draft distribution in neck yoke

[Baystatetom]

Charly,
You may be correct about the old technology. I used my great grandfathers old yokes as a template but who knows he may have used that design because it worked, and never tried to make it work better.
Also I had been thinking about switching the nigh and far steers. I have never done that before but have heard of others making it work. One of the big problems I have is the nigh steer hates it when I get in front of him. He pulls bests when I stay back at his shoulder. If I step up to try and slow down the off steer the nigh one shuts down on me.
The off steer can be a bit of a grouch and he has longer horns. I thought I was better off having the friendly one with shorter horns next to me 🙂

[dominiquer60]

This weekend I let 4 boys from Maine drive my steers in a nice enclosed area. They were thrilled and did OK considering my team is not the easiest for beginners. Afterward they asked what would happen if I switched the steers to opposite sides, I did it a few times when they were younger, but had not done so for months. So we gave it a try and they were good when they were good and bad when they were bad. If I had reason to switch for good I know I could get them to work well eventually, but we are all creatures of habit and it takes a while to develop new habits.

I have a 3 styles of yoke at hand to be inspired by and it is hard to know what will be best for a comfortable and versatile yoke, they all work good enough, but like Andy said, how does one improve the design just a little to meet current needs. I have been keeping comfort, symmetry and weight reduction in mind while shaping my 7″, I am sure it will work just fine when I am done, but better than what I am using now would be preferable.

[Baystatetom]

I am practicing for a ox teamsters challenge event in a couple of weeks. I am not sure I should switch them indefinitely right now, but I may try it once just to see what happens.

[Carl Russell]

@dominiquer60 29095 wrote:

Carl,

This comes at just the right time because I am finishing my 7″ yoke and would like to improve upon the 6″ that I borrowed. I am more of a visual person and though I think I understand the jist of what you have written, perhaps a picture of your 9′ yoke would clarify a lot for me.

Here is a visual of what I am currently dealing with a 6″ with a shallow belly and a rather flat neck seat. I am aiming to make my 7″ neck seat deeper and more elliptical like Tillers recommends, I can see how it will prevent a pressure point and allow it to roll better on their necks. I am having a hard time trying to finish shaping my 7″, it still seem so bulky and I would like to make it as functional as possible so we can work to our best potential as a team. If I get a moment later I will take a couple shots of my yoke in progress, I would love to get some feedback from fellow DAP members on it.

Well I seem to need a 101 in managing my pictures as well, I will have to come back to this after potato harvesting.

Here are a few pics of my 9″ yoke. If it isn’t clear in the pics, the triangle between neck seats and the bottom of the staple is 37.5″x10.5″. The pics from above shows how wide the neck seats are to provide stability against too much roll. Also the staple is set at a little more than 50% of the depth of the bows…. at least set up for the steers the last time I had them in it. The second pic shows the staple offset by 1/2″(you can see the scribed center line). I always put that on my off steer as I tend to drive that steer…… the nigh one is easy to get to so I put the focus, and the weight, on the off one.

Carl

[dominiquer60]

Carl,
Thank you for taking the time to snap some pictures, I can see what you mean now. This is indeed a nice yoke.

I am glad that the 7″ yoke that I am working on resembles your yoke more so than the others that I have on hand, and I am going largely off of the Tiller plans. My neck seats are wide and becoming deep so at least I am headed in a good direction. The belly of my yoke will not be as deep as yours, but I do have it so that I could add a block under the staple to lower the belly. My staple is one of Boytons and can slide either direction a little ways as needed.

I am feeling good about it now, but I will feel better when this yoke is done and in use, they are big enough for it already:)

I will still try to take some pics and figure out how to post them, it just may not be soon.

[Baystatetom]

Now I get it! I had to go look at my yokes and tilt them around before I could see how the V was formed by the deeper belly yoke. Just like math class in high school, I’ll get there eventually! Although the 7″ yoke I just switched out of had a pretty deep belly and my off steer still charged ahead. The antique 8″ I just transitioned into has a shallow belly and fixed staple. I do have a unfinished 8″ with a deep belly and adjustable staple, maybe I should invest the time in finishing that new one.
That cracked yoke I was going to play with is too tight on there necks to use even as an experiment.

[Vicki]

Thanks to everyone for this stimulating thread. Carl, that yoke is a beauty! I’ve noticed that old yokes, especially eastern ones, tend toward more rounded neck seats, more rounded both front to back and side to side, and deeper bellies. Yokes, even old yokes, I see from the midwestern region tend to be flatter in neck seat–even in the side to side arc–and have less belly.

I have wondered if this difference was influenced by a difference in the type of work, type of landscape, and/or type of cattle that were predominant in old New England vs. the midwest. Or is the difference due to a difference in skills and priorities between settled New England guys and farmers settling the new regions of prairies and plains? A well-respected yoke maker and I were atlking about this and he theorized about the difference between an oxman over a long winter in New England taking lots of time and care to fashion a yoke, and settlers on the move or just arriving in new lands, being in more of a hurry to make a usable yoke with less sophisticated tools and from different types of trees.

Any thoughts, anyone?

[Carl Russell]

@Vicki 29191 wrote:

…..and settlers on the move or just arriving in new lands, being in more of a hurry to make a usable yoke with less sophisticated tools and from different types of trees.

Any thoughts, anyone?

This I think is pretty much on target. And they worked well enough so the changes became customary. And then horses took over the serious draft requirements so the culture was never pushed to revisit more fundamental aspects of yoke making.

At NEAPFD we were discussing this phenomenon as related to some questions about horse harness adjustment and draft. When the internal combustion engine took over, there were many innovations and complex mechanisms associated with animal-power that just fell by the wayside. As we reclaim this power source, many of us only have at our disposal limited traditions of our own regions. As we demand more from animal-power, and as we connect between ourselves and our regional communities, our discussions will unearth some of these fundamentals.

Like Vicki I really appreciate how so many folks from far-flung communities can contribute so thoughtfully to this discussion.

Thanks, Carl

Carl

[Baystatetom]

I agree with Carl. I would guess that as pioneers moved west bringing with them only the necessities, they made yokes as quick as possible when they needed them and then switch to horses soon after. Mean while we New England Yankees being both thrifty and resistant to change kept our oxen much longer. Allowing for both old technology to be carried on and new advancements to be made. As Carl also stated earlier there is a difference between working yokes and pulling yokes. Most oxen these days are used only for pulling contest at fairs, therefore there are many more of those types of yokes around. Including all the ones I have from my ancestors.
I am now working on putting a longer staple with a spacer block in my old 8″ yoke.

[Baystatetom]

I just remembered one more yoke I didn’t have at home yet, so I ran over to my folks barn and found it buried in the back corner of the loft. I drove out the staple and replaced it with one 2 inches longer. I took up the space with a 2×4 block and put it on the team for a trial run. It did tilt the yoke a lot more but didn’t have enough of an evener effect to slow down that off steer. I didn’t dare drill to more holes in it to move the staple.

[tirontco]

You might want to check out the ox yoke plans that Tillers has on their website. One feature that they suggest is mounting the ring to the yoke by means of four bolts through a steel plate that the ring is welded to. The plate has slots instead of round holes so the ring can be adjusted side to side.

[Baystatetom]

Yup that is a good design, I have a 9″ and 10″ yoke with that kind of staple, but I have two 7″ and 3 8″ that all have a fixed staple. I have been playing around trying to avoid the expense of a new yoke, either in time building one or $ buying one. The first time I used the block under the yoke to increase the draft by 2″ I didn’t notice that it made a difference. Then again I pulled a light load. The last two days I freighted them down a bit more and I am starting to think it is working. It looks like the off bull is working harder and staying in line with the other. I think I’ll try it a few more times before declaring victory though. Swapping them in the yoke may also be a good idea. I think I’ll try that after this weekends fair.

[Vicki]

Bay, I’d be interested to hear the outcome if you do indeed switch your steers’ sides in the yoke. I wonder if the off steer’s lagging and head down is due to respect/intimidation from the dominant nigh. If so, we’d expect him to do the same even if you switch them.

I have a little of that going on in my team, where the off keeps his head lower and will lag, no matter what I seem to try. Under longer heavier work, they do even out well, happily. Working single, the off is great and has no weakness, so I wonder if he simply prefers a different bow depth or neck seat than the yoke gives him, or if he’s trying to stay farther away from the nigh ox.

[Baystatetom]

I am not unsatisfied with the near steers performance I think he pulls well enough. I blame the off steer for trying to run all the time, he just doesn’t have first gear its flat out or nothing. I was hoping if I put him on the near side maybe I would have better control of him. I’ll keep you posted as I blunder along 🙂

[dominiquer60]

I finally got my 7″ yoke in progress to the point where I could use it. I think that more wood could come off, but will wait for some help from someone more experienced at these things. For now it is certainly an improvement over the 6″.

They appear more comfortable and move out and together better, so I consider that a thumbs up from them. I will take some pics and post as soon as life slows down enough to learn how to use this forum:)

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