Oxen speed

[Rod]

Today we hauled and yarded some small logs from the woodlot. A first for my young team and my old body. My Durhams are 18 months old and walk pretty fast unloaded, so fast that I need to stop them for rest (for me not them) I am 68years old and not as fast as I used to be which was not that fast to begin with. Once I hooked them up it became a race for me as I ran through the woods to keep up with them as they really moved out pretty fast. Tried to slow them down with my whip but aside from stopping them for my rests had little effect on the speed of the team.
It’s probably obvious that I am a novice at this animal power stuff (great on a tractor) and have lots of questions. Do oxen slow down as they get older? Or will they notice I am having a hard time keeping up and slow down out of sympathy? Or is it possible that mine are extraordinarly fast? or inbred with racing oxen? Should I have selected a diffrent breed? Or are mine trainable to slow down? Any comments or observation are appreciated. Thanks.

[Carl Russell]

Time, Time, Time. Rod your cattle are young adolescents. It is a mixture of hyper energy and power. They just need work. But they need you to work them. I will tell you that the experience today can be daunting enough to dissuade you from going back tomorrow. If you want to gain ground with them, go back tomorrow. Now that you know what to expect, pace yourself. When they realize that you have more ambition than they do they will begin to pace themselves. Time, Time, Time. Good luck Carl

[Oxen Acres Farm]

Rod, as my animals are about the same age but are Holsteins, they move fast for me when we haul wood or just go for a walk. When I am working them in the woods I always have to stop them so they wont leave me behind. When its tight in the woods I try to just walk in front of them to set the pace. If can walk beside them I just hold the whip in front of their faces and tell them easy and they get the hint. So its sounds like we have similar problems as novices teamsters. Good Luck

[Howie]

I guess I am the old man here and am crippled up so I can’t walk much. My Devon oxen will turn 7 in a couple months. For most of their work I use a fore cart with a seat on it and I drive them from the seat. When I have to walk they just have to wait for me.

[droverdale]

I now have 2 pair of oxen, the first pair, dutchbelted, holsten cross are pretty fast,can be a hand full hauling fire wood unless you make them do it for a couple of hours then they slow down. Then a pair or year old devons and they too are fast but slow down with work.

[Rod]

I appreciate all the responses. For a novice on the steep part of the learning curve some of these nuggets of information and shared experiences are invaluable.

I know an ox drover at a nearby dairy farm where we buy our milk and usually talk oxen when we go there to fill our bottles. He told me yesterday that I should always try to pull my logs in the direction away from the path back to the barn as the oxen will not pull as fast in that direction. Makes sence and something I intend to try next to try and slow them down. Thought I would pass it on.

[Carl Russell]

Now you’re getting clever!! Carl

[Rod]

It will sink in eventually.

Actually I love the steep part of the learning curve because of the regular, “oh ya” and “why diden’t I think of that” moments as information begins to come togeather and I can actually begin to see how things can work out. In the process I like dialogue as it adds to the information pile.

Thanks.

[Patrick]

@Howie 625 wrote:

I guess I am the old man here and am crippled up so I can’t walk much. My Devon oxen will turn 7 in a couple months. For most of their work I use a fore cart with a seat on it and I drive them from the seat. When I have to walk they just have to wait for me.

Which method do you use to drive from the cart, voice only, reins to halter, or otherwise?

[Howie]

I use a 6 foot lash whip and voice. Mostly just voice, but I am a believer in “Out of reach out of control.” So I carry the whip.

[Paul T. Ferrari]

Before you take them into the woods hook them up to a stone boat and pile some rocks on it. I’m not sure how old your boys are or how big. You want it to be enought that they can walk for about an hour with a little rest, but not so little that it won’t eat up their energy. You can also contrive something out of concrete and old truck or tractor tires.

Once they’re chained to that, go for a long walk. about an hour will do it. Un hook them. Walk them into the woods and I think you’ll find their energy greatly diminished. They’ll listen better too. Driving from the front is a great skill to learn in the woods. It’s handy to have a whip (6ft) when doing that. Good luck.

[mathuranatha]

They definitely get slower as they get older .My first pair used to take 4 1/2 hours to get home from the local Hare Krishna farm 22kilometers ..Trotting quite a bit on the flats.They were 4-5 years old then .As the years went buy they took longer and longer and in the end it was taking a day and a half , camping out overnight .Then one refused to go out . He was the first to die at 15-16 . Most of my others lived till 18-19-20.

got a friend that takes his 14year old Govinda on the road regularly and he goes quite well still.he had an easy life though –always under shelter and fed well as a house pet . But the half dozen or so that i,v ever worked on the road were never so good after about 9-10 . just too slow .

I much prefer them fast than slow.In India they train them to walk fast on the road and never let them even think about slowing down . 6k/hour all day , you can hardly keep up walking even if you are young and very fit .So it was probably just laziness with mine as i wasn’t heavy enough with them .

If I get anymore [probably will] I,m going to do everything completely differently.Or just get my wife to train them . Hers turn out much better natured , friendly and obedient . Mine were always like solders marching off to be cannon fodder .Stiff upper lip , eyes ahead , more afraid of the officers than the enemy.

Good luck , have fun —Mathuranatha

[Vicki]

All these folks who say, “Oxen are so slow'” have probably never pulled logs or gathered sap with any. ALL the oxen I’ve trained, bought as trained, or retrained from early retirement were pretty quick. Especially bringing a load uphill. Now my Dexters at 9 have slowed to my easy pace, except with a reasonable load uphill they still accelerate. Of course, none of mine were ever worked hard daily. The only oxen I’ve known to be naturally slow moving are Brown Swiss.

[becorson]

might depend on how long you are working them and how hot it is, right? and whether you are going away from the barn (or the trailer) or towards it. lol

my milking shorthorns are easy for me to keep up with at a walk, i figure they average 2 mph. Less when plowing or dragging stones in the sun on on a hot day .
my mares i have to almost run-walk to keep up, 4 mph is more average for them.

but i’m sure it depends. my ox mentor Worth Mcclure in Lancaster co. pa used to talk fondly of a particular team of “cattle” he had as a lad in North Carolina in the 1920s. he said they were the only oxen he ever knew who would routinely pass horse teams on the way to the mill. said they were known throughout the area as the “fast cattle”.

[CharlyBonifaz]

in time mine has a “slow motion” gear, and I have to find the accelerator yet
was consoled though, as tractors also have a very slow speed setting for planting cucumbers/strawberries…..:o
elke

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