DAPNET Forums Archive › Forums › Draft Animal Power › Horses › 4 Abreast (or more)
- This topic has 30 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 6 months ago by
Simple Living.
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- April 28, 2009 at 2:52 am #40489
J-L
ParticipantI’ve worked my animals 3 wide a fair bit, but never 4 head. I may have need to do so with my grain drill. It’s a 10′ drill and fairly heavy. I may get by with 3 just fine, but would like to work four anyway. My main question is on the lines. Do you just do it like the 3 abreast with stublines? Will my driving lines adjust enough for four?
If Donn or any of the others with experience would care to, maybe a diagram would be a good way to go. Thanks.April 28, 2009 at 1:49 pm #52024Ronnie Tucker
Participanti use lines on two and jockey off the others . that is for 3 or 4 good place for training swap them around work them in different places .in tn we call it a bearing stick ronnie tucker tn logger
April 28, 2009 at 4:57 pm #52010Donn Hewes
KeymasterHi JL, I do my lines for four and three the same way. In both cases I use standard team lines. For three abreast I use a stub line from the hames of the center horse to the inside of the bit for the left and the right horse. For four abreast I use four stub lines. On the left side of the hitch the each horse has a team line on the left side of their bit and a stub line on the right. On the right is the opposite. Getting your stub lines the right length is just as important as getting your lines adjusted right (this determines how far apart they work). As we work mules and horses together sometimes the size difference is important. For a shorter mule working along side a taller horse I just move the stub line to a lower ring on the horses hames and everyone is happy. I know there are other different ways to drive them – this has worked well for me. Donn
April 28, 2009 at 5:42 pm #52020near horse
ParticipantI have about a 10 or 12 ft Superior drill w/ a single tongue on it (looks like it has been modified to pull behind a tractor) like I would expect but the JD Van Brunt I saw at the plowing bee a couple of weeks ago had 2 tongues – when they hitched up 4 abreast, 2 horses were in the “middle” (between tongues) and then one each on the outside. I didn’t get to see more of how they were actually hitched up (2 neck yokes and doubletrees ?). Is this a common thing on drills? Anyone else seen this?
April 28, 2009 at 6:12 pm #52031Simple Living
ParticipantIn looking for other things on the internet we often find things we had no clue were there. Some of them good and some others not so good. A week or so ago I found this book on line at Books.google.com. It is a book on farm buildings of all types. The copyright date in it is 1911. In the book there are hundreds of pages of information from raising livestock to raising barns to lines fore teams from 2-20 I think. I am going to put a link to the one page (300) That shows lines for a 4 abreast. There were several more in this section of the book. If it doesn’t work let me know and I will explain how to get there, I think. One of the other things I found in this book on page 303 was a diagram of a 3horse evener/pole set up to make your own. It was the first I had seen with all the dimensions as well. If you would like to Download the book there is a link to a PDF Doc. in the upper right part of the page so you can always have a copy handy on you computer or if you want to kill another tree, print it.:D:eek:
http://books.google.com/books?id=xWg2AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA13&dq=farm+buildings#PPA300,M1
Gordon
April 28, 2009 at 6:37 pm #52011KeymasterHi Gordon, Those lines will work, and even work for three abreast without the extra stub lines. They would work for five or six abreast also, just by adding more stub lines. The only draw back is they aren’t any good for a team. I have used both and haven’t found one set up to be much different than the other for driving. A person could add that extra check line to their regular team lines but then you would be messing with that all the time.
April 28, 2009 at 8:18 pm #52012KeymasterHi Ronnie, I think I know how a jockey stick works but I have never used one. Does that work with a buck back strap to keep them from going ahead? It is a light weight pole (usually wood or metal?) with a snap on each end, right. Where do you hook it to? I think it is the outside of the bit to the same place on the horse next to it, but I am not positive. Sounds like it would be easy to make them at home? Thanks, Donn
April 28, 2009 at 8:51 pm #52029CharlyBonifaz
MemberSince I could not access above mentioned book through the link given, here is an alternative:
http://www.archive.org/details/farmbuildingscom00farmrich
thanks a lot, good info in it!
elkeApril 29, 2009 at 12:26 am #52003Plowboy
ParticipantFour abreast on a tongue usually is better with a longer tongue because of the extra evener bar and the flex of four horses on turns that could pull the neck yoke off the tongue. More than four abreast should only be used for tillage work with no tongue. Too much flex in the hitch although you can fasten the tongue but it will put alot of stress on whatever you fasten with. if we use more than four we hitch in tandem with rope and pulley hitch. Also with more than four Jockey sticks would be appropriate the further your lines get from your center team the less control you have of your middle horses which can cause issues also.
April 29, 2009 at 12:46 am #52025Participanti use a chin strap on work bridles with a ring on it i hook the stick to that ring.the other side hooks on to the hame ring that your breast strap fastens to.if you use the chin strap it will not shove the bit around so much it has more even pressure .yes you tie them back to the back band or better to the britchen ring ronnie tucker tn logger
April 29, 2009 at 1:08 am #52021ParticipantHey Donn,
I thought the jockey stick went from the hame ring on the outside horse to the bit ring of the inside horse but I could be (and likely am) wrong. Guys, straighten this out:D
April 29, 2009 at 2:54 pm #52013KeymasterHi Ronnie, thanks for the explanation, it makes more sense that way. On your work bridle with a chin strap, your not talking about the curb chain; it is more like a halter, right? I think that would be useful.
Geoff, I think it is the inside horse on the hames and the outside horse on the chin; the outside one is the one you are steering.
If you want to drive five or six abreast I would use the team lines with an extra cross check added for a third horse (like those pictured in the book above). I have drive six abreast this way with good results. I think jockey sticks would work just as well. I also had no problems with a bolt on neck yoke and six head, but the tongue was long enough as Denis suggested. I would use an attached neck yoke for anything over two animals as depending on the type of evener involved it can come off. Outside animals step back, inside animals step up, and off it goes. If you want as many animals holding back as you have pulling forward look at pictures of a four abreast neck yoke (go to the mules thread, look for “making hay” there is a link to pictures of four head all attached to hold back. Not needed for most tillage tools but really handy for hay making or anything heavy like that and working hills. Donn
April 29, 2009 at 5:00 pm #52019jen judkins
ParticipantI think this is a fascinating discussion, but I’m such a visual learner, I can’t follow well. The diagrams were helpful, though.
It would be great to have a ‘multiple hitch’ course/demo at NEAPFDs this year…how to rig the lines, set the eveners, different ways of hitching and the pros and cons. Any takers? Dennis? Andre? Anyone?
April 29, 2009 at 6:16 pm #52006ParticipantJen you have a good way of putting things. I guess I’m a visual learner too. I would really like to talk Donn, and the others who are computer savvy enough, into drawing a picture of their method for this simple minded rancher. I might just hook 3 on and do what I can. One of my mules is gimpy anyway.
April 29, 2009 at 6:53 pm #52014KeymasterHi JL, I think there are some pictures were you can see the lines pretty good too, if you go to the mule category and look for a thread called “making hay”. There are some pictures (follow the link) from in front and behind the team. I think the 8th picture (first from behind the team) shows the lines the best. Do you use team lines plus two short straps to drive three? If you do it is pretty easy to use the same lines and two more straps to drive four.
Sorry about the gimpy mule. I have been frustrated by that, off and on, for the last couple years. I think I have finally started enough young stock to make it go good. Donn
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