reverse gear so to speak

[longshot38]

ok another green as grass question. i understand how a horse backs up when in harness to make the cart or sled, etc. but can you get the same action with a single yoke ox? or do you need to have 2 animals in a yoke or do you need to put a full harness like a horse with all the straps etc.

thanks
dean

[Patrick]

Good question. I’d like to hear the answer too.

I’m guessing that you’d want solid shafts on the cart, instead of traces, attached to the yoke. Horns would prevent forward movement of the yoke, just like in a team. Shafts would also prevent turning of the yoke, eliminating the need for even a breeching, yes?

[Howie]

Shafts to the yoke will work.
A shorter shaft to a belly band to control the up and down, with a short tug to the yoke and a short hold back to the britchen will work a lot better.

[longshot38]

thanks Howie. actually i was looking at a picture, a painting, from years ago here in Newfoundland of a milk cow hitched to a single yoke with the shafts of a sled loaded with wood that were attached directly to the yoke where you usually see the chain or traces. answered my questions on the spot and i spent quite a few minutes staring at that painting i can tell you. sort of ask and ye shall receive went through my mind.

dean

[Patrick]

Howie, Drew Conroy and Tim Huppe are the only guys that I’ve run across who would actually dare to come out in public to suggest such a radical thing as a single, or, heaven forbid, something as girly as a cow to use for work, pun intended. There may be others, and apologies if you’re out there, but I’ve just not run across you yet.

Actually, it is probably more traditional than many care to realize, as back in the day, they’d use whatever they had to pull what needed pulling. I do know that when I first started asking around at my local fairs, and even at Fryburg of all places, I was greeted with laughter and even hostility a few times, when I had the temerity to ask about something as foolish as working a single. Lucky for me, it hadn’t even occured to me yet to even think about stooping so low as to ask about using a single, female.

[Howie]

I think you would be a fool if you were to buy a Peterbuilt if all you had use for was an S-10. If you don’t have work for 2 why have 2. I have worked a lot of singles, Pat or Willie both will do great as singles because I think every ox should be trained to work that way.
They work female horses so why not cattle.
A cow does not have the surge power of a steer but over a period of time she will do just as much work.

[Patrick]

I think you would be a fool if you were to buy a Peterbuilt if all you had use for was an S-10.

Great analogy. Thanks for the support.

[longshot38]

patrick wrote;

Actually, it is probably more traditional than many care to realize, as back in the day, they’d use whatever they had to pull what needed pulling. I do know that when I first started asking around at my local fairs, and even at Fryburg of all places, I was greeted with laughter and even hostility a few times, when I had the temerity to ask about something as foolish as working a single. Lucky for me, it hadn’t even occured to me yet to even think about stooping so low as to ask about using a single, female

actually the animal in the picture was a cow not a male at all. BTW the picture is one we are giving to a retiring friend. i remember when i was small, hearing the old folks talking about so and so having to go out to milk the cow before the men went into the woods to haul firewood and saw logs in the winter, it was important to milk the cow first so that the udder wouldn’t hang to low and snag on brush or something injuring the animal. most folks had Newfoundland Ponies but some had other animals for draught work even the family goat could haul wood and some would use Newfoundland dogs. so people used what ever worked.

dean

[Carl Russell]

And they will again!!! Carl:):D:eek::rolleyes:

[Patrick]

actually the animal in the picture was a cow not a male at all.

Yup, I got it. You’d already written that. Hence my discussion about working cows.

[longshot38]

ever have a moment when you read and only half processed? i think i just did:rolleyes:

dean

[Author]

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