[Rob FLory]

Hi,
After you sand them(or use scouring pad), a bit of lard rubbed in on a cloth makes them shine beautifully.

Do they have dandruff around the poll? I think sometimes flaky horns is associated with the dandruff and worming them with Ivermectin may clean that up. In addition to internal parasites, Ivermectin kills the mites that cause some of that dandruff.

Rob Flory
Howell Living History Farm

[Rob FLory]

Hi David,

I was discussing your quest for a smaller binder with your neighbor Tevis as he stopped through on the way back from Beiler’s sale. From his description of your operation, it seemed like maybe you could make use of a system that I have used for harvesting small grains with a sickle-bar mower. My McCormick #6 has provision for attachments to the 5′ bar. I took a piece of 1/4″ plywood as wide as the bar and about 3 feet deep and bolted a piece of 1″ by 1/8″ steel to the leading edge, with eye bolts to allow pins to attach the plywood behind the cutter bar.

This acted as a simulation of the original reapers that had a person raking the grain off the table. As my oxen pulled the mower, someone walked behind, alternately raking one half of the width of the table and then the other. The wheat fell nicely onto the table and raked off well-aligned for bundling and tying. A wooden-toothed hay rake is recommended as it is light, pulls the wheat off nicely, and if you get a tooth into the cutter, the tooth cuts off and you have not jammed the machine. Guess how I know that….

Normally we use a reaper-binder or a combine as our fields are three acres, but we did this adaptation back in the days when management was afraid to let interns play with the binder. I’ll check, but I think our binder is about 8 feet.

If you don’t hear from Tevis soon, give him a ring. He said he thinks he knows where there is a one-horse sickle bar mower in your neighborhood.

Good luck,

Questions and comments welcome.

Rob Flory
Howell Living History Farm

[Rob FLory]

Hi Jason,

You wrote,

“I do think the caulked shoes are harder to keep on the horses than flat shoes and keeping up with regular resets is important. We also like to use the regular head nails to make for easy clinching along the way to a reset.”

My buddy is just getting started in shoeing the horses that we both use. We haven’t had much luck in reclinching on a loose shoe, but maybe that is because we are using city head nails. Can you elaborate on your comment above?

Thanks, Rob Flory

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