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Donn:

Design looks great. Something to consider is a seat. Having to walk behind or to the side of horses all day through the snow is tiring. Also, big wood does unpredictable things on varied terrain and I think riding the load is usually safer. Seems like folks usually ride the load on a bobsled b/c the load is all chained together. I’m not sure that could happen safely with the logs individually slotted in your design. Good luck.

George

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How is this for a matched team?

This is one of our two bay horses paired with our halflinger mare for the first time. Their size difference is hard to appreciate from this picture. Despite their differences, they went great together on our snow groomer. The bay gelding is 8 who usually goes with his half brother. The mare is 8 years old and we got her for free from a beef farmer who had her out with his devon bulls for years. We had no idea if she had been driven or ridden, but she seems to be doing both well. We plan of raking and tedding with her and one of the brothers this summer. We have also been twitching wood with her single this winter.

George

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How about using a bobsled with a second sled behind (is this what you were describing Mitchmaine)? Wouldn’t this give you the extra bunk (advantage of the scoot) and more maneuverability? Also, is it fairly standard the the front bunk on a bobsled rotates?

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Donn, as an aside, there is TSI money available through the Natural Resources Conservation Service under their EQIP program. We have also received cost sharing EQIP money for fencing, watering systems, septic for our cheese operation, stream crossings, and more. It is worth checking out regarding your forest plan – might help fund some equipment for your new logging endeavor.

George

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Good luck Lancek. Please post some pics when your done.

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send me an email with your address and we will work something out.

doesleap@myfairpoint.net

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Ditto on all the housing advice above. A basic 3 sided shed with a frost-free hydrant or automatic waterer. MNMULE is right on regarding breed advice. Get the best broke team you can find and forget about breed. Our first team of mares kicked our *ss! We drove them for 3 months and were lucky to make it through relatively unscathed (although I was kicked twice). I would hire an experience teamster to shop for a team for you.

Good luck.

George

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Thanks for the replies. After seeing those slick sleds Lost Farmer posted, I am thinking my time might be better spent building something new. Any chance of getting some rough plans for those sleds?

George

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So far so good with the tires.

George

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Charly. We do not run a CSA, but we market a significant amount of cheese through local CSAs as an “add-on”. We approached several CSAs about 10 years ago proposing that their customers would benefit from having the option to receive cheese every week. Since then, the idea has really caught on and it is now routine for CSAs to have meat, eggs, bread, and cheese as options for the members. It works out well for everyone. One stop shopping with local food. In exchange for marketing our cheese, the CSA receives 10% of our gross sales (much lower than selling it wholesale). Most CSAs we deal with get payment up front, but some have payment plans. It seems like the most successful CSAs that we deal with are exclusively CSAs. If you would like to contact me privately I can give you the contact information for several people (with their permission). You can email me at doesleap@myfairpoint.net if you want to pursue this further.

George

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@Carl Russell 13478 wrote:

OMG George, you dulled your saw??;)

An aside. I like to put a slight bend, or crook in the end of the peavey point. This can give advantage when using the tool as a lever. It will get better purchase in tree bark, dirt, ice, etc. I find that I typically roll the peavey so that the hook is away from my leg as I drive it under a log, so I put the bend in the point to match that.

Carl

I know, dulling the saw – goes with the territory:eek:. I am somewhat fanatical about keeping my saw sharp. If it’s the least bit dull, I find myself taking the time to return to my shop, putting the saw in a vice, and getting it right rather than cutting with an even slightly dull saw. I probably burn through chains a bit quicker but I like the feeling of the saw pulling me into the wood with perfectly shaped chips a flying!

Carl, when you say put a slight bend at the end of the peavy point, I assume you mean the hook part and not the part on the end of the shaft? Can you elaborate with maybe a picture? Peavy work is an art in itself (one I haven’t mastered). Maybe another thread in the making?

George

George

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Thanks for the replies. There is saying that goes something like: “The more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know.” The good info here brings up more questions.
@Scott G 13459 wrote:

The short chain with ring can be used either as a choker for very small diameter logs to make a train or to throw a hitch around something that you are going to be pulling with. Some folks prefer ring chokers to hooks; never used them but I can see a lot of reasons why I wouldn’t want to. For small pole type timber you could make a log train with the way that one is set up but I would rather cut the chain down by 1/3 and put another grab on it to use as a log train.

Scott, what is a log chain and how and when do you use it?

Jason, I have 1 chain with a needle on it and try to set up support wood under the tree for easy cutting and chaining. Sometimes it works well, sometimes I miss it and struggle.

Here’s another question I had in a previous thread that got lost in the shuffle: Any tricks for cutting off a log that is partially embedded in dirt (despite an effort to lay wood down beforehand!)? I cut out a 22′ hemlock log that scaled around 360 bf. The section that I was trying to divide (ended up being 2 logs) was too big to role with a peavy and too big to move to another location to cut (it was down in a gully). I ended up cutting through it as best I could, but hit dirt and dulled my saw. What has happened to me in this case in the past is the above scenario or I don’t cut all the through and end up having some bark tear (forget the proper name for this). Any approaches here?

Finally, what is the difference between a peavy and a cant hook (I have a peavy)? Advantages of one over another?

George

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@Biological Woodsman 13394 wrote:

Several of the Appalachian BWM still use grabs or the hooks that you drive into the log and skip out at the landing.
We name all our geldings after tools. Our newest working horse is named Chain.

I looked at the grab at N Tool. What is the circle on the end of the chain for? This grab only has 3′ of chain – a little tight for attaching it to the cart. Do you attach another chain with a grab hook which you then hook to your cart? It seems like the advantage to the grab is not having to snake your chain around logs (something I struggled with most of yesterday). True? What are the disadvantages? Do they come undone? Damage the log? Onerous to hammer off at the landing?

Enough questions?

Thanks.

George

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Thanks for the replies. Carl, you got it. This is a chain that I use on the back of my cart when I can’t easily get to a log with the cart itself. I pull, re-hitch and go from there. Sounds like I can get by with 5/16″. I

George

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Jen:

I would a single could pull it, but not very far and not for very long. I used work my horses single on the tire as a training tool to work them single in the woods. This was mainly on grass and was a good pull for them. Add the resistance of moving snow and it would be difficult. I imagine you can get a smaller tire. This tire is about 4.5 feet in diameter and stands about 2′ off the ground. The 500 lbs was a guess, but two people can’t budge it.

George

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