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@Tim Harrigan 24854 wrote:

Seems like if you can find an old wire crib you could probably pick one up pretty reasonable.

Ok so help an old hillbilly out please. If a corn crib is made of wire, and I have seen them like this, how is it that the corn inside them doesn’t get wet and rot? The crib on my place is built out of poles and sawmill slabs, and the gaps in its sides, while not water tight, are quite narrow. And not only that, but it seems mice might be a problem? Perhaps I’m missing something?
Mac

[Mac]

John, here’s an old hill-farmer’s opinion. I try the best to shape my horses hooves as naturally as possible. I also try to keep the toes in. I hate wide, flat feet! Hate them! One of my boys wears a single ought shoe. The other one wears a two and the other one wears a three. I’m sorry I can’t really describe how I trim and shoe very well, all I know to say is that I shoe ’em to work, not to show. Mine ain’t matched and ain’t liable to win any show contests, save maybe farm team on the year for N. Central Arkansas.
Mac

[Mac]

Mine get home-raised corn, still on the cob. That way they get some roughage along with the corn and they don’t founder. Not that they’re likely too though. They work it off though. Here in the hills, I haven’t had much luck with anything but corn, cotton, cane, and a few oats. Last year I put in a half acre of oats and cradle cut them. I will never do it again. I don’t have the acreage or the time to bundle them after I cut them. Maybe if I had a binder, but I don’t. So its cotton and corn and cane til something better comes along.
Mac

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J-L, its bound to. I intend to get the disk out if its not too muddy. I don’t envy you and your cold up there. I’m much too old for that!
Mac

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Russ, go put your harness on them, (one at a time first, then together) hook them to a tractor tire, take a good hold on ye lines and let ’em go. If they’re as gentle as you say they are, they oughtn’t to do much. I’d put em in a round pen the first time or two. All it takes is just working with them. It took me a while to get my boys worked out. When I started the young one, he ran clean away with my sled, out of the lot and down the road. When he got half way up the hill from home, I whistled and he turned around and trotted back. It was an experience. But ever what you do, be careful. Mules and horses can kill ye quick if you don’t watch’em. Good luck and stay safe.
Mac

[Mac]

I use 80 weight gear oil and regular axle grease on mine. The grease in the gearbox, the oil everywhere else. A word of advice: don’t oil your bar if you’re running in sandy areas. It’s a good, fast way to dull your sections.
Mac

[Mac]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Hope everone is staying warm and dry! We got another 8 inches here today, grand total of a foot, not counting drifts. Kiddos are home from school today and tomorrow. Got the team out and put them into my lovely homemade snowplow (which is also a land drag during plowing season. To convert to snowplow, I just nail a 4×4 diagonally to the bottom). Plowed about a quarter mile of gravel road, to town and back. Then salted what I plowed. By the time I was finished, my hands were nearly frozen to the lines. Told the boss today I guess I’m getting old… she said, just figuring that out are you! But on the bright side… it’s supposed to be 60 here for the weekend.
Mac

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@Russel 24620 wrote:

Thanks for the help. Isnt there a danger of the external gear chewing up your left foot?

Yes… but thats why you don’t stick your foot over there if you can help it.:D I happen to have a 6, which has the old-style smooth sections. These work well in grass, but I find that when cutting cane, I can only use about 3 feet of a 6 foot bar. I also find that cane will bust a pitman rod right quick if you don’t watch it.
Mac

[Mac]

I personally have, much to the chagrin of my old man, beta lines 25 feet long. I bought them new this year and don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner. (For the reason for the length, see my post regarding dogs and iron-tired wagons) Now, you really don’t want me to get started on harness. Mine is leather… and bio… and some nylon… and a little bit of baling wire thrown in for good measure. But hey, it works!
Mac

[Mac]

Russ:
On my #6 McCormick, that little rod you described is so that when you lift up the bar, it will knock the machine out of gear so you don’t bust your pitman rod.
Tongue is 14 foot long. Pretty well standard here. The one I have in my mower is a small, straight oak pole with the bark shaved off and the hardware put on it.
Colors are Red and White, I think. Don’t quote me on that one though.
Mac

[Mac]

I personally use a tow-sack on all my steel seats. Really nice on a cultivator when you’re in a corn field.
Mac.

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Jeremy:
Mine don’t go in the barn unless we’re loading the wagon. I feed mine in a trough twice a day and they get all the hay they want. They stay in a lot about an acre in size. Not much grazing, but like I say, they get all they want to eat. Big water trough too. Some of my friends take a bit of grain to the woods with them, when they go, but often they just wait. And most of the time there is a pond or creek you can water in.
Now, as far as grain goes, you’re gonna love this. I feed mine five ears of whole, unshelled corn twice daily, along with two or three hands of cane fodder, all raised on my ground. And contrary to popular belief, you can feed whole corn to horses. I’ve done it for years, as has my grandfather and his father before him. However, mine get worked almost every day of the week. So they need the energy.
As far as wormer goes, I use Ivermec. And every spring each one gets a Kentucky twist cut up in some sweet feed. It works quite well I think.
Mac

[Mac]

As John said, it all depends on the job. When I farmed full time, I fed every morning about five, then went to work as soon as it was light enough to see. Depending on the weather and the work, I would rest them, still hitched, in the shade. For dinner I would un hook and either drive them to the creek or the barn for water and a little hay. They rested while I ate. Then back to work until near-dark. We went home, I turned them out, and fed after they drank. I found that this worked well for me, and that it still does, even though I only work on weekends now. I learned early on that resting in the shade was nice, not only for the horses, but for me as well, as the Arkansas heat is hard on man and beast. And finally, like John said, to feed a hot horse before watering him could easily kill him. Good luck and have fun,
Mac

[Mac]

@near horse 23965 wrote:

My horses barley match – so the matching harness would be lost on them!

Sounds like my team! The one is 5 and dapple gray and the other is about 20 and flea-bit and light gray. My better half has always said that I cannot own anything new or a matching pair of anything. Nor can I have harness that is not patched with wire or rope.
Mac

[Mac]

My first piece of advice would be to go to either a farm or horse sale, and buy you some good used stuff. Measure your horse for a collar and then go from there. Good used gear is fairly cheap, and if you want new stuff, you might consider nylon harness. My neighbor has had the same set for 10 years and hasn’t replaced a thing. That could be an option.
You see, I started out much like Rick, with an old set of harness and patched and fanangled around till I could use it. I’ve worked a team going on 10 years and just now got a matching set of harness (still not new). I guess the point I’m trying to make is this: you can get it all at once and be into it for a lot of money, or get it bits and pieces at a time for less. Just my two cents worth.
Mac

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