[jac]

Hi guys. Over here in Scotland we just had the hardest winter in 10 years. – 12 and a foot of snow for about 6 weeks. It was great. The horses seem to do so much better when the air is crisp and cold as opposed to damp and muggy. The weather really is all over the place worldwide. Mother nature does seem to be trying to tell us something. Cheers
John

[jac]

Hi BARW
Suffolks. They are pretty rare. Great farm horses. Is your hitch cart a copy of Lynn Millers? I built one from his plans in his book and made the seat adjustable in case I decided to go the engine route.. and after having read all the posts I might be going down that road after all. Cheers
John

[jac]

Hi Patrick.. Fair comment.I havent heard it that way over here,.. And what about 10 gallon milk cans being called “milk churns”Cheers
John

[jac]

Hi everyone.. Charly and Jean thank you both for the pictures of the overcheck bit . I have never came across one before. . Donn I tried him down on the shank this morning and hey presto !! a new horse.. still hangs his head to the left but not so bad and not so joggy either. I lightened up my hand and got him going nicely on a fairly loose line.I had always thought of the bottom slot as a sign of failure.. silly realy I know. My daughter Caitlyn and me are going out again after she gets in after school. We only got the internet in 3 weeks ago but already the benefits are showing. This web site is a great example of how people can help each other . Thanks again
John

[jac]

Hi Barw…40hp ! wow. that should open up a lot of jobs you can tackle. I have to admit that I have been trying to do what I do without engines, hence the search for land driven baler details. Having said that we are intending to do more hay this year {8 acres}. The weather window is very tight over here in Scotland and I may be forced to resort to a small engine. How many horses do you have pulling your baler ? and what model is it ? cheers
John

[jac]

Hi Mitchmaine, Vand and Donn. Thank you all once again. Sound advice one and all. We have an equine dentist comming out on Thursday so I’ll keep you posted.. Just one question.. whats an overcheck bit. It might be known as something else this side of the pond. I’ll keep you posted on that as well. Cheers
John

[jac]

Hi J L.. Thank you all for a real warm welcome. Wyomming is a place I would like to visit someday to. I was brought up in the 60s on a diet of saturday afternoon westerns and “The Virginian” was a particular favourite of mine. I believe it was meant to be set in Wyomming. If I had access to this web site and Lynn Millers books 20yrs ago what a difference it would have made to me. However im here now and will do my best to bug you all with constant questions:) Cheers everyone
John

[jac]

OK guys. That’s my brain into over load now.. Im away to have a small whiskey now.. The small baler does seem to be the better option even with a donkey engine to drive it. It has to be better than tractors.I hadnt even thought of one of those chain loaders. What a great site this is. Thank you all for your imput…I liked the foto on the top of the page of the old mower frame with the fertiliser spinner on top.. thats what I call recycling.Cheers
John

[jac]

Hey guys.. I have seen a few of those big old stationary balers at vintage rallies Near Horse . and now that you mentioned them it got me thinking… loose haying involves buckraking the hay to a point at the end of the field.. so if a round baler could be driven stationary by a horse gear and the pto stuf all removed perhaps that might open up the options for round bales without an engine in the field. it would surely take a lot less horses to drive a stationary baler and that could free up horses to buckrake. Just thoughts again. I may keep an eye open for a small round baler with a shot drive line. cheers
John

[jac]

Hi Stable Man.. The attitude you speak of is predomminant over here in Scotland. When I mention using horses I get a patronising smile and “horses could never feed the world”!!!. Then they launch into how great an idea biodiesel is???. Using good farm land to grow fuel ?? smart move eh. Now getting fuel from a waste product of the food industry is a different matter. Cuba is a recent example of how people can be fed using animal traction after cheap oil is gone. An awful lot of great things were done before any of us were even born..using horses. I was talking a while back with an older farmer who said that when he stopped using horsedrawn grain binders and got a contractor in with a combine his yield went up and he implied this was the horses fault. I pointed out that the only reason his yield went up was because he was able to leave the grain to swell more and ripen fully and the losses between field and stack were eliminated. Horses are more than able to handle modern crops with new equipment. The skills needed to do this is the problem as I see it. If we can keep them alive and pass them on to a younger generation then when the time comes they can step in and take up the slack. Both my daughter Caitlyn and her cousin {11 and 12 yrs} can hitch and drive my team and I intend to teach them the mower soon . Keep the dream
John

[jac]

Hi Erik. You will be very welcome to visit our humble shack and share a home cooked meal with us, I do a mean Pensylvania Dutch chicken pie. Now.. as for draft horse farming in this area.. there is none. I am very much alone. I dont farm as such but use our horses to do harrowing and such. We made hay last year and will be again. Wagon rides and promotional work is undertaken to try and make ends meet. I made a slitter/seeder last year and if you make it to our door in May you can check it out. We have plans to do a lot more with our horses but unfortunately I seem to spend too much time working away from home to pay the bills and not enough time with my team:(.. John

[jac]

Hi . I saw that picture in SFJ and that kind of reinforced my thots on the round baler. I figure the round baler might be easier to pull as the plunger and knotter mechanism both put a lot of drag, where the round baler is just rotary. John

[jac]

Hi . What a great post.. The tide is slowly turning s more of the general public want to know where their food comes from. We are in the minority over here in Scotland regards working with horses. Our farmer friends who do have horses are all into showing, which is fine, but I find it odd that they can spend ages “training” their team in a training vehicle and then go sit in a tractor to harrow/roll/spread fertiliser !!!. I’d much rather spend all day with the team and get them trained as I get a worthwhile job done.. I agree totaly with what you say. We need to reconnect with nature and bring communities together again and agriculture can do all that and more. Politicians need to butt out and let farmers do what they do best. Unfortunately as long as the subsidy thing is in place we seem to be stuck with it for now. Keep the dream and never give up. cheers … John

[jac]

Hi Donn. An 8 up hitch is bigger than our small fields could take apart from the fact we only have 5. Last year we made loose hay using an Albion mower circa 1930s, a Dickie hay turner with a Bamford dump rake and lots of human effort, and what a great time we had. The whole family and a few cousins joined in. It became almost a social occasion with a few beers and good food served in the field. So much has been lost over the years by “modernisation”. I feel we need to step back now and again. Factory farming may be the modern way but at what cost to humans, animals and environment. Anyway.. I’m rambling a bit now and thats a debate I like to get my teeth into. cheers for now. John

[jac]

Hi Donn. Thank you for your reply. I know of that baler type and now that you’ve explained it in plain language it does seem rather easy to convert.. famous last words eh!. I will try and find the thread and chase up the correct sprocket sizes. I wonder how many horse you would need to hitch if you towed a flat wagon to build the bales onto.The fast approaching “middle age” thing was what prompted me to look at round baling. John

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