Yay, did first work with first team ever!

[1ecofarmer]

So I’ve been driving my new (first ever) team for a couple of months just on the forecart as we’ve had some trouble getting settled. They’re kind of hot ponies. Yesterday I needed to move a log across my property and had no other way to do it so I hitched up the team with excitement and trepidation. We pulled a few fence posts around for a while and then went to get the log. I had to back them up, pivot left and back some more to get in place. Miraculously they stood still while we hooked the log to the forecart, pivoted calmly to the right and pulled it right off with no problem. When we hit the gravel on the driveway the sound frightened them pretty badly but they stayed with me. We’ve never had that much success backing and pivoting in tight spaces before. I was super proud of them. Just wanted to share.

Take care, Leah

Libertytown, MD
grazydays.com

[Tim Harrigan]

Great feeling. Thanks for sharing.

[near horse]

Great! I know the “excitement and trepidation” well but try your best to put that to the back of your mind and exude a confidence and “same old, same old” attitude. It can help your horses feel more confident (less antsy/worried etc) about what you’re asking of them. I’ll bet as your team backed well you felt more confident and less trepidation – they stepped up and performed nicely for you. Remember these moments to build your confidence in future work – “we did this well before so this next thing shouldn’t be a problem …”

But most of all – kudos to you and your team! While all successful growth your team is wonderful, the first ones taste the sweetest! Best to you.

[dominiquer60]

That’s great news and a big step. Remember that nothing makes a team like good work, just keep your expectations real and end on a good note and you will be using them for everything before you know it.

[Billy Foster]

It was only a few months ago and I was right in your shoes. It is amazing how something that looks so relaxing and even boring to those watching can be TERRIFYING with a hundred things going though you head to the guy with the lines in his hands. It was only December when I got a couple ponies of my own (first time teamster as well). Since then we have stock piled a few cords of tree length fire wood, disked and planted a little over an acre of Oats, plowed and disced the garden as well as many other small tasks. My point is keep using them like you are, it will be just the “same old thing” for them in no time and it will become much more relaxing for you.

Thanks for sharing.
Billy

[1ecofarmer]

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone! We did two trees on the second day and we were all less anxious. Horse-powered farm, here we come!

[1ecofarmer]

Now we want to get to mowing with our team. I can’t find a type of mower that seems like it would work. The Reel mowers only cut short grass. The sickle bar mowers jam up a lot and are dangerous to clean out I hear. Is this true and are there any that can be disengaged from the ground drive part in order to clean them out while in use?

I found a Swisher brand mower that is like a little bushhog that is self powered with a motor on top. It’s local and cheap, but the noise and pollution would be a pain and I’m not sure if flying sticks or the noise could scare my team. Thoughts?

What do you all use to mow if you get weeds in your pastures, etc? Surely some of you must mow with your teams. Thanks!

[near horse]

I’m unclear on what and how much ground you’re thinking of mowing. A lot of folks clip pastures after grazing etc and just use the standard MD or JD ground drive horse mowers or even the newer I&J’s – all sickle type mowers but all have ability to disengage the drive mechanism to clear plugs from the knife/bar. This style machine still has pointy stuff (guards) and sharp stuff (knife sections) so ALWAYS disengage the drive when you’re going to put fingers near the bar (I would say if you’re getting off the seat, disengage) and approach the bar from the back side. They do a nice job when tuned up but can often be found with a lot of slop in the pitman bearing which will cause great headaches (and break pitman sticks).

I think Carl Russel has a DR mower similar to what your Swisher sounds like that he pulls with a forecart. He can probably comment on its pros and cons.

[1ecofarmer]

It’s good to know you can disengage the sickle bar cutters. For some reason my one friend who has mowed with one didn’t mention that. We have 85 acres. We graze 50 of it, mostly with cows. Right now we just need to clip the weediest acres, probably not more than 7 total. In the long run we’ll want to try making some hay too, although we clearly can’t do that with the swisher. It does seem like it might be good on some ground we have that has a blackberry problem. We don’t own a tractor at all, so will need to do everything with the team or by hiring someone with a tractor. Thanks!

[Donn Hewes]

I know it is a long drive, but you might be interested in a field day on my farm. Free to DAP NET members, we will be talking about bringing home new horses or starting new teamsters in the morning. Demoing and talking about all manor of hay making equipment in the afternoon. Sunday, June 17th.
With two teams and two mowers I clip close to a hundred acres some years, on top of hay making.

[near horse]

Long drive? Isn’t Maryland a suburb of New York?

Seriously Leah – a trip to Donn’s would be worth the drive. I highly recommend a road trip.

[Billy Foster]

Leah
This is only a suggestion but you may want to rethink the method you use to control brush on your farm. Mowing is an expensive time consuming way to control brush. You may want to do some research into “targeted grazing”. We have done a lot on our place using our sheep and horses to control brush and help establish pastures. I can guaranty that we have improved some areas that were at least as bad as you have. You also may want to look into the training that Kathy Voth has been doing training cattle to graze weeds. I do not know what your herd size is but I personally would rather increase my flock (herd) size a little and have them work for me, and skim a little profit off the top, than spend money and time 2 things that are at such a commodity.

http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/rx-grazing/Handbook.htm
http://www.livestockforlandscapes.com/edible.htm

Please don’t take this as my saying you should not mow with your team, I am not saying that at all. If your intent is to get out there and enjoy working with your team I say go for it. My intent is simply to share what I have had success with. If you have any questions I would be happy to explain more.

Billy

[1ecofarmer]

Thanks for letting me know, Donn. I’ll see if I can work it out. I guess we look pretty close to NY from Idaho, Geoff ;0)

Billy, I certainly don’t intend to mow most of my land most of the time. Thanks for your suggestions. I’ll check them out. I’m a big fan of letting the grazers do the work. However, my husband wants to keep the (very long) driveway edges cut down and there are certain other times and places that I want to be able to mow. I have goats I plan to use to help and we rotate the cows daily which is supposed to help. I am also a little familiar with Voth’s work from reading Stockman Grassfarmer. However, if I’m going to do some mowing, I’d much rather do it with my team than on some machine!

[1ecofarmer]

Speaking of work to do with my team, I’d like to be able to move round bales, which we currently roll out by hand. Does anyone know of a way to attach some kind of jack-up spear to the back of my forecart? If so, any idea where to get it or what it’s called? I couldn’t find anything on google, but I wasn’t sure what search terms to use. Thanks!

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