head position while working

[Andy Carson]

Here’s a picture from the front, maybe this will help. We are stopped, but there is tension on the chain and the yoke is where it will ride when moving. I can imagine that commenting on yoke fit by looking at photos has got to be hard… I wouldn’t have worried about it if it weren’t for that I have read that certain head positions can indicate a lack of comfort. Thier necks and bodies are changing so fast on thier diet of horse hay and the regular schedule of hard work. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before they move into a new yoke. I want to make sure I catch the signs.

.

[Droverone]

short pulls and short rest will build the neck muscle, it appears the bows are a little too low, but more over from reading your posts, it is just a lack or condition, surely your on the right track to fix all that. Lastly don’t be in a hurry to go up a size in yokes, a snug yoke like a snug collar is better than one a size too large. keep up the good work.

[Tim Harrigan]

Still can’t see how the bows fit. How do they look without a load, just standing with their heads up? I am also interested in the depth of the bow, the separation between the neck seat the chain attachment point. Is that a Howie yoke?

[Baystatetom]

I read a article in some real old copy of small farmers journal written about a old time ox man from Maine. He worked his oxen on the farm but was also a champion in the draw ring. He thought the oxen pulled much better with their heads up then down, and would train them to do so by putting a chain around their horns and to the yoke so when the yoke slide back on a load it lifted their heads. I have no idea if this is good bad or otherwise but thought the mention of it fit the thread. My off steer holds his head high while my nigh steer holds his lower. The off steer is also stronger and faster, maybe it is a better style?
~Tom

[Andy Carson]

@Tim Harrigan 33456 wrote:

Still can’t see how the bows fit. How do they look without a load, just standing with their heads up? I am also interested in the depth of the bow, the separation between the neck seat the chain attachment point. Is that a Howie yoke?

I’ll have to take another photo for the first part of this. I want to pay very close attention to yoke fit and design because I feel like it is absolutely critical to the work I want to do. The yoke I am using I borrowed from Vicki to get started and I am very thankful for it. It’s really closer to a 9.5 inch yoke than a 9 inch yoke. There is 5.5 inches between the neck seats and the plate that holds the ring. The staple is we led to the plate on this design and it rather narrow. The distance between the neck seat and where the the ring rides in the staple is closer to 6.5 inches below the neck seat. This seems in line in a general sense with the tillers yoke plans. All except for the staple is fairly central and narrow and doesn’t have the abilty to slide to the back of a wide slot as in the tillers design. Maybe this is tilting the yoke more than it would otherwise? Other than this, the biggest difference is in the width of the yoke. This one is has 21.5 inch between the bows, where tillers designs would have recommended a few more inches between the bows. Andrew Van Ord is making me a 10 inch yoke, which is only slightly larger than this one. Any other things to measure? I care about yoke fit alot.

[dominiquer60]

Like Tom, I know a couple people that have farmed and pulled. They had the most success at moving any heavy load with a team’s heads up. One described a good team of shorthorns that he had, ” they would crawl up under that yoke with their heads high and get a good lift on the load to start it.” Does your team have any problem with dandruff on their neck where the yoke rests, this can sometimes be from over working or from mites and it can be painful while working them. Just a couple things to look into….

[Tim Harrigan]

@Countymouse 33459 wrote:

… The staple is we led to the plate on this design and it rather narrow. All except for the staple is fairly central and narrow and doesn’t have the abilty to slide to the back of a wide slot as in the tillers design. Maybe this is tilting the yoke more than it would otherwise? ….

If you have a fixed staple like an eye bolt it can affect the rotation of the beam which can tie into the curvature of the neck seat. I doubt if that is causing the problem but it is good to look at the whole system.

[Andy Carson]

I wonder if this position is due mostly due to them being out of shape and working hard. When we stop, it is because of heavy breathing and I can see and feel that the muscles that work the hardest are the triceps and the neck is a close second. I do not see any obvious signs of discomfort, but these boys can handle alot of discomfort, esp when they know it’s coming and can brace for it. On a lighter load, or if not load, they keep their heads higher, but I wouldn’t say they are ever “high.” Perhaps as they gain condition, their heads will come up? I think perhaps at this point the neck is the weakest link in the muscles that have to work together to move the load and they can compensate for this by keeping them really low. I tried moving the bows up, and although I can’t feel that they hit anything important and they do not have any breathing difficulties, they toss their heads around in what I interpret to be an attempt to get more comfortable. Does this position look “odd” enough that it should be an item I diagnose and fix immediately? If not, I am tempted to see if they will work thier way out of this naturally by simply getting in better shape.

[Tim Harrigan]

Could be a conditioning issue, sounds like incremental changes will be fine to just explore their response.

[Droverone]

A head yoke would solve any head throwing issues, and solve some of issues with where they carry their heads, especially with boom pole for getting started.

[Vicki]

Nice photos, Andy. The oxen look great and you are working them! Their heads look very low to me in the photos. It makes me think the bows are likely too low, but like Tim said, cannot see well from photo. You could try bringing the bows up; lower them only if they cough. Bows too low is a common “mistake” according to Doc Collins and Howie. My hunch, for what it’s worth, is that the steers’ under-conditioning at this time is contributing.

My shorthorns used this yoke for hauling sap. At first the neck seats were rather flat, and the off always held back and twisted a little. Bud Klunich reshaped the neck seats to a greater front-to-back elliptical curve. In the second sugaring season the off was more comfortable and they pulled even better.

[Andy Carson]

Thanks for the nice photos Vicki. I think you’re right about the bow height. I know i can move it up quite a ways before they choke. It doesn’t make sense that I would have the bows so low on my team, which look to be a smidge smaller than yours… I’ll see if this effects they head height.

[Kevin Cunningham]

Yeterday, when I went out to work the boys I too noticed that their heads were a bit low as well. I am still using the 5 inch yoke that I made with PVC bows. Well, I had recently dropped the bows down a bit by taking out a spacer, because I just assumed that since they were growing that they would need more room. So based on the conversation I put the spacers back in and raised the bows back up the the height they started with. This pretty much eliminated the low head problem. I guess my boys are finally just now starting to grow into the yoke. When I look at pictures of larger pulling animals I notice how the bows seem to almost pinch the dewlap of a mature ox because they are higher than I would think comfortable. This is the kinda mistake thing that is so simple; a half inch on the bows that makes a huge difference on the pull.

[Andy Carson]

I think that one of the reasons my off ox keeps his head low is that he tries to snatch a bite of grass when he’s working. Bad, Bad, and I have had a tough time trying to fix this. The kinda telegraphs when he’s going to try for a bite. He hangs back a bit so his head is hidden behind my nigh ox and they reaches down for a qucik bite. My goad is at his rump by this time, but he’s getting positive reinforcement from the grass at the same time he gets negative reinforcement from the goad. So, this has been a really hard habit to fix for me. Sometimes I feel like we make progress on this front and sometimes not… Not making excuses, but I pasture them at night and put them in a sacrifice area during the day. When they work, they will have been without pasture for a while and there in fresh green spring grass right at thier noses. That said, when they were only on hay I didn’t have fresh spring grass, so it’s not a fair comparison. I have essentially decided this is a battle that is not worth fighting at this time because I can get nose baskets… Perhaps heads will come up then.

[Andy Carson]

I was out discing today at got to try out my new nosebaskets. The heads came right up when they realized they couldn’t sneak grass. I actually hadn’t realized how often I had been telling them not to try to sneak a bite until I didn’t have to do it anymore. I was watching this like a hawk and possibly paying more attention to this eating than actually driving. Anyway, the nose baskets fixed this and the outing was very very nice and peaceful without me having to keep their noses out of bits of grass. I think they are going to have to work in nose baskets all the time now on. Easy fix.

[Author]

Posts