Getting Started with 3-abreast

[Stephen Leslie]

Hello Dapnet teamsters, I have some questions on getting started with 3-abreast:
We recently purchased a 3-abreast evener from E-Z Trail. I am hoping to work three Fjords next year on heavier jobs, such as spring discing and spreading, possibly plowing—but have never done this before. I still need to read through the recent discussion on 3-abreast with D-ring.
We are working are horses in Western Brichen harness.
Mr. Miller from E-Z Trail told me his evener should work fine on the Pioneer cart (with off-set tongue)—-which seemed to me the safest way to start—-and he thought that I should not need a hold back chain from the evener to the cart on the 2-horse side—what do you think?
Also, am thinking of a simple line arrangement using the team lines and then short lines from hame rings of middle horse—I read these are typically 38″—do you think I should start shorter for Fjords?
Last question (probably hardest to answer) I am thinking of putting my youngest horse in the middle (left of the tongue) as I have heard this is the safest way to bring in a younger animal. She is six years old and this summer was her 1st season working. She is not a bolter—just the opposite, so laid back as to wind up getting called “lazy” on more than one occasion—she is content to have the evener at 20%—80% as long as the older horse in the team will tolerate it. I have tried various means to even out the hitch—such as shortening her traces and putting a snub line on the more forward horse—but with minimal impact. This young mare does Okay single driving as long as I carry a whip to make noise behind her when she gets balky or tries to make a turn for the barn—I am satisfied that there are not any ill-fitting harness or collar issues. I am used to young horses that want to go a little faster than I would prefer and need to be held back some by working with an older settled horse—so this situation has me scratching my head a bit. Will the middle spot be a relatively safe spot to put this laid back horse in order to encourage her to take up a fair measure of the draft?

[Stephen Leslie]

Correction to above:meant to say off-set hitch (not tongue) on Pioneer cart.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Stephen, First, I will say working three abreast is one of my favorite hitches. Lots of power, but still easy to work. Get some check lines ( I know that can be a confusing term). Mine have a snap and conway on one end and a billet and buckle on the other end. The conway makes it easy to adjust them to the perfect length for the team and evener. Usually on a daily basis I adjust them by raising and lowering where I put them on the hames with the snap. I still like a billet and buckle on the bit end. I could measure mine, but 36 or 38 sounds about right. With the Pioneer cart you are planning to move the tongue I assume? Then a simple three horse evener will work hooked in the center. Much easier than an offset evener. After I wrote that I realized you were talking about the off set evener. The off set evener uses a little bit of leverage to equalize the two sides. I have watched them work and a chain would upset their basic function, but I don’t have much experience working with one. I have always used the offset tongue and centered the evener.

For your purposes the tongue and neck yoke are just simpler with the western britchen. You just use your standard two horse yoke on the end of the tongue. While many of us might debate the need for attaching the neck yoke to the tongue every time you use it, even when horses are properly hitched; this is not a debate with three head on a two horse neck yoke. Imagine a simple slip on (ring type) yoke. When the third horse momentarily steps back from the load the yoke instantly come right off the end of the tongue. In this case there is no debate. the yoke must be attached to the tongue.

There are some tricks to using this line set up. This is by no means the only way to drive three. With lines this way, before you hook to something you are vulnerable before you get hooked up. The horse in the middle takes a step back; that brings the other two back and out, etc, etc, etc. Some folks prefer triple lines for this reason; I just like these lines because they are simple. The short checks are always hanging on the harness.

I find the young or green horse works best on the out side. I like to put a confident horse in the middle. Again the horse in the middle is “steering” the other two. Must be calm but up enough so we don’t get hesitating, etc. That horse will be learning to have some one on each side for the first time. For most experienced horses this is no issue at all, but it will be a little close for a green horse that may not be a herd leader to begin with.

I will see you in January, maybe if I get there early we can drive a team. D

[wally b]

Hi Steve

You should put your faster horse in the middle. If not your hitch won’t fan out properly if you have a laggard in the middle; it will crowd in and be more difficult to drive. With stub lines off the center horse The center horse must be more in front and responsive to help drive the hitch.

I like to hook directly to heavy implements like discs as there is loss of efficiency and side draft when using a forecart. If you use a pioneer forecart and your hitch pin is moved to the side to accommodate the three, then you need to hitch to the offset clevis hitch hole on the hitch of the forecart to compensate for side draft. In other words if you are facing forward and your three abreast evener is set to the left, then your disc needs to be hitched in the left hole on the drawbar of the forecart.

Over the years I have evolved away from forecarts for heavier work when I can easily make it work, like my disc. I will send a couple of pics.

Wally

[Donn Hewes]

I also like to work with out a forecart when it is practical. A forecart can be an advantage or a disadvantage. With my snow plow it is much easier and safer for me to be on the forecart than struggling through the snow. When discing or something like that, the forecart is equal to one horse. When a person rides a disc their weight is intended to hold the disc disc down, but riding a forecart in front of the disc it is just extra work for the animals.

One caution when walking behind a disc or other big harrow or drag. Make sure your lines are long enough to put your self fully behind and on both sides of the implement. If they aren’t long enough make them longer with a set of single lines or rope. It can take a little getting use to being back and far away from the animals.

[dominiquer60]

I don’t have much experience with driving 3, but I have to say that I like it a lot for plowing with the 2 way sulky. My first time driving 3 was my first time plowing, a little intimidating at first, but now that I have a couple acres under my belt I prefer using 3 for this task. I use lines for 3, so I don’t have anything to write about using team lines and the short lines to hames. I agree with Wally, after experimenting with a few different horses, it is much easier to drive this hitch with your most forward animal in the middle.

As for the “lazy” horse, it needs to learn its name. We keep a pocket full of small stones if a stick is not handy for horses that like to lag behind. I am not saying that it is the right way, but these training aids are found everywhere so they are often used here as an extension of the arm.

[Stephen Leslie]

Such great input from you all! Thanks so much—-very helpful information. Will keep you posted as we go forward.

[KMichelle]

Hey there… I am wondering what Donn is referring to when ‘the third horse steps back and neck yoke slips off…’ I have driven three with offset hitch and offset tongue and almost always used a regular two horse yoke. Is that a reference to too much slack in the hitch chains? Actually, the only time I drove with the neck yoke attached to the tongue, the bar that the neck yoke ring attached to broke. Thankfully I heard it happen before I saw it, in the middle of a left hand turn, there was nothing I could do to keep the tongue from sweeping under my outside horse, before she ‘whoa’d with the tongue under her legs. Anyway, nothing inherently against the attached neck yoke – just a story. Only wondering if it is anecdotal that I have always driven three with a regular yoke without trouble.

[KMichelle]

We would usually put our squirrely-est(large string/mixed bag) horse away from the tongue and drove with the check lines running through the middle horse’s rings.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Michelle, As with so many safety features and concerns, there are always shades and variables that might make something work for one person and not for another. Many folks believe it is an important safety practice to hook the neck yoke to the tongue even when hooking two horses. I just wanted to point out that the three horse hitch with a two horse neck yoke is quite different.

In the case of the two horse hitch, you are, in my opinion, attaching the neck yoke to prevent an accident should the teamster fail to hook the trace chains correctly. Correctly hitched two horse teams shouldn’t allow the neck yoke to slip off the tongue. With three horses hooked correctly and using a two horse neck yoke you can slip the neck yoke off the end of the tongue. This doesn’t mean it will happen to you or that it won’t, Just that it can and having them hooked correctly doesn’t prevent it. Neither the lines nor the traces prevent your third horse (not hooked to the neck yoke) from backing up. Of course a forward horse, or well trained, or teamster skill can prevent this, (one of these is likely what has kept your neck yoke from falling off) but that is not the same as saying “hook them correctly and it can’t come off”. Picture in your mind what happens to the other two horses when he steps back. because of the evener, they move forward with out moving the vehicle and that frees the yoke to bounce out or stay just by luck/ gravity.

Usually a three horse hitch on a tongue requires n offset tongue OR an offset evener, but they don’t really work together. I prefer an off set tongue were your evener is still hooked in the center of your cart. That is why the pioneer forecarts have three pieces of channel, center left and right; so it is easy to move the tongue.

I should also add, I don’t have anything against attaching the neck yokes as a rule. I use a variety of neck yokes including the slip on type, which I never secure if that is what I am using. I also use bolt on neck yokes and neck yokes that snap on. I like the figured neck yokes, but it is hard to have one on every piece of equipment. The snap on neck yokes have served me very well. A person should also watch the odd Log arch or other vehicle where the tongue is much higher than the evener. On a cart like that is is possible to pull the tongue way up in the air and by so doing slip off the neck yoke. This is a rear situation but just another one to be aware of.

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