D-Ring Neck Yoke Dimensions?

[ngcmcn]

Howdy Folks,

I’ve been using a wooden neck yoke for my D-Ring harness that i rebuilt from an old one that Carl graciously gave me, but at this point it seems a bit heavy and deep in length from the front tug snap to the pole ring, Id like to trim it up a bit and get a bit more height out of it as well as reduce the weight, being that my horses arn’t huge.

Its a given that the evener and neck yoke are the same lengths, what i’m curious about is what size steel, box stock,? channel? solid? pipe?rebar??lite buggy axles? have people had success fabricating them out of.?

I’ve seen Les Bardens rig but i’m not willing at this point to refit all my gear to the pin system of yoke-pole attachment.

Thanks
Neal McNaughtrn
Unity, me.

[Carl Russell]

Neal,
I can’t remember if I showed you, but my most used neck yoke is made of 1 1/2″ pipe, with a spread chain. I twist the chain over the pipe to shorten it up so the ring is right under the horses noses. If they can get their nose past the tree, the pole will pass too.

Also, I shorten the front hold backs so that I can just barely get the hook, or snap, into the lower ring on the hame where the market strap hangs. This way I have very little problems with the standard neck yokes, although there tends to be too much pole sticking out for my liking, and in certain cases the pole may be too low because of the extra length from d-ring to pole ring.

I really like the pipe yoke with the spread chain, I’ve used it since I bought my second horse in 1987, and only had to repair one weld since.

Carl

[Gabe Ayers]

We just buy them from the Amish in widths of 46 and 48 inch double tree and beast yoke combination. We buy the whiffle trees to be 28 inch wide each to keep the front side strap from wearing the hide off the top of the horses forearm.

These breast yokes are round tube steel 1-1/2 ” and the whiffle trees 1 ” – and tough. We get them through Log Cabin Sales, PA. The double tree is channel or square tubing Dale Stolfus (sp.) sells them.

Spreading them further apart helps eliminate tongue slap on the two wheeled arch using the d – ring harness adjusted properly. It also keeps the team cooler in hot weather and still makes them slightly wider than the arch which helps keep the arch from hanging on saplings and trees in the course of skidding.

[ngcmcn]

Carl, and Jason,

Thanks for the input on the breast yoke. 1-1/2″ sounds to be the magic number. I’ll check out log cabin.

Carl is there a good photo on this site of your rig?

What got me thinking about all this was when i was mowing hay a few weeks back i was noticing how low my pole was at the horses heasd and thinking that i’ve always heard those mowers were designed to run at about 31″ off the ground at the tip of the pole. My mowers work fine, run fine, just seemed everything was hanging a bit low off the front of the horses and i would like to tune it all a bit. One thought i had was to put the pole ring on the yoke on top of yoke. No tongue truks!.

Thanks alot

Neal

[Carl Russell]

Putting the yoke under the pole would work.

Also shortening the pole over-all as well. You only need a couple of heel links at the evener.

The linkage between the singletree and evener on the yoke can be shortened sometimes.

Are your front hold-backs short?

I don’t mean to second guess your harnessing, but if the D-ring is down too low that can also complicate pole height. 90* off the hame should be good unless the front trace is too long, which is often the case. I have had to get my traces custom-made for years to get the D-ring up where it should be. Don’t ask me the right length, these types of figures go in one side of my head and out the other, but I’ll put a tape on it tomorrow.

My spread chain neck yoke should be noticeable on at least one photo on the gallery. One photo comes to mind, of the team pulling loaded scoot uphill. I can’t load one right now as I am still without modem and working on Lisa’s computer.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Actually a better photo is on the first page of “Working Horse” in the gallery. I titled it “Starting a new era”. Shows the team head on. Kind of hard to see really good detail but your can see how compact it is. Also shows the harness, and hold backs.
Carl

[Carl Russell]

22″ from bolt to ring on my horses (16.2H) puts the D-ring in a place that can have good effect on the lifting of the pole. If it is down too low on the horse the pole will not ride high enough, even with the correct tension between neck-yoke and evener. I know this doesn’t have to do directly with your question, but it may have importance in answering it. I found with harnesses that I have looked at, and even with traces that I have ordered, that most harness makers make the front trace too long. Walt Bryan clued me into this many years ago, he used to cut the swivel clips off standard traces to shorten them, and just ran the hame bolt through where the clip had been. Then I started getting mine made by some local leather worker, leather outers with three layers of seat belt nylon looped on the inside. Wear great and don’t break. $150 a pair? or something like that (those numbers, whoosh!)Carl

[ngcmcn]

Carl,

Thanks for all your feedback. This is my first set of D-Ring harness so I’m learning and like you say draft animal power is a craft and getting the harness adjusted is some of the work, gotta find the sweet spot with it.

My front tugs are in a pretty good line of draft with the rear tugs and the evener and darn close to 90 degrees off the hames. The collar doesn’t ride up and after four acres of mowing my horses don’t have sores or tender spots. I will check the front tug length and the hold back length. My heel chains are hanging about 5 so i have some length to shorten on the pole for sure. 16.2 horses.

Question; Does Les(or anyone) have a consise book on adjusting the D-Ring?

Thanks Again

Neal McNaughten
Unity, me.

[Carl Russell]

No book, but there is a video. You can get it through Berry Brook Ox Supply, or New England Ox Supply (contact info in “Organization” category at the bottom of the index page.

I’ve been in contact with Les to use one of NEAPFD workshop slots to review the video. I think it will be a great way to go over all the details, because it is very well organized, and the live animal demonstration, while an excellent example opportunity, tends to get distracted, and not everyone can hear/see/etc.

I have a copy of the video, but someday we should put out a pamphlet or some such so that you can take it to the barn, field, or woods, like the stained and tattered “Work Horse Handbook” in my collection.

Have fun out there, Carl

p.s. Can you see what I mean about the length of the front trace? Even at 90*, if the front trace is 24″-28″, then the D-ring will be positioned way down by the belly. I know that it can seem disruptive to have to find a solution like trace lengths, especially if the current ones are in good shape, but in the long run it will be much more effective. It’s just indicative of the misconceptions in conventional thinking about the D-ring harness. It is based on sound mechanical and physical principles,which when adhered to, offer comfort and functionality to the working horse surpassing any other harnessing system.

Anyone is welcome to call, and visit Les Barden in Farmington, NH. He is open, friendly, and serious about the use of animal power. Any conversation with him will be well worth the effort, and a visit to his farm will set goals that you have been trying to envision for years.
Les Barden’s phone #603-332-0082

[Mark Cowdrey]

For anyone who has front tugs that wrap around the swivel clip and are scratching their heads about how to shorten them. Meader’s, and probably others, sells a sheet metal tug end that can be riveted or bolted to a shortened (cut off) tug.

Mark

[ngcmcn]

Carl, no disruption of work when the rigging and horses run better from an alteration. I’ve seen that video more then once, not recently though, a small book would be good with all the fine points that twenty or thirty years,or more, of working with horses brings.

I noticed in the Working Horses pics that you don’t run pony yokes just a straight neck yoke?

Thanks

neal

[Carl Russell]

No it isn’t a straight yoke. My neck yoke is made from an old evener style neck yoke, that was originally wood, with a spread chain, but the wood is replaced with 1 1/2″ pipe. The chain connects the two “pony” yokes, with the ring at the center. The “pony” yokes are spread apart by the long evener, and the tension is carried through the chain to the ring. It looks like a straight yoke because I wrap the chain around the main evener pipe to reduce the overall depth of the yoke. By twisting it thus, the “pony” yokes are actually a bit forward of the main evener pipe, (reverse of how it would be normally) making the whole thing quite compact. Also there are rings welded into the end of the “pony” yoke pipes for the hold-back hooks, which also saves a couple of inches.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

[ATTACH]I drew a sketch of the neck yoke.jpg” /> Carl

[ngcmcn]

Carl,

22″ front tugs is what i got on these girls, no swivel, the leather goes right around the bolt at the hames. My holdbacks just reach to clip onto the low ring on the hame. Nice straight line to the evener. One horse i brought the D-ring up one hole on the strap, thats it. What i did notice was a very, very slight out of square-ness between the collar and front tug, but good collar to shoulder contact and no sores after a sweaty 3-4 acres of mowing with a McD#7. One thing i noticed is some up and down slop(3/4)” where the tug bolts to the hame which i plan to eliminate towards the balls. As for the evener I plan to build, at some point, a steel one, that will get things up a bit higher.

Question? Have you ever bought new D-ring harness’s and if so , who’d you recommend to get them from? Local, VT? NorthEast? besides Meaders?

Thanks

Neal

[Ira]

Would you be interested in locating an Amish harness maker? There is one down here that will do mail order. I could check on prices and shipping charges if you were interested.

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