Moving Fire Wood with Oz

[Ed Thayer]

I was able to spend the day in the woods yesterday with Oz. The conditions are perfect for sledding wood out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vE8b2xxHAI&feature=youtu.be

[Mark Cowdrey]

Ed,
Great!
1. DO you do the camera work yourself?
2. Try a pulp hook, I did & I love it.
Mark

[mink]

i like that sled it looks lite and seems to slide real easy

[irish]

I would agree with mark about using hand tools to aid lifting of logs, I don’t use pulp hook but timber tongs and a small log pick , I would not do with out them now.

[Ed Thayer]

I have never used a hook, my guess is my back would appreciate it 🙂

I do the video myself with the aide of a tri pod. Cheating? I know, but I enjoy it.

Ed

[Carl Russell]

@highway 38769 wrote:

…..
I do the video myself with the aide of a tri pod. Cheating? I know……

How is that cheating????? That’s what it’s made for.

Nice job Ed, Carl

I agree about the pulp hook and/or the tongs. I use both, depending on the situation….

[Donn Hewes]

Ed. congratulations on so many levels. I have been wanting to make some videos myself, but have not yet got the technical mastery to load them to youtube. I thought your production was great. So often here we struggle to find words to describe what things should look like or feel like. Images of a horse working easily, waiting patiently, and a person / horse team focused on a task are great for those seeking learn our craft; and no one could tell how much fun you where having! Nice Job. Donn

[Jean]

Ed, you do not need a professional video person in the Lincoln Woods. You can do a fantastic job if this video is any indication. I loved it. Oz is so good.

[Eli]

Cool video your horse is very well behaved, I hope to have my horse trained that well some day. Thanks for sharing. Eli

[Carl Russell]

Ed, I had to wait for early AM to get the bandwidth, so I finally was able watch. Nice job.

We had a brief discussion a while ago about the efficient use of a single horse in the woods, pertaining to skidding small sticks of wood long distances. Your video is a perfect example of using the horse and equipment to their best advantage. Twitching small logs, or small hitches, short distances to a landing area by a haul road, then using the incredible advantage of the double bobsled on snow to move a much bigger load much longer distance. The sled is a horse-drawn forwarder.

Just because you work off the farm all week, and you obviously enjoy doing this work, it does not mean that this is hobby work. You have improved the application of your horse to the work you do in your woodlot to high level of efficiency and proficiency. DAPNet may want to have a small-farm workshop featuring the advances you have made on your farm using your horse(s).

I always want to encourage folks, even if they think they are not working at a professional level, to take the work seriously, to push the limits of applying their horse to the work they have to do. The beauty of live power is the incredible range of application through intentional motivation and creative implementation of mechanical advantage that can turn the simple horse into a very effective multi-purpose power unit.

You have shown a great example here….. thanks for sharing.

Carl

[Brad Johnson]

Very cool video, Ed. I wish I had your technical skills – I have been thinking of making logging videos for some time and this is as far as I have gotten. Perhaps your video will give me the inspiration I need.

And, I would second Carl’s comments on how skillfully you are using the various methods of moving would with Ozzie. I learned on a single horse and still love the simplicity and usefulness of a single in harness.
-Brad

[Mark Cowdrey]

BTW, speaking of the technical aspects, what did you shoot that with Ed?
Thanks,
Mark

[Ed Thayer]

Thanks for all the feedback, I think Don hinting that I was having more fun than I showed is spot on 🙂

Truth is, Tim Harrigan’s video with Abe and Will moving logs and Carl Russell’s video of chaining logs to a bobsled inspired me to try this.

I feel it is important to document the work I do here on my property for a couple of reasons. First, my children, they are off in the world doing different things right now, growing and learning. But when they are ready they may want/need to know how to do this work. I just dream about having a video or photographic documentary of my grandparent’s life here on the farm and wonder how much easier it would have been to figure things out had I a picture book of how it was or a video clip of granddad using the bobsled.

The second reason is the opportunity to share with others as I learn. I was very green a few years ago and had an unfortunate runaway with a stubborn yet intelligent Haffie, Don reached out after my very first post here on DAPNet and was very helpful and supportive. I feel I can give back a little by showing how working animals applies to me and our farm on a small scale.

The bob sled in the video was in the third floor hay mow of my barn. While doing a major renovation of the structure I found it under a ton of dust and nasty old hay chaff. It was completely disassembled and in a pile of parts and pieces. I dusted it off and set it aside as a future project. When I finally got around to tinkering on it I was not sure how it all went together. If I had a picture or video to look back on to see how to make this thing work it would have been very helpful. But I fumbled around with it, looked up pictures on the web and finally figured out how to put it together.

My rambling point is, maybe someone will find a double bob sled in their barn and remember this video and it may help them to put it all together. Were it not for this forum and all the supportive members, I may have walked away from working animals early on.

I primarily work a single horse and only use a team hitch for heavy work. I have learned by watching and listening how to maximize my productivity with a single horse, Five years ago I would have twitched a single log a half mile. Now, as Carl stated, we twitch to a haul road and buck smaller wood into 4’ lengths then haul to the processing area. It is much more efficient and productive. But that lesson had to be learned and it was this community that allowed it to happen.

Mark, my equipment consisted of an old tri pod my Dad gave me twenty years ago and a cheap $110.00 digital camera. The film editing is all thanks to windows movie maker. I shot this video in about 4 hr and then spent another 2 hr putting it together using that program.

Ed

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