[Rob FLory]

Hi,
I had a team of Devons that I worked until 16. By that time, they were getting slow, but were not overweight due to proper feeding regimen. One of them lost all his teeth so that was the end of them.

I am currently working a 13-year old Devon-Holstein who is going strong. His yoke-mate died a year ago by wasting away, probably cancer or heart problem.

Rob Flory

[Rob FLory]

I hope you will tell us about working animals in Bhutan.

Rob

[Rob FLory]

A google patent search on this term brings more designs than you can possibly imagine.

http://www.google.com/patents?q=hame+fastener

Rob Flory

[Rob FLory]

Thanks, Bivol.

I see that to tap the full spectrum of ox videos on youtube, I’m going to have to use search words of more languages. yunta yugo bueyes arado Will have to get out a dictionary for French and more.

Rob

[Rob FLory]

Hi John,
You might try checking in with Tillers International in Scotts, MI. They are no doubt plugged into the local market for tongues, and the local woods.

A forecart tongue doesn’t have to be as heavy as some implement tongues since a forecart doesn’t usually carry tongue weight like a mower.

Rob Flory

[Rob FLory]

Hi,
I really love my Devon-Holstein cross team. Devons are a bit small for me, but speed and intelligence are good. The Holstein cross gives a bit more size, 2000 vs. 1600lb.

I have seen some really nice Brown Swiss plowing. Lots of power, very cooperative, but pokey. I wouldn’t want to mow with them.

As Holsteins are plentiful as “breeding platforms” (sorry ladies), I think crossing with one of the more active lighter breeds(Devon, Ayrshire, Jersey) is a good way to go.

I have always been impressed with Shorthorns.

Rob

[Rob FLory]

I sure want to do this some day. I don’t like having to have a second person to operate the mower or plow, and I am not good enough at training to drive mine from behind just with voice.

I drove a team trained by Watson Smith, who ringed them. When putting lines on the rings, he tied the ring up on top of the nose with a rope around the horns. This took some of the pull off the ring. The steers were very responsive to the lines, and they could be driven with a very light touch on the lines.

I disagree that the rings hurt the noses. A rope would be more likely to cause abrasion.

I also disagree that anyone regardless of inexperience can drive them. I think that would be the same as saying anyone could drive a team of horses with lines regardless of inexperience. Sure, anyone can drive them… until they get scared and run away.

Rob Flory

[Rob FLory]

Hi Neil,
I enjoyed the photos a lot. Have you found any old collars around your area? This is pretty much yoke country out here, but I am still intrigued by collars.

Rob Flory
Howell Farm, NJ

[Rob FLory]

Hi,
Every county in the US has a book about its soils put out by NRCS/USDA. The book is the Soil Survey of XX County, State.

Starting with a road map, you can find the property in question on a map that shows what kind of soils are there. This is a good way to learn about problems like poor drainage that might not show in June, but that you wish you knew about when your field is waterlogged in April.

It will tell you typical crops etc. also.

Rob Flory

[Rob FLory]

Hi,
If you look at the Tillers International web site, you will find information about a farm in MN that hosts some of their workshops. I think they have oxen.

Rob Flory
Howell Living History Farm

[Rob FLory]

Hi folks,
Check the photo section for a couple of pictures of single cultivators. Look in the working the single horse section. One is of a rider guiding the horse as Kristin described.

Rob Flory
Howell Living History Farm

[Rob FLory]

Hi Lane,

I enjoyed the pictures on your web site.
I don’t have an answer for your question, but a couple more questions to think about.

How young is your team? Are your horses developed(old) enough and conditioned enough to pull a plow? The plow is one of the harder loads of the implements we use, and we like them to be able to do it for a full day. Along the way, using a smaller plow for fewer hours is a good idea.

Will they follow the furrow with minimal guidance from the teamster? Do you use a second person to steer the plow? That second person is handy in the beginning, but at some point you’ll want to wean yourself off that.

Do they stop well, if something goes wrong?

I’m sure interested to hear your story of bringing your young horses along, as we only use older horses at our place. We have had few horses under 8 years old in the 20 years I’ve been at this.

Rob Flory

[Rob FLory]

I think a lot of the equipment(Buck rakes and Beaver slides etc.) that we see in SFJ as used in the west is best adapted to light hay yields in dry areas. As I picture them, you are gathering hay from over a large area before it fills. I think here in the east where grass grows heavier, the side-delivery rake is more appropriate.

We use an Oliver hay loader with a sheet-metal ramp and forks. We have an older rope and slat style that works more like a conveyer, like the apparatus that takes the straw to the binder in a reaper-binder. We haven’t restored that one yet. The hay loader’s reputation as a “man-killer” is well deserved. You have to be mighty tough to handle all that material coming at you on the hottest days of the year. We usually prefer to round up a couple extra people and pitch, but I suppose if we had to pay them we’d be using the loader more. We might do more of our haying later in the day if we lived on the farm rather than commuting, which would reduce the heat stress.

I agree with Carl that getting hay into the barn is the way to go. I sure don’t want to work that hard to harvest the hay only to leave it outside.

The more I use our 6-tine grapple(3 per side) the better slings start to look. Unfortunately we didn’t make the door big enough in our ox barn to handle slings. It takes us 10(ish) pulls to get a wagon load into the barn with the grapple. We are only about 6 years into the loose hay biz, so maybe we’ll figure out some efficiencies. It might make more sense to push the last 200 pounds of hay off the wagon and accumulate a larger pile rather than trying to clean the wagon with the grapple.

Rob Flory
Howell Living History Farm

[Rob FLory]

Hi Plowboy,
You might be in a class by yourself. We have used the rope and pulley eveners to put 4(2 ahead of 2) on a sulky plow with a big bottom, but have never used more than that. I can picture putting 3 ahead of 3 with the rope eveners, and a standard 3-horse tree behind them. I’ve got a picture I just drew of a pulley system that would even 3 horses in line, but I am not sure how to translate it into a practical system. If you send me your mailing address I’ll mail you a drawing and you can take it from there.

Rob Flory
Howell Living History Farm

[Rob FLory]

To make your decision easier, I’m going to throw some contrary advice your way.

Forget about the forecart ahead of the walking plow. Why would you make it more heavier and more complicated? You’ll upset the line of draft so that the plow is not getting the lift it needs to run flat, or it will get too much. The forecart won’t let you steer the plow.

The earlier comment about sulky plows being harder to adjust is right on.

You’ll do best to break this down into baby steps.

If your horses are not used to plowing, some furrow training is in order before you start pulling the plow. I did this with my oxen recently and it only took 2 furlongs for them to get the idea.

Start with a walking plow that is known to work, and someone who knows how to plow. Drive your horses while your plowman plows and gets the plow adjusted. Now you could try plowing by yourself before you move on to trying the new plow, again while you drive and your plowman gets it adjusted.

When you break these down into one step at a time, your results are more assured than if you have a team, plowman, and plow, none of which have plowed before.

We do this routinely at our farm with new horses and new humans. Every now and then we try a new plow, and we have come across the occasional plow that just will not adjust, due to a bent beam or something. I’d sure hate to try to figure that out with horses that are not experienced.

Maybe this would be a good workshop for the next Northeast Draft Animal Field Days!!

Rob Flory
Howell Living History Farm
Titusville, NJ

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