power carts?

[PeytonM]

I want to hear people that have experience with them. I have 2 tractors one is a 53 JD 70, other is a 48 Farmall H. I have drafts that I own that I can work and one draft cross.
I want to know if the power carts are worth it. I want to be able to cut, rake and bale hay all with my horses and only use the tractors as little as possible. I can buy a John Deere 30 pull type combine with a motor on it its a 4 cyl gas with a pto. I was thinking about pulling the motor off because he has everything to put the pto shaft on it and then use the motor on a power cart. I have a New holland super 55 side rake, a case no5 sickle and a New Idea sickle mower. my brother has a pto new idea trailer type sickle mower I could also use and I have a Heston 1150 12ft haybine also that I use with my JD 70. dont know if the horses would be able to handle it. I have a JD 336 small square baler and I dont use the kicker on it I go around picking up the bales later.

So all that being said would 3 very in shape horses pull a power cart and baler or combine? or would I need more horses? I can get my hands on a team of geldings also if need be.
thanks for your help

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Peyton, I am not sure what to say. You want to know if it is worth it? Worth what? Yes, absolutely worth every penny and every minute. Of course, I love working with horses and hate tractors so the math is made somewhat easier for me.

Please accept that the following is just my opinion. A tractor with diesel will make you richer quicker than horses: if… if you are just counting the money. I feel we need to consider some other reasons why we might choose to farm with horses. Like working in community, saving soil, peace and quite. I think we will continue to find more reasons as we work. I am fortunate that I don’t question it each day when I get up.

Now back to your specific questions, Horses can, and are, doing all the things you are talking about. In some cases four horses will work better than three. Four horses pull a gas powered cart with the haybine, or the baler with a wagon behind. When you find someone to walk on the wagon and stack the bales; that is the community I am talking about. When it comes time to unload the wagons they are already there. Good luck, Donn

Let me know if you have more specific questions as I do all my hay making in the manor you describe. I have run a combine in the past with horses and plan to again soon, D

[back-forty]

Peyton,
We need to be mindful that when we start doing math calculations comparing work output for tractors versus horses that we are comparing machines to animals. I have made the mistake of doing calculations of width of equipment and speed like I am sure most of us have and then comparing the output of my team to a tractor but unlike the tractor which we can just set the throttle and go horses are more like you and me, they need frequent rest stops, are subject to weather conditions and so on. I have a great team of mares, hard working honest girls but I have seen days when it is 90 plus degrees and even the normally easy job of racking hay taxes them.

Like Don said for me the math is easy for me, I look forward to calling in my team for a day well spent with then and minimize the use of my tractor. There are I will point out a number of jobs my team excels at and in my opinion are superior to a tractor. I feed all of my hay to the cattle and horses on my farm with the girls using simple skids to haul the hay. I can stop the team at the gate open it and after the team comes on though shut the gate and walk over pick up the lines and continue on. With a tractor not only do I burn a good deal of unnecessary fuel but I have to get of the tractor to open the gate attempt to get back on the tractor, drive thru the gate, get back down and close the gate before my cows make a quick exit. A couple of my cows in particular seem to find great sport in this while I do not find it all that amusing.
When I use a tractor I often find myself in a mindset of confrontation. It seems that I am either doing battle with the machine itself, granted it is an old tractor and has seen its better days, or if the tractor is working as it should I often find myself being sucked into a confrontational approach with my land, an even worse situation. The tractor seems to become this tool to be used to force the work to proceed on my time line rather than natures. Whereas my team fosters a atmosphere of cooperation, Karla and Fancy are good hard workers but they do not respond well to a bad attitude on my part. There have been times that I have noticed when I approach the day with a poor attitude they will call me on it most of the time. They provide a wakeup call and check and balance that the tractor simply does not provide.

I am all for the reduction of the use of fossil fuels and honestly believe that draft horses are a very viable option but to be successful I really think we need to enjoy working with them. I can intensely dislike even at time hate my tractor and still accomplish the needed work allabit unhappily but I do not think I would have lasted very long with my team it was not a labor of love.

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