yoke woods?

[longshot38]

for those who are looking to make a yoke, what kinds of wood make good yokes? what do you consider, weight, sheer strength, flexibility? enquireing minds want to know. sorry couldnt resist that one.

dean

[Carl Russell]

Yellow birch is excellent as it is very strong. Other hardwoods such as white oak, and sugar maple, or even elm, are also good. You must have yellow birch up there. The stem should be large enough so that the blank can be cut without pith, in other words log should be twice to three times as large as the blank.

Weight is really not an issue as cattle can carry plenty of weight on the shoulder. Weight is more of a personal concern in terms of how much you want to lift when mature cattle are fitted with 11″-12″ yokes, which can be quite a hunk of wood. Cattle that large are probably 2500 lbs+ each, so even a large yoke will be insignificant to them. You can yoke by lifting one end at a time anyway.

I got a couple of head yokes made in Nova Scotia by Gordon Lohnes out of yellow birch. Head yokes are typically made out of smaller blanks.

For light work I suppose softwood might be ok, but I would expect them to crack easily if the load jerked up against an unexpected obstacle. Carl

[longshot38]

thanks for the insight Carl. i was thinking, inspired by the laminated yoke thread about useing birch as a core and filling out the remainder of the yoke with spruce or fir.

sound good?

thanks
dean

[Carl Russell]

Someone else will have to respond about laminating wood for yokes, but I know that “slide” yokes were built in sections out of hardwood, and bolted together, so I think it could work. I wonder why you would finish it with softwood though? Cost? Carl

[Howie]

Over the many years I have been doing this I have used a lot of different kinds of wood. The only reason that I can see to laminate one is for the looks you would get with different colors.

[Gabe Ayers]

Down south in the central Appalachians in the higher elevations (2000 ft.+)
we have a species called Cucumber Magnolia. It may grow further north also.

This is considered one of the strongest lightest hardwoods available according to the Encyclopedia of Wood. We use it for tongues and wagon boards and it is very durable to the weathering of exterior use and storage..well that is a contradiction because if it is kept outside it isn’t stored so to speak. But the point it that I have several tongues on implements kept out doors that are well over a decade old.

This species grows very straight and tall in a mixed hardwood forest of this region and is a dominant in many settings. The interesting characteristic is that even though it grows very straight the grain of the wood is curly which I think contributes to the strength of the wood.

As mentioned before I am totally inexperienced as a bull whipper/drover but have met a few ox workers over the years. One in particular had a huge pair of Holsteins and a big yoke to fit of course. When I asked him about the wood he told me it was cucumber. I think his bows were hickory. This old fellow was famous in his community for hooking this team to stuck trucks, bulldozers and anything hung up in a difficult spot, which is where everyone gets stuck.

So if anyone wants to try some cucumber just give me a call and we will see if we can ship a blank up there for a trial yoke.

[Howie]

An ox yoke does not break, it splits, so any wood that is hard to split will make a good yoke. Pepperidge is number one, but it is heavy. Norway Maple is next but it too is very heavy. All around I prefer Sassafrass or Cucumber.

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