Widow Makers

[drafthorsey]

The Oxen people would know as much about this as there is to know. We’ve had a series of storms this spring and knocked over and hung up some pretty big oaks. Three of ’em I’m scared to death of, but they’ve gotta come down. Lodged in the crotch of other big oaks it won’t be anytime soon.

I watched a pretty nifty video on a guy dropping widow makers with a team of oxen and it went all to smooth. No jerk, steady pull and down. I’ve got a green team of horses that I wouldn’t trust yet for a job like this. I’m sure someone around here has a yoke of oxen, and are they better at this game than a horse?

Maybe most important, what can ask a guy I want to hire to do this so I can have a chance of knowing if he’ll hurt himself. Folks want the work, that’s not the point, I don’t want someone badly hurt…..

[Tim Harrigan]

http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?4577-Ox-Logging-Pulling-Down-Hang-Ups&p=29802&viewfull=1#post29802

This link will take you to a discussion we had about pullin down hang-ups. If it does not take you directly, it is post #21 in the thread.

I do not think it is a question of horse, ox or mule power. It is a question your approach and confidence that you can assess the situation well enough to minimize the danger to you and your team. There are various ways to extract hang-ups and pulling them out is not always possible or even the best approach. Many considerations are involved in the decision to pull hang-ups out with a team, bottom line is if you are not confident that you can do it safely, walk away and find another way to do it.

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