[dominiquer60]

Bekah,
Email Jen she took a ton as well and I would imagine she would be happy to share.

[dominiquer60]

What is your goal? To have a handy family cow or a handy steer? If you want to milk I would certainly do both to start, Les Barden has a booklet and Ray Ludwig also has a nice book that he wrote. All have similarities and differences, pick what fits your needs and gut feelings.

[dominiquer60]

There are all sorts of photos and a few videos (including the baler) on Facebook, other than linking to them I would not know how to get them here.

[dominiquer60]

It is an important missing link for this community, not all words are intended for public viewing.

[dominiquer60]

I put it on facebook in a few places, I will try to spread it as much as possible.

[dominiquer60]

What kind of Mill Jay? Wish everyone here was closer geographically, but glad to have places like this where we can get together virtually.

[dominiquer60]

Greg,

If you join the New York State Draft Horse Club, they often give a paper copy of the member directory (ask for one), there are hundreds of members. Perhaps you can find some one near you on their list that is open to helping you out.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

This is an awesome weekend and I will add one more thing about the weekend, the food alone is worth the price 🙂 I enjoyed both of my trips to LIF and hope to do it again sometime in the future.

[dominiquer60]

Somebody at the Walktober event last weekend asked a good question, “How long does it take to train your oxen?”

I looked at her 2 kids on the ground and told her,”Cattle are just like children, as long as they live at your home, they are always in training.” She understood the point well.

With that said, it is nice that productive work can be a product of training. I see pictures of teams pulling tires and blocks and think to myself, “I am glad that I have things to do around the farm with my oxen, because if I didn’t I would never have time for all of that empty training.” It is good that some folks enjoy and have time for training laps with loads, but I certainly don’t.

[dominiquer60]

Sorry you folks are having trouble with uploading photos. Since we have changed I have found posting pictures easy and much better than before (I wasn’t able to post any for a couple years). I wish I could help, but I not a computer person and I probably just lucked out this time around.

[dominiquer60]

The Barden Cart that was for sale in Dover, NH has been sold. I called about it this morning because the more that I think about it the more this type of cart makes sense for me. Looking at pictures of recently posted logging carts my first thought is not, “boy I could move some big wood with those,” it is, “How the heck do I drag myself on and off of these things. Sam’s cart is big, too big for what I and my team are useful for, but at least it has a nice step in front of the wheel for easy on and off (I agree with Carl that this is much safer than a foot on the ground or scrambling up a wheel to get on ). His also has a place where he can put a seat. I like this because first off if he was unsettled, he is not going to fall back off the cart and have a log roll him over and second because on Sundays he can put the seat on and take his lady for a foliage drive through the back roads.

I don’t need something that others feel they need in order to move big wood, in fact I have no interest in moving big wood, and if I did need to we have one of those already. I am taken by the versatility of the Barden cart. I could use one with steers or horses (mules or ponies for that matter), and I can really picture myself using it for more farm related tasks such as harrowing, collecting sap, moving mobile animal housing, etc. The most appealing feature to me is the ease of getting in and out of it, after spending time weeding and harvesting, the last thing that I want to abuse my knees with is climbing on or off a cart.

I have been bothering a neighbor about selling me a simple pioneer forecart that he has out back, but no luck yet. I would like to be able to use it so that I can leave my cultivator at my house and not abuse it with woods trail miles back and forth from the parents farm where the horse are. I would also like it to do field work with a pair when the other cart is set up for 3 or 4. I was wondering about buying a piggy back for it so that we can make use of more than one team in the woods. These Barden carts sound like they will fit the bill better and be easier on my body. If anybody comes across another Barden cart for sale I am seriously considering purchasing one for many reasons and tasks.

Here is the logging cart that Sam made, it works very well. Sorry I don’t have any good closeups. it has various slots to put choker chains, but also has a sliding hitch point that rolls back and up, it really gets them off of the ground. The trailer is for large logs and using the cart and trailer he can suspend a 36′ stick off the ground and keep it clean for the sawyer that custom cuts his beams for custom timber framing jobs.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[dominiquer60]

Sam says, Just before they get to the point where they tend to speed up, stop them and give them a break and let them settle, whether that is 30 seconds or several minutes. Just keep stopping them and resting them before they escalate to a speed that you don’t want. Depending on whether you are you are plowing in or out it may be good to open up another land so that you can go both directions of the field.

Mine like to start rushing when they get tired, “hurry up and get it over with.” So when I see that they get tired or want to rush the end I basically do what Sam recommends above, but I try hard stop them when they are going just as I like them to, before they get bad. I see it as a reward for doing what I ask of them, and cessation of work is the best reward that I know of. Since they are going well at this point they don’t really need to settle but I give them a half of minute and often they will look to me for the command to continue forward, then we proceed. You may have noticed us doing this at Barton, it didn’t take much to get them a little testy as they are very soft and the near was recovering from an injury so there was no need to push them beyond what we did. Normally I don’t mind going slow and resting frequently as long as we are making good progress.

Proper timing and reward is the key to what works for me.

[dominiquer60]

Sam would be happy to participate as long as it doesn’t fall between October 6-11. I might just tag along if he does go 🙂

[dominiquer60]

Sam is not here tonight, so I will do my best. As long at the off ox is comfortable with this change and the plow goes better I say great. If not, try playing with lengthening the chain some and see if that helps.

I found your plow in the Oliver catalog, they claim that it is a good plow for sand, gravel or clay and that the slanting landslide is good for crumbling the furrow well. It originally sold for $18 with out the gauge wheel. There is no date on the catalog, but this model was one of the original models that made the company fame and was produced for many years as a multi-purpose light 2 horse plow.

[dominiquer60]

I don’t know if either of you are pieces, but I just read a horoscope that reads “the treasure that you seek is in what you fear the most.” Perhaps this has some merit here.

I am sorry to hear about your precious little one, I hope that time away from it will bring her levels down to reasonable, a friend back home had the same problem and was able to overcome this problem with time.

You are correct that moving is both exciting and scary. I have no doubt that folks like you, with such dedication to the small farm lifestyle, and with such an openness to finding the right situation, will find what you seek.

Best Wishes on your new journey,

[Author]

Posts