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Kevin Cunningham
ParticipantDenny
I think you should post some photos of the All in One. There are a lot of people on here that would be very interested in see this set up. I know I was super excited that someone is making this type of tool here. Not only that but way closer to my neck of the woods. I will be contacting Ann soon to talk about getting one of these for our market garden.
ParticipantRight now I am leaning towards going to the advanced class at Tillers in October. They all seem excellent and I wish I could afford to go to them all. I think that I can’t take so much time away from the farm, even though I will miss the MODA gathering. Maybe in the future I can go to MODA. I also have a friend that farms in Michigan and that is a big incentive to head that direction. Definatly a hard decision to make.
ParticipantI am a fairly new member myself and I haven’t gotten a newsletter as well. I was wondering then this thread popped up.
ParticipantI do think that one of the most important oxen training tools is a good stiff brush! they love it
ParticipantMcNabs are more common out west. I think the main thing to consider is what you want to do with a dog. Border Collies are great for sheep, but I don’t know anyone with a McNab that herds sheep. They are all “cow dogs” which mostly means they get to ride in the truck when the farmer goes out to feed hay in the winter, and sleeps on the back porch. Now that doesn’t mean that they can’t be trained to be excellent herders but I am just noticing what happens around here.
ParticipantSee that also sounds like a great class. I feel like any clinic that I go to I will get loads of information. I do have to make sure I am getting the biggest bang for my buck. I farm full time for a living and therefore don’t have a ton of extra money for something like this, but I see it as an investment in the future. I also live about 30 miles from Cape Mendocino, the most western point of the continental US. I literaly live about as far away as possible from either Michigan or New Hampshire. So that means I am looking at about 1200 -1500 dollars to go to any training (including airfare, etc), and that is no small sum for me. Like I said will get a lot of info and learning from any class but I do want to be sure I am making the right decision.
ParticipantI agree I have one runout for sheep on 4 inch runners and I wish I had wider runners for it. I was trying to save weight but I think in the end it is harder to pull.
ParticipantThat is exactly the kind of job I want to be able to use my steers for. We have made several buildings, sheds, and run-outs movable, with the hope of using the oxen to move them around the farm to help prevent any un-necessary manure build up. I like seeing the possibilities.
ParticipantI sent the link to my father, who speaks fluent Russian, to see if there was any more info. He said that despite them saying there was a full description in Russian there wasn’t much more to speak of, it did not look like it when I clicked over. He sent an email to the company anyway and asked about pricing and if they made any other draft powered tools. I’ll keep ya’ll posted if he gets more info from them.
ParticipantThe sand keeps the pipes from collapsing when they are bent. I wonder if the same would be true with metal pipe?
Participant@Carl Russell 32527 wrote:
you can add value to the work you are performing with your forestry skills, and you should not be shy of that, otherwise you are close to buying into the premise that this work is hobby.l
I think what Carl said here is really important. I really take my farming seriously and I know of plenty of farmers that don’t, for many of them it is their full time job but they still are okay not making it. You have to charge what it cost you to produce and make a profit. Right after I started the farm I ran into a former boss and mentor (well he is still my mentor) of mine. I joked with him how I wasn’t yet making a profit. I thought it would be funny because I know he has struggled with several woodworking businesses. He got dead serious, looked me in the eye, and said “you have to make it profit. It took my twenty years to learn that, don’t make the same mistake.” Scared the crap out of me, but I may not have made it work if he hadn’t said that. The mind shift to being okay losing money to being smart about keeping track of the expenses and making it work. We are in control over how our businesses make money. Tom I think your on the right track by noticing how efficiency can be improved and realizing where to tighten things up. Good luck out there I am jealous, someday I’ll have my steers in the woods too.
ParticipantMark,
I used the Tiller’s plans for my yoke and I think some where in their literature it talks about bending PVC bows. I filled the length of PVC with very dry sand, I dried mine on top of the wood stove for a day. Plug both ends with clay, corks, or some sort of wadding. Make sure they are totally full of sand but not packed tight. Gently heat the bows somewhere outside. You can do it over a fire, I used a camp stove. The PVC does give off some weird chemicals so don’t breath it. Keep them moving and try not to burn the plastic. Eventually they will become noodle limp and you can bend it around a form, I found that a coffee can worked perfect for the 5 inch bows. They quickly cool and hold their shape. I made sure they fit in the yoke before they were totally stiff. It is really easy and something that every body can get at a hardware store. I know for heavy pulling they won’t work but for small training yokes they are perfect.
ParticipantThat is a nice looking pair, good color from the shorthorn. It would be neat to see them in the yoke. I hope your time working oxen is fun and successful keep us posted on how the training goes.
ParticipantIt makes sense to think of draft animals as athletes. They are utilizing their bodies to do more than your average steer. I can even see the neck and shoulder development on my working steers as compared to the other steers. I don’t grain my steers right now but I can see getting them some oats once they are really pulling. I have tried to give them grain but they don’t seem interested in it that much. Which I find strange because the goats are always ready to eat grain.
I try and think like an athletic trainer when working my steers as well; with work periods and rest periods. I think that with time the feeding can be fine tuned just like a pro athlete.
ParticipantThats makes sense. I wish there were horned herefords out here. There are plenty of polled ones, but I have only seen one horned hereford in our area. Someday I might stop at that pasture and ask if that cow throws horned calves (should I ask the cow directly or try and find the owner?). I love the look of the herefords in head yokes, but being on my first set of calves I’ll wait till I have some more experience.
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