Oats

[Marshall]

Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon I got the oats planted. Probably a little late but not too bad. I planted about four acres with two haflingers and the old wood wheel McCormick drill. The horses are a little small and not in the best shape yet but they did well. They sure know what Whoa means after a couple rounds. I wish I had time to do more with them as I really enjoy being out there. It didn’t seem to take that long but the time did go by pretty fast. Them haflinger can do a lot of work but I can see a team of larger horses in the future.

[J-L]

I’m putting my oats in this week Marshall. I’ve got to get some disking done first. All these snowstorms have put me off about a week. The ground should work up good though.
I know what you mean on the bigger team. When you do heavy work, sometimes you need heavier animals. I have a small mule team (900 lb or so) that I use a lot. Loads of try and heart, but sometimes just too little. Thankfully I have another team or two with more weight.
I am going to put 3 hd on my JD drill this year. I worked 4 on it last year and don’t think that was necessary. I will use the rest on the disk. Going to put 4 abreast on the off set disk and see if they can pull it easy enough to get the work done. Hate to use the tractor if I don’t have to.

[Marshall]

I had three on the drill planting hay last fall but my daughter decided she wants to learn to ride. So my third horse is at school learning to be a riding horse. He should be home soon I hope. Putting the third on is like adding the turbo charger.

[J-L]

You’re so right about the turbo boost. I made a tire drag with a team (pair) in mind. Used it that way for a couple years and then got a 3 horse evener to use with it and found that I took about half the breathers with the third horse or mule. 4 head on there works even better, but less handy on corners. I’m thinking 3 head will be less cumbersome doing corners with my drill also. Here’s a few pics of my drag and a passenger last week between snow storms.

[lancek]

hey JL is that what you call dragging around dead weight lol it looks like there having fun

[J-L]

That’s my Madi. She is a free spirit if there ever was one. Had her out picking sticks for me and she just decided to hitch a ride. Cow turds do not bother this little girl. 7 years old and just loads of fun to be with. The biggest benefit of this ranch is spending time with my kids.

[OldKat]

@J-L 17896 wrote:

That’s my Madi. She is a free spirit if there ever was one. Had her out picking sticks for me and she just decided to hitch a ride. Cow turds do not bother this little girl. 7 years old and just loads of fun to be with. The biggest benefit of this ranch is spending time with my kids.

Bingo. The Amish say that is one of the main drivers in the cultural aspect of their decision to forego some modern technologies; keeping families together. If anyone wants an interesting read try Success Made Simple by Eric Wesner. One of the many aspects of Amish business that he examines is the desire to grow their businesses specifically to keep the family structure intact.

[Author]

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