doing it in a relaxed manner.
I have two mules out of foxtrotter mares. They are fidgety little buggers and don’t like to stand for long. Another one I have is out of a percheron mare and he’ll give me just exactly enough time to put a whole wagon load of hay on and then he starts pawing the ground. The others are plumb content to stand. They are all so different. I’m inclined to think my mules will walk home on their own before a horse thinks of doing it.
Point is that it’s another thing I work at continually.

[J-L]

So just where do you get your info on the livestock industry? In my neck of the woods it’s much larger than the sawmills.
I haven’t heard a peep about the low cattle prices we’ve been enduring off and on for the last few decades. I have heard a great deal about the row crop farmers however.
I’m sorry to hear that it’s getting tough on you guys. In the livestock industry we’ve seen so many highs and lows that you can’t keep track of them. Just consider that cattle prices haven’t risen, on average, in quite a while.
While my Dad was running this place the price on our calves was nearly what it is today and sometimes higher. At that time fuel was $.75 per gallon to $1.00 per gallon. Fertilizer was under $150 per ton. The cost of equipment was less than half what it is now, etc.
You should keep in mind that the standard of living in my section of the livestock industry has been declining for a long time. Pick on lawyers or realtors or somebody else.

[J-L]

More great pictures Plowboy! Not much plowing around here anymore. The ground that we put into alfalfa or haybarley/oats is really rocky. We tend to use a disc and not go too deep.
Not to be a post stirrer, but which of those teams got the most work done in a day? Or which could?
Interesting question with the three diverse teams in the picture don’t you think?
Thanks for more good pictures.

[J-L]

Awesome pictures Plowboy. I sure wish I could make it to some of those things. Sure as heck a long way from Wyoming though!

[Author]

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