[Plowboy]

I was at a plowing event a couple weeks ago and a good friend and horse trainer helped me get unhitched at lunchtime. He noticed the open bridle on our filly and a short discussion evolved about open bridles and how we couldn’t make an accurate assumption based on this one easy going filly wether or not blinders were necessary. He replied, “Boy, when you’re dealing with horses you need a bag of tricks because each one is an individual and what works with one may not work with the next”. I too have noticed this, we have 8 horses on the farm now all good work horses and many of them related but each has it’s own individual personality. None of us can conform a horse into a carbon copy of another we just deal with the small quirks and correct the important one’s.

[Plowboy]

Mini as in Miniature. The just over knee high variety. Broke the best and all business when it comes to working. We do have alot of friends with Haflingers but they pull full size equipment with extra horses. The folks that own the mini’s have three different sizes of horses and three pastures. Mini’s, Haflingers and Percherons. They also exhibit hitches in all three sizes which is sort of hectic when they are back to back so some of us go to the fairs and help out. 6 up Percherons, 6up Haflingers, 6 up Mini’s etc, The crew has to have them hitched and ready so he can jump off one wagon and onto another.

[Plowboy]

I spent the last two weekends plowing with our informal group of local horsemen. Last weekend we plowed 14 acres at my Dad’s farm and this weekend with better weather 16 or 18 at another farm. I had a chance to spend time with two of the oldest horsemen in the area Les Crawford a farmer/logger/horse trainer who is 84 and Don Hibbard 87 who hosted this weekend at his farm a longtime horseman/builder/farmer/Belgian breeder that turned to Brabant breeding when hitch blood contaminated the American Belgian. I always try to absorb as much knowledge and listen to stories of the old days each time I’m near these two remarkable men. They are both optimistic and look forward to our next gathering and both of them spent the weekend driving their horses. Sadly men like these are becoming extinct and it troubles me to think that someday my mentors won’t be around. If you know an old horseman take the time to visit them as much as you can because you can’t get that time or knowledge back.

[Plowboy]

Donn
Sorry I didn’t respond to your email, my computer died and just got it back today. Pictures look good. It happens that the same day you said you were going to plow was our only chance to practice with our six horse hitch before the plow weekend. Our weather was iffy so we had only 8 teams Saturday and 12 on Sunday. All the die hards showed up and we plowed 14 acres last weekend. We got alot done and everyone did a good job. The six worked well and the horses were hard from plowing most of April so they were able to turn a lot of ground with two bottoms. We used our 2 1/2 yr old filly on Saturday and she was a trooper.

[Plowboy]

On this subject I am doing some field research. We are starting a 2 1/2 yr old filly with an open bridle because when we first started her she had a small head and the open bridle was the only one that fit. She is easy going and docile so we can’t make an accurate decision weather the open bridle is the way to go or not. She does well and doesn’t spook from anything. She has done well on the spreader, sled and yesterday the plow. I would have to try it on several horses with some being more spirited to make an accurate assumption. For now we will leave the blinders on the other 14 bridles and experiment with this one.

[Plowboy]

Andre, Don’t feel bad we have one just like her in that sense. We started her in an open bridle and even the manure spreader didn’t faze her. She pulls good ,stands good, holds a load and drives single and double and has only been hitched about 15 times. Her younger brother is only a yearling and has the same traits. I guess we’ll have a good walking plow team in a couple years. The filly will work in our six horse plow hitch this year because she is an August filly and is 2 1/2. With six none of them will have to work too hard on a two bottom.

[Plowboy]

Let us know when and we’ll try to get out there. It’s a tough time for Dad to get away still doing winter chores and spring work and my business is getting busy too. I would definitely be glad to answer any of your questions about tandem hitches. We use the rope and pulley system available from Pioneer and White Horse and they are relatively inexpensive. As far as the driving of tandems the best advice I can give is hook to a wagon and spend some time in an open field until you get the hang of it, thats what we did . It pays to fasten your neck yoke on the tongue so it doesn’t drop out while you are working. If you don’t hold the wheel team back far enough they can get off the tongue. Put your faster animals in the front and hopefully they are broke to voice commands. Sometimes when raising or lowering the plow you need to drive with one hand and it helps if you can talk them into place in the return furrow. Once you get the hang of it and the animals get used to it it’s alot of fun to drive multiple hitches. Good luck and hope we can make it.

[Plowboy]

I hadn’t seen this roller system yet. The Fort Plain Amish settlement retro fits stub guards “guards with no tops” for the first three at the heel to prevent plugging if you over lap your swath. They then use haybine guards for the rest of the bar. The haybine guards seem to be of better design than the OEM guards. The bolt holes all line up on everything so no modification is necessary. If the roller system is too expensive you may want to try this option. It seems anything you do now with parts or hardware adds up fast. The haybine guards would be available through your local farm machinery dealer as a stock item.

[Plowboy]

Rob I had the same thought about the walking plow behind a forecart. Also there is much difference in forecarts so making them track right would be difficult. The same is true for the cart mounted one bottom plows manufactured for forecart use. They are far too ridgid to float with the lay of the land to do a good job. I guess they will loosen the soil for a seed bed but those that I have seen would win no contests. I guess it all depends on your intentions and the amount of area someone wants to plow. The new one way sulkies are getting pricey with steel always on the rise but will last. As Donn said trailer plows designed for old tractors can be pulled behind a cart but may require more horsepower as pulling behind a cart is a harder pull than hitching directly to an implement. Walking plows are all over but many are sprung or worn out or need hard to find parts. I guess there is no definate answer but whatever works for someones individual operation.

[Plowboy]

We use a Syracuse walking plow with a team, Pioneer 14in right hand sulky with a standard radex bottom with 3, and a converted Little Genius “McCormick” rope trip 2 bottom with 6 using the rope and pulley hitch. 4 will pull it but 6 will plow all day with less rest breaks. There are many good walking plows and if you get the “knack” they really require little effort to use if they are adjusted properly. As far as the new one way sulkies there is really little difference between Pioneer, White Horse and Hochstetler “Soil Master”. The McCormick works good in our soil although the Pioneer gang plow looks like a sweet ride but expensive. Ours is set up similar with a tongue, seat and dashboard. The old 2 way sulkies are ok for occasional use but a walking plow or newer sulky does a way better job as well as our converted tractor plow. some folks have even gone as far as retro fitting new radex bottoms on the old sulkies for improved results. Good luck with whatever you choose but this is what works for us but we only plow 20-25 acres a year .

[Plowboy]

No other tandem farm hitch folks here?

[Plowboy]

Kristin I haven’t had any luck posting pictures because we can’t seem to get them resized to be posted. The shoe is made of 7 or 8″ channel iron about 18″ long that is notched and bent upward at the last 4″ with a hole torched or drilled through the upturned end to accept a small clevis so you can attatch a piece of 5/16″ chain to it with a grab hook to wrap around the frame of the running gear to help keep it in place. It will skid one hind wheel giving your team some breaking power going down steep hills with heavy loads. Good Luck I hope I explained it sufficiently.

[Plowboy]

Carl just about sums it up. We try to spend as much time as we can doing meaningful work while they are learning. Dad is a full time dairy farmer and I have a fulltime job, a side business as well as helping on the dairy farm my wife and I have a 60 acre farm. That doesn’t leave much time for extra groundwork. As soon as we get them going at light work we try to find productive jobs that help us get some of our work done while they are learning. While they are working we reinforce their desireable behaviors and skills as well as work through the undesireable quirks that most young horses have. As a result we have some really good horses that we know well. Keep working your team at whatever you have time to do. The more time you spend actually working them will make for a better team/teamster relationship. Good Luck

[Plowboy]

The quickest way to get a colt to stand well is to hitch them with a good horse that stands well. It takes far less time to achieve a good standing horse this way. If the other horse stands quietly the colt is more at ease and relaxed. Just saw it today with our two year old hitched with a good 12 yr old gelding.

[Plowboy]

It never hurts to look. We got a horse once that hadn’t been driven in 5 or 6 yrs. we knew the original owner and he said she spread alot of manure when she was young. She was a little awkward to begin with but settled right in on the first hitch and got better from there. She worked for us until arthritis set in at 26. Provided they were well broke it should all come back but I would hitch them seperately with a good horse until you know what they’re all about. Good Luck!

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