[jac]

Hey Ralph.. Right on with your signature…. too many forget that… I use inch and three quarter pipe. The rear width measurement is 3ft tapering to 2ft 4″ at the point of the hame hooks. The last foot or so sweeps down and out a little to accomodate turning. These measurements are for Clydes and would need to be reduced proportionaly to perhaps 2 ft 6″or8″ at the rear to 2ft at the hame hooks for your mules. Lynn Millers book is well worth the money and has many measurements. The above works well for me in both wagon work and the hay turners..
John

[jac]

This is interesting as what you are describing is the opposite to what I would want in a horse..flares are my worst enemy but I can totally understand the reduction of poaching aspect. For my Clydes to succeed with a bare foot trim I need to keep the toe backed up and the heels dropped with no flaring of the quarters. Its interesting the wild cattle put on a wide foot. I wonder if they were roaming over differing surfaces if the foot would tighten up ??..good to hear you again Ixy..
John

[jac]

Welcome Bill. You sound like 90% of the folks on here regards computers. It is a great site to be on and a load of info from decent people. Catch ya later..
John

[jac]

Your right with that Geoff. Mine get fidgety if a car slows to a crawl either on the approach or when passing. They never bat an eyelid with cars passing at normal speed ??.. Erik full praise on your project. It really is a nice wagon that will be a pleasure to buy bread from. As for your horse and the lack of shoes, he should be ok and if the trims are done properly you should be able to do your road work without boots in about 6 months..sooner if he has never been shod..
John

[jac]

Marshall I know exactly what you mean. If I had the choice Id make my living using horses but it got to the stage that I might have to sell horses and that wasnt an option so the combine won.. Its only for 12 weeks to see us over a bad patch…
John

[jac]

Mitch that combine was the one that broke the harvest record last year. Dont worry about me being drawn into it. In the back of my mind is the fact that none of it is truly sustainable. Totally dependant on oil. All that area and only 4 men getting work !!! It is amazing seeing the technology swing into action though.. Full report in September.
John

[jac]

Well said Geoff:D We could send a bunch over too…Royal Bank of Scotland has a thing where they go into schools and advise kids on how to manage money:eek: And they were one of the biggest receivers of tax payers money when greed nearly made them go bust!!!…Anyway.. back to topic.. over here in Ayrshire county a new coal fired power station is being built. They plan to capture the carbon and pipe it into huge undersea caverns ??. My image of the carbon thing regards burning timber is that coal/oil carbon was locked up in the earth at a time in earths history when the air was different from what we have now.Heavy sulpher and such.. We burn timber and release the carbon the tree has stored in our recent history.. coal on the other hand is an added carbon load..almost like importing the stuff. Least thats how I convince myself that burning wood is ok.
John

[jac]

The original question was ” is biomass renewable.?” As far as I can see, yes it is..but, only if you give it time… and if demand grows faster than the material they use, we end up asset stripping again !! When I say “we”, I mean society.. Its happened with nearly every mineral/resource on the planet so I see no reason why this will be any different..Scott clearly is doing a good thing with his end of the operation.. but what happens when others jump aboard ??..
John

[jac]

Denise that is true. However as drainage was none existant in the early days this was how they managed to grow crops. When proper drainage systems went in the farmer then plowed the opposite way each year and was able to keep the fields level.
John

[jac]

That type of plowing is called the “rig” or “runrig” system. Basicly involved making the areas plowed much narrower than later when drainage improved. Most of the them I’ve seen are about 4 or 5 yards wide. Up here in Scotland there is still a few fields that have the ridges. The field would be plowed the same way each year with the result that the landscape was permenantly shaped. Needless to say that a grass field with these ridges are a real pain with a mower.
Jac

[jac]

You might be onto something with that Jen.. over here we have grass sickness and it is predominatly but by no means only an east coast problem. Horses from the west taken east seem to fare worse.
John

[jac]

Seems to me like a desparate bid by society trying to maintain a non sustainable life style..Growing fuel on farmland or using half decent timber is a recipe for collapse. How much diesel is used? If they carry on like this I can see a day when there is fuel in the Hummer but no bread on the shelf !!!..
John

[jac]

Andy the front springs on my wagon we use in parades are made of… I dont know what ?? looks like glass fibre.. and are a lot lighter. Would something like that be any use for an alternative to steel ??
John

[jac]

Untill you actually see it work it is a hard concept to accept Jen. It definaitly makes sense but as you say shoes are needed for some situations. Jen forgive my Scottish ignorance.. What is skijoring ???.. Denise I think as this type of trim becomes more popular these boots will be more available. Over here there is a top steeplechaser trainer producing winners on barefoot…
John

[jac]

From what I can gather Mitch its a rubber boot made of a rubber that softens with light heat and you can mould into the right shape. Only need them for the transition period and only for horses that have had shoes on usually. Google “barefoot for soundness” and that page lists suppliers for draft horses. Drafts apparantly respond really well to this type of trim…Bob h on this forum does this trim and mentioned it on the shoeing draft horse discussion..
John

[Author]

Posts