[Baystatetom]

Charly,
You may be correct about the old technology. I used my great grandfathers old yokes as a template but who knows he may have used that design because it worked, and never tried to make it work better.
Also I had been thinking about switching the nigh and far steers. I have never done that before but have heard of others making it work. One of the big problems I have is the nigh steer hates it when I get in front of him. He pulls bests when I stay back at his shoulder. If I step up to try and slow down the off steer the nigh one shuts down on me.
The off steer can be a bit of a grouch and he has longer horns. I thought I was better off having the friendly one with shorter horns next to me 🙂

[Baystatetom]

Oh no didn’t mean to discount past teamsters at all! I meant to imply that if it was possible they would have done it already, therefore it might not be possible.
To diverge farther from the subject, what does anybody recommend to solve my problem of the off steer staying a step ahead. My solution of smacking him on the nose or knees and saying “easy” over and over doesn’t seem to be working. If I try and speed up the nigh steer we all end up running and the off one is still in the lead.
I wonder if it is partially due to their different pulling styles. The nigh steer pulls with his head down, while the off with his head high.

[Baystatetom]

I have one of those stuck out in the woods. Kind of makes me feel bad for shooting it full of holes with my first .22 back when I was a kid.

[Baystatetom]

I guess I spoke to soon. My off bull was charging ahead again yesterday. I am really liking the idea of an evener, that way the team will learn to stay together by being rewarded with a lighter load, as opposed to moving the staple and giving one animal more weight all the time. I wonder though, if oxen have been in use for thousands of years how come nobody else thought of this before now? I would think enough oxen have been used for enough different jobs that the yoke would be perfected by now.

[Baystatetom]

When it comes to yokes you will hear as many opinions as when it comes to which breed is best. I just copied all the old yokes my great grandfather used. He always kept two teams, one of brown swiss, and the other he tried different breeds all the time. He did own a tractor but always preferred to do his farm work and logging with the oxen. His yokes are all shallow. But I have also always heard the higher the hitch point the deeper the yoke. That 60 year old elm yoke I just tried on my steers is quite shallow and holds them far apart so I didn’t really want to try it, but so far my boys are working really well in it.
If I were to buy a new one there is a guy in Connecticut, Watson Smith, I really like his yokes.

[Baystatetom]

I don’t see why your idea wouldn’t work. instead of a traditional staple you would have two staples with short chains leading to a ring of some sort forming a V. I would hate to mess up a good yoke but I have one I recently cracked, maybe I can cobble it together with a few lag bolts and try it out.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I am sure I read somewhere that deworming cattle improved their horn quality but I can’t remember where. Most likely here or Rural Heritage. My steers have terrible horns, not sure I could even sand enough off to make them smooth. Maybe I’ll just try some dewormer and see what happens. I’ll report back and let you know if it works.

[Baystatetom]

I am defiantly lucky. I come from a long line of ox teamsters, I have yokes that were my great grandfathers, as well as a nice walking plow and the irons for several sleds and scoots although the wood is long gone. I tried to put a few more pics on but can’t get them to load. With just three bolts the box could come right off that cart and bolt onto a scoot for winter work.

[Baystatetom]

@CharlyBonifaz 29073 wrote:

we’ve been discussing if the draft distribution in a neck yoke can be compared to that of an evener or if both animals at all times have to pull the same load? in an evener (resembling a triangle) the one up front automatically carries a higher load than the one further back…..:confused:

Some yokes have a movable staple so you can shift more of the load to one animal or the other. My off steer is always a step ahead and I have to constantly try and slow him down. I have been wishing I could move my staple over an inch to see if it slowed him down. I just tried an old yoke my grandfather made because the bows were getting tight on the other yoke. This different yoke is has 22 inches between bows compared to the 18 inches of the other one. I have only used it twice but so far they are staying side by side. I actually had to give the off steer a few snaps to the rump to get him moving. I have no idea why the width between bows made the difference but I am glad I tried it out.
I have also heard of putting a chain from one side of the yoke back to the load bearing chain off the center in order to put more weight one way or the other. I never tried it because I was afraid to drill holes in my yokes not knowing exactly where to put it.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I have another one made on an old car axle that rolls smoother and has a dumping box, but it doesn’t look as cool. I do two parades every year, I think I’ll put some fresh finish on this one and save it for “good”.

[Baystatetom]

They used sluices back here in New England to. But not nearly as often. While we do have steep land it is not usually that long a run before it flattens out a bit. Those areas that are that steep often have poor soils and poor timber so nobody ever wanted to risk their life for the timber. I still see cut bank roads zig zagging hill sides with with mature trees growing in them and they are half as wide as even a small machine needs. They must have pulled log length wood around switch backs in the trails to get access. Unfortunately those old trails often lead down rivers and/or have a ton of avoidable stream crossings.

[Baystatetom]

Ronnie,
You are absolutely right, but when a 100 acres of 4-5mbf/acre of veneer cherry and sugar maple is your reward, you’ll push your luck.

[Baystatetom]

My jerseys were friendly to a fault. You don’t want a 1000 pound steer thinking he can cuddle anytime he wants. And their hoofs weren’t that good. However my 3 year old could yell out commands I could barely understand and they would listen to him. I prefer a beef/dairy mix but, like I said before just pick what you like and you will be the happiest. Pick what somebody else likes and you might be thinking “if only I got those jerseys”.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I have had holstiens, herfordXholstiens, milking shorthorns, jerseys and ashyres. I now have shorthornXholstien and plan on getting my boy a pair of normandy in the spring. Milking shorthorn have been the most common oxen breed in New England for 150 years. No matter what anybody else says get what you like, end of story. I had a pair of jersey for my kids and found them to be the smartest easiest to train team I ever worked with, plenty of others will tell you the opposite. No matter what, you will have fun. Good luck.

[Baystatetom]

I don’t know anything about the VT questions but I do know that in Massachusetts we started a program where landowners enrolled in Chapter 61 (our current use use tax program) could become green certified. I did a few of the first plans done in the state and was quite proud of it at the time. Now a few years later I am less then impressed. Nothing happens differently in the field on those FSC properties then any other. The certification adds another layer of bureaucratic BS and takes up a bunch of time and energy. Farther more I have yet to sell a timber lot for more money because it was green certified. I think it is a feel good thing for those who can afford to feel good. If a client asks for it I’ll write the plan and sign them up, otherwise I don’t mention it.

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