Sleds running on dry asphalt; and article

[bivol]

Hi!

here is a short article i found interesting:
italics are explanations.
Predejane is a small town in Jablanica district in South Eastern Serbia.

PREDEJANE

For some time this winter, mountain roads and villages around Predejane county were covered in snow. from them to the center of Predejane, to see the doctor or do some shopping, one could only arrive on sleds pulled by strong oxen.

A couple of days ago, severely ill Persa Krstic (76) (lady on picture) had to urgently see the doctor down in Predejane. her husband Radomir (77), knowing all other options were out, yoked the oxen Jablan and Sivac (names meaning:”Cottonwood” and “Gray boy”) to the sled, wrapped up the ailing Persa in hay, and headed out to Predejane over meter and half (5 feet) tall snow drifts.
But, after successfully mastering all the snow and ice barriers, there was a surprise in store for them down in Predejane. Warm weather, with 14 Degrees Celsius over freezing point have made the snow melt, and the sled had a hard time going over asphalt.

– “Yes, it’s warmer, but now we have it more difficult than with snow, because oxen pull easier on snow than on asphalt. Still, as if Jablan and Sivac knew we had to get Persa to the ambulance as soon as possible, they pulled that sled as if it were snow on the road” – says Radomir.

This landowner says other residents of mountain villages, who ventured to town by ox-sleds, also had problems when they came to dry ground.

END

hope you liked it.
this shoer article i foung while googling. if something else of interest (read: ox related) pops up, i’ll translate it!

[Lanny Collins]

Bivol,

Good picture/story. In my part of the country we don’t have a lot of snow so all the sled’s I build I put a metal strap on the bottom side of the runners. This is to facilitate moving over dry gound, rocks, asphalt, etc. and prevents excess wear of the wood runners and metal slides along easier. Probably makes a little more noise tho. Those oxen would probably have appreciated a little steel on the runners.:)

[bivol]

yes,

these are an all-wood design. took srtong oxen to move them any appreacable distance. these are simmenthal oxen, they’re the most used oxen breed in Serbia. generally they’re used in mountains for farm work, contractor work, and logging.
sadly this was the entire article, i dont have anything more.:(

[Tim Harrigan]

You are correct that this sled would move more easily over snow, but based on my experience this is not a heavy load for this team. I am guessing the sled weighs about 200 lbs, the lady maybe another 100 lbs, so about 300 lbs total. The friction on concrete is probably not much different than on soil, so say even if it was a little harder pull maybe 50% of the weight of the sled would be measured as tension in the chain. That would be 150 lb average pull, actually a pretty modest pull for a team that size.

When I lived in Switzerland we had 2 Simmental cows in the milking herd, they were more dual purpose type cows, beef and milk, than we typically see in the US. In the US, Simmental cattle are beef cattle. Yours look like the traditional triple purpose cattle; work, milk, beef. Thanks for posting that.

[bivol]

yer right Tim.

here (balkans) simmentals are a dual purpose breed with accent on milk production.

here are some pics of working simmental oxen in a fixed-angle yoke:

horse team

i’m glad if it’s interesting!

[Tim Harrigan]

That is an interesting yoke. I have not seen bows like that before.

[Nat(wasIxy)]

Thanks for the simmental pictures! Angus is half simmental 😀 Here simmis are definately beef cattle, although with plenty of milk for a calf. Angus has always taken after his dairy parent more though, so although he is chunky he’s not overly so, which I’m glad about although he wouldn’t make as much at market!

I loved the story, and the picture – my kind of ambulance 😀

[fabian]

@Tim Harrigan 25636 wrote:

That is an interesting yoke. I have not seen bows like that before.

It’s the typical south-east-european kind of yoke.
It works more like a wither’s yoke not like a neckyoke.
in the second picture there are the outside staves absent, which hold the animals in the yoke (may be used for something made of them).
The backside of these yokes is mostly so shaped that it fits to the neck.

Wolfgang

[Nat(wasIxy)]

How do you get these on and off? does the bottom bar come off completely or do the cattle have to come in from the side maybe???

[mother katherine]

Bivol! Such interesting things you post. I’ve copied some to send to Serbian friends of mine.
I read your article in “Rural Heritage” yesterday.
oxnun

[fabian]

@Ixy 25641 wrote:

How do you get these on and off? does the bottom bar come off completely or do the cattle have to come in from the side maybe???

you can see it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzq912Yi288

[Howie]

Are those cattle COWS?:mad::):):)
I put picture of one of those yokes in the photo gallery a while ago.

Howie

[bivol]

Ixy, you pull out the outside iron bar, and push the oxen into the yoke from the sides. Fabian got a good vid showing it.

that base plank dont move. this bow has one base plank, two side planks, and two side rods.

fixed-angle yokes have additional two types, judging by the bows.
there is the second type. same thing, a nail in the middle, only with bows

third type:

found this one in slovenia and mountain croatin, and oddly enough, and in… ukraine…?!?

oxnun, thank you! i hope the article “held water”, i’m really anxious to see that the ox drivers critics will be! hope i wont be stoned!:D

LOl just found this vid, shows why one has to now to drive oxen. these guys don’t. in fact, they do more pulling on the wagon than the oxen do.

[fabian]

@bivol 25679 wrote:

that base plank dont move.

but you can adjust it up and down.

@bivol 25679 wrote:

found this one in slovenia and mountain croatin, and oddly enough, and in… ukraine…?!?

the advantage is that you can adjust for each ox individually.

Wolfgang

[Tim Harrigan]

@bivol 25679 wrote:

third type:

found this one in slovenia and mountain croatin, and oddly enough, and in… ukraine…?!?

LOl just found this vid, shows why one has to now to drive oxen. these guys don’t. in fact, they do more pulling on the wagon than the oxen do.

I like this last picture, it shows a lot of care for the comfort of the animals was put into the carving with the deeply rounded neck seat and other details. I would say that video is a great demonstration of how not to drive a team. Those poor steers did not have the slightest idea what was expected of them.

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