best precautions, humbling wreck, and the safest type of neck yoke.

[Kyle]

Partially due to a height difference and partially due to more “heart” my haflinger mare tends to work harder and pull slightly ahead of my haflinger x gelding. A couple days ago I decided to reverse the side I have been hitching them on. I like to mix it up so they are comfortable on both sides. This is not the first time I switched them, but it was the first time in about 8 months. I also decided to put a stick from the geldings halter to the mares hame ring. I always do a pre flight check and exam the horses, the harnesses (all the buckles, stress points, etc), and the way they are hitched to the implement after I’m all hitched but before I untie them to head to work. This time was no exception and I even went over everything twice with extra scrutiny because I had made changes in the hitching style. I should mention that they wear a nylon d ring harness and were being hitched to a standard pioneer forecart with the tongue cut down for haflingers.
Well it worked great. My gelding walked equal or ahead of my mare for the entire two and a half hours we were out. Never once did I have to tell him to get up or try to hold back the mare. I didn’t hitch to any other implements. We just took the cart around the fields and trails and practiced turning, backing, etc. Well I was so pleased I decided to end the day with a nice brisk trot from the far side of the back fields and up the hill to the driveway that leads back to where I unhitch them. ( I always make them walk before we get close to the barn so they don’t get in the habit of being too eager to get back to the barn.)
But as I was approaching the driveway still at a trot the tongue suddenly fell to the ground and jabbed in causing the cart to swing around on one tire and smack the gelding in the legs. To keep from falling off the cart I fell to my knees hugging the guard with my armpits while trying to hold onto the lines and steering them towards a nearby mulch pile as the cart again had swung around and smacked the gelding even harder as he was stopping. They stopped and I unhitched them and ground drove them for a little while to end on a good note. Then I went back to exam the cart. I thought the nut may have come off the neck yoke, but the weld for the neck yoke bolt had actually broken. Although I had not inspected it before this time out I had looked at it when I unhitched the time before and put the cart away! I did not see any sign of any weakness then. Fortunately no person (besides a bruised knee) or animal was hurt and no equipment was damaged so I was grateful but it was a scary 100′. It was humbling to me though that even with all my extra pre flight precautions a freak equipment failure had taken place.
I looked at one of my other neck yokes and noticed that instead of a bolt welded to a chain link it was formed from a piece of round stock that was bent and threaded at the end. Like an eyebolt welded shut. ( I will post pictures if I can ever figure out how to resize them!) Is this type stronger? The style that just broke on me seems like a weaker design. One of the fields I was in was plowed wrong (turned around at the end of each row and flipped the furrows in the opposite directions) by the previous guy and it is generally too bumpy to take a cart on. I was on the road that goes around the field, but cut across one corner of the field to get around some deep mud and standing water on the road. Then once on the smooth road again started my trot up hill. This is the only thing I can think of that may have put a lot of stress on the weld. There was not a lot of tongue slap or any thing going up the hill.
What is the safest style of neck yoke and method of attaching? I have been told to stay away from the end pin style and to use the bolt through style. But I do not want a repeat of this. and I’m eager to get them hitched to the cart again!

[Does’ Leap]

Kyle:

Glad you and your horses made it through that experience in one piece. I use a “plug yoke” developed by Les Barden in NH. Here is a link to one discussion: http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?2646-Barden-style-neck-yoke&highlight=plug+yoke

George

[Donn Hewes]

I would love to see a picture of the pieces that broke if you feel like posting them. There is always the question of what is the best design, but also what is a strong execution of the design. Obviously the parts are lighter on a small cart than on a four horse plow hitch. When ever we make neck yokes or eveners at home we face the question of what is a strong design and how strong do I have to make it? Not always as easy as it sounds. It also makes it hard to answer for someone else. It sounds like you and your horses handled that situation about as well as you can. On a different kind of neck yoke I have used a lot of 1/2 eye bolts welded shut.

[Kyle]

Here are the pictures. The red one is the chain links welded. THe wooden one is round stock bent into eyebolts welded shut. I made a similar one to the red one for my cultivator and will post a picture of that too. I haven’t had any problems with it yet.
George, I like the design in your thread. It is beyond my fabrication skills at this point but I have read it and bookmarked it. Since the jockey yokes are fixed to the neck yoke do you make a separate set of jockey yokes for every implement? I have always been told to avoid the ring end style unless using a safety latch with it. Am I understand that this pins in the end and then is bolted in place also? as it seems like the pin would have a similar draw back of being able to slip out if used without bolting. Or is it just the metal receiver that is bolted to it with the neck yoke just pinning into this?
Thanks

[Does’ Leap]

@Kyle 31444 wrote:

George, I like the design in your thread. It is beyond my fabrication skills at this point but I have read it and bookmarked it. Since the jockey yokes are fixed to the neck yoke do you make a separate set of jockey yokes for every implement? I have always been told to avoid the ring end style unless using a safety latch with it. Am I understand that this pins in the end and then is bolted in place also? as it seems like the pin would have a similar draw back of being able to slip out if used without bolting. Or is it just the metal receiver that is bolted to it with the neck yoke just pinning into this?
Thanks

Kyle:

I have one neck yoke/jockey yoke for all my implements. Every implement has a “receiver” that accepts the plug yoke. I simply remove the yoke and plug into my next pole. The plug is held in the pole my tension in the d-ring harness. When hitched tight, I can stand at my horses’ heads and pull on the yoke for all I’m worth and can barely get it to slip a half inch away from the pole. In other words, it’s not coming out – at least in a tight d-ring. Over the years I have made some modifications to the plug yoke: (1) I now use 1/2″ eye bolts as I wore through the 3/8 within 18 months of making the yoke; and (2) I welded on 1/2″ square stock to the front of the yoke to beef it up as it was starting to bow.

George

[Kyle]

here is a pic of the jockey yokes I made and the neck yoke for my cultivator. I made the mistake of not making all my steels match so my friend who welded most of it had to slab it on a little in places. (This is part of the reason I am always checking the welds) He did not make the one that broke though. That one was made by guy in PA and came with the cart.

The primary advantage of the pin or ring style is that the neck yoke is easily transferable as apposed to a bolt. I did read in the thread that your style of yoke allows the yoke instead of the pole end to stick out furthest in front which some people liked. Do you think that the pin is safer than the ring style? Is your style stronger by design than say the style pioneer makes? My teachers always told me to not use ring style because the possibility of it slipping off was there even if it is unlikely with the harness properly adjusted. (but here I am with a broken bolt on!)
I do like the idea in the another current thread in the equipment section about using a ball and receiver hitch and having one tongue for most implements. They are using it with oxen not horses though. I wonder about combining that idea with your neck yoke but bolting the neck yoke on to the pole permanently.

[brett]

I also had a neckyoke break, not pretty. It was homemade steel pin type. bad design broke in middle. I have since gone to ring type . they have two holding points on the center ring. slip over the tounge .I also installedanti slip off device for the ring. Oh by the way my team survided inspite of my ignorance. I’m glad y’all are good. I also converted my harness to d ring.

[karl t pfister]

Hay Kyle, You spoke in your description of hooking up after switching sides of putting a stick from the Gelding to he mare’s hame ring .
What is that supposed to do ? Does he bit her, and does that work to stop him ? Thanks Karl

[Author]

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