[mlelgr]

Before I start a huge storm of controversy let me say I know pole material is a matter of personal preference and everyone has their own. Wooden poles have been in use for centuries, they are relatively easy and inexpensive to make or buy and they flex rather than bend. I will also say that a broken pole is one of the fastest ways to end up in a wreck that results in injury or death of animal or driver/passenger with all but the most rock solid animals and sometimes even then. See post titled “Killed my first horse today”. For me I would rather replace a dozen bent metal poles than have one wooden one break. Just my $.02

[mlelgr]

“as a community looking to support the sustainable use of draft power”

I think there is more in this statement than Carl intended. If the draft animal power world as a whole is to be “sustainable” new teamsters have to join to replace the teamsters that are hanging up their lines. New teamsters need seasoned reliable teams to help them on their new found journey because as we all know “green + green = black and blue”. What better source of these teams than people that have reached a level of horsemanship where they trully understand their working partners and can make them “an extension of my body, and the manifestation of my intention”. It is kind of like the circle of life; good horseman make solid teams and pass them on to aspiring teamsters that have good experiences and stick with it until they become good horseman and pass solid teams on to other aspiring teamsters. Just my humble opinion for what its worth.

[mlelgr]

Team and harness have been sold. The wagon and surrey are still available.

[mlelgr]

Two things need to be considered as you ponder this question: first, the training of steers/oxen for draft use starts at the bottle calf stage of their lives so there is a period of time between the start of training and when they are big enough to do heavy work for an extended period of time such as pulling hay equipment and second and probably more important is the old adage that always holds true when working with animals “green + green = black & blue”.

[mlelgr]

I forgot about the pivoting hitch point on a pioneer cart. This is what you want to do and it should solve all your problems. 1) leave pole in the center of the cart as it is 2) set your triple tree up correctly with double tree on short side and single tree on long side 3) pivot the hitch point on the cart either left or right, which ever direction you pivot the hitch is the side that will have an extra horse to the side of the cart 4) attach the triple tree to the hitch point, I prefer to have the double tree on one side of the pole instead of split by the pole but you can experiment with this and find your own preference. As you pivot the hitch point to one side it also moves back because of the arch it is making. This compensates for the width of the triple bar and lets you use the same length pole as for a double tree. You will get some side draft but it will work under all but the heaviest load conditions.

[mlelgr]

Your three up evener is put together wrong. You don’t have an offset evener, you have a standard three up bar with the double tree and single tree on the wrong sides. The set up you have put together has the double tree on the long side doubling it’s leverage and the single tree on the short side having 1/2 the leverage. This set up equates to 4 horses pulling against one. You need to swap sides of the single and double tree on the triple bar and move the tongue over. This will give you the middle horse centered on the forecart and the single horse on the long side of the triple bar with twice the leverage pulling against two. Everything will be even (pun intended).

[mlelgr]

The thumb rule I have seen and found to be a good starting point as a minimum is: 12″ bottom = 2 horses, 14″ bottom = 3 horses, 16″ bottom = 4 horses. Condition of the horses, type of land, style of bottom, walking or rididng and how much weight has been added like a forecart to pull a trailer plow will determine how long you can plow at the given ratios. A common, efficient hitch on a two bottom trailer plow with a forecart is 6 hooked 3 x 3 on a rope and pulley system. This will put 2 in the furrow and 4 on the unplowed ground.

[mlelgr]

http://www.lancasterfarming.com/classifieds/3167647–Tayloria-clutch—gear-reduct

Hope this link works. It is an add for the type of gear reduction clutches that the Amish use on their power carts. If the link doesn’t work go to Lancasterfarming.com and type PTO clutch in the search box.

[mlelgr]

http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G1250
This link has a chart that shows PTO HP requirements for several different round balers. Looks like 40 PTO HP is the normal minimum for a 4ft x 4ft. 4 head in front of the 45HP AC diesel would make a nice set-up for a round baler.

[mlelgr]

IMHO you are correct about needing to work on the basics. Fashion yourself a 12 foot lead rope and work on leading forward and backward on a loose line matching your speed, longe both directions walk/trot at minimum, disengage the hind quarters and front end and side pass. Until you have complete control of the feet on a lead rope you can’t hope to have control of the feet on the end of the lines. Give obvious consistent cues and reward the slightest try. Reward means remove the pressure not apples and sugar cubes. Petting is OK as long as they come in your space and get pet on your terms not theirs it lets them know you aren’t the boogie man on the end of the rope. A positive relationship is harder to form with a mule than with a horse but when it is acheived it carries more weight with a mule than it does with a horse. “Mitis in Rey, Firmit in Modo – Gentle in the Matter, Steadfast in the Way”.

[mlelgr]

The Amish that I have experience with in Lancaster Pa generally have 4 to 8 mules hooked at a time with lines on the center 2 and everything else on a jockey stick. If your mule spent the majority of it’s life on an Amish farm it may have also spent the majority of it’s life on a jockey stick getting lead around. If this is the case working alone and receiving commands from the lines will be out of the norm. None of this means you won’t be able to drive your mule single in the lines it just may explain some of the behavior. The golden rule for working with mules is “mitis in rey, firmit in modo” “gentle in the matter, steadfast in the way” or a little more loosely translated “gentle in what you do, firm in how you do it”.

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