[near horse]

I’ll admit that I stepped in over on the arborist site and added my 2 cents – for what it’s worth. I think Mitch added the component that they don’t discuss – wheel slippage. Our forest soils here are pretty thin as it is and a rooster of mud/topsoil can leave a bare spot for quite a while.

They cite a “Weyco study” of seedling growth or root growth in skidding trails but I have a hard time with Weyerhauser telling me that, according to their research, what they do has little to no impact on root growth etc. Give me an independent source and I might believe it.

Another “point to ponder” is a horse’s hoof may place more weight on a given spot but that spot is – duh – the size of a horse’s hoof while the skidder has compacted a continuous line (actually 2 – one for each side of the rig) from the start to the end of the skid. So for a given skid, who compacted more of the soil – the discrete hoof prints or the continuous skidder tire trails? Also, hoof prints are like discrete puddles when it rains – the tire tracks can easily become the new route for runoff leading to erosion …..

My biggest beef w/ the “horse logging nay sayer” was why does he have an issue with a system that will never threaten big commercial loggers. Unless it’s the underlying feeling that what they’re doing can’t last so lash out at someone.

BTW – I notice that there was a guy looking for someone to log his place in MI – fired the last guys for being too destructive to his woodlot. If you’re in that neck of the woods, you might check out this job.

[near horse]

I also thought that I had volunteered to help with grant writing/reviewing but didn’t know that would make me the “chair” of fundraising. I don’t think that coordinating fundraising is my cup of tea at all.

[near horse]

My problem would have been FINDING said pulley/snatch blocks and rope. So I, more than likely, would have gone your route Carl. Hitch ’em up and pull her out. And then put the pulleys where I could find them for next time!

[near horse]

@dominiquer60 23901 wrote:

I should have said something, I was wondering about a pulley, I even looked to see if there was an good tree to hitch it on, but I really don’t know much about these things so I just kept my mouth shut:(

It was a lot on the horses and I don’t know how we would have done it with out them. The tow strap certainly helped, and once Carl was at an angle that I could see him, I was able to better my timing when I let my foot off the brake. Once we got a good rhythm going we got it out of there inch by inch.

Tim sadly I don’t usually park there, after 5 winters in Florida and generally avoiding such narrow steep drives with a 2WD, I had forgotten how to use my E brake. It worked amazingly well once Carl reminded me I could use it for more than just parking:) Perhaps I will stick to visiting Central VT in fair weather.

Again Carl I can not thank you enough, sorry to put the horses through that, and the shoe, and fresh cut. Folks like you have plenty to do without fools like me adding to it. Just let me know what I can do to return the favor someday.

Carl for your curiosity, I looked it up, the GVW for my truck is 3, 320 pounds, add me, the dog, 200# of tractor weights, a disc and all the junk under and behind my seat and I am sure that we were at least 4300 pounds. Those are some good horses, yes sir.

Erika

Don’t feel bad Erika – Carl’s driveway is plenty steep w/o snow or ice on it. I bet they only get airmail delivered there. But I have to ask – “how’d you get up there? Sheer excitement about the potluck?”

Nothin ever happens if you only do nothin.

[near horse]

@David Fisher 23883 wrote:

Hi Geoff, and all,

sorry you guys got disconnected towards the end of our meeting, but thanks for being there. We did discuss some of these questions, and yes, we suggested the idea of DAPNet providing a scholarship for DAPNet members who couldn’t otherwise afford to attend the conference. To clarify, ALL presenters and (I believe) volunteers get full admission free of charge. I’ll have to check whether that includes camping / housing and food.

I’m happy to check with them again, but I asked clearly, they considered, and responded pretty firmly that ALL classroom workshops would be held at UMASS. If we wanted Hampshire classrooms, they would have to rent another whole facility, etc. I think too, that their concern was that they want to integrate the two communities, not fund a separate event. However, I will brainstorm with them on how we might design some piece of the conference to address our need for the community gathering piece. Perhaps we could repeat the teamsters breakfast or something – I’ll see what’s possible.

Thanks for your reply, David. And certainly for doing the legwork with NOFA. Was there a consensus with the group as to whether to go forward with NOFA (at least for the coming year) or is it still up for debate? Time is drawing short – correct?

[near horse]

I read that story that Mark posted and, as he said, other than some “colorful journalism” like the line about “rip-starting his saw”, I thought the article was pretty decent for the uneducated animal powered public.

I’ll need to look at the arborist site – I sure hope they’re not slamming Rick over there!

Thanks for the heads up.

[near horse]

Hey Carl –
I agree. We got a lot done. Now what?

BTW –
Here’s a post I sent to Erika after we were disconnected. Thought you all might like to see it.

Hi Erika –

I don’t think I have anything to add except that if there is an issue with some DAPNet members not willing to attend NOFA due to the cost of the event, I would like to suggest the possibility of providing a sort of scholarchip/honorarium for them via DAPNet. I would be willing to contribute to that fund to help out.

Also, was there discussion of extraneous member costs (like housing/camping)?

Third – any chance we could convince NOFA to allow us to use the Hampshire classrooms for the class presentations rather than having us shuttle back and forth? There’s concern over that shuttling hurting our sense of community

[near horse]

Hi Jean,

Hope to hear from you in the call today if you can swing it. No worries about “life interfering” – it happens to all of us!

[near horse]

Maybe you all have seen this place already but there’s a forum (another one!) that has discussions/debates of saw types and sizes. (including the 575 – pros/cons).

http://www.forestryforum.com/

Not saying everything there fits HD production systems but there are guys cutting serious amounts of wood. Thought I’d share.

[near horse]

Ooops! Sorry Tim. I misunderstood – sometimes I can be a little dense:eek: No harm done (I hope).

[near horse]

Tim,

You might have missed my point or I did a bad job making it. I was just describing current dry peas/lentils harvesting thinking that understanding that might generate thought into ways of harvesting that are suited to smaller/horse driven production systems. Certainly the idea of buying a new combine is beyond foolhardy at > $200,000. Sorry if I even sort of insinuated that was something to look at.

[near horse]

Conventional dry peas (split greens and yellow peas) are allowed to dry on the vine – and just combined although they do use “lifters or elevators” on the header. I think it’s mostly to keep the knife out of the dirt since you’re running it at ground level and the elevators (shoes really) look like those from the old days (that go on HD mowers). The peas thresh out in the combine pretty nicely since they’re heavier than normal cereal grains – main concerns were with breakage (of the peas). I think it’s the same with garbs.

Lentils, on the other hand, are swathed and allowed to dry. Then combined.

Correct me if I’m wrong but many crops (cereals and peas for example) now are allowed to mature or dry while standing in the field because they will be directly harvested and threshed in one pass. Historically, I think these same crops were cut at an earlier stage or at least while still a bit green so as to keep the grain from being lost in the handling required to get to the thresher. Does that make sense and is it right?

[near horse]

@Robert MoonShadow 23747 wrote:

Hey Geoff – gorgeous dog – I recently picked up a Newfoundland x Great Pyranees “puppy” – she’s 16 months and just a sweetie…loves the neighbors’ kids & their pet (orphan) mule deer fawn…won’t let anything (‘cept people) near the goats at all. With work, I’m suspecting she’ll fit right in for a guardian dog – we’ve got wolves, cougar and bear hereabouts, so my BC x Aussie bitch isn’t big enough for guard duty.
I’ve heard good things about Airedale Terriers…being VERY easy to train, and multi-purpose, too.

Hey Moonshadow – nice to hear from you! The folks I know that run sheep/goats near or in our area, all use Pyranees or Newfers for guard animals. Talked to one guy that had his 2 GP’s kill a cougar that was after his goats.

BTW – Thanks for the comment on our dog (Chumley) – I’ll let him know!

PM me with your contact info and let’s see if we can meet up again soon.

[near horse]

Aren’t there some drawings of options/extras for the JD or MD mowers for cutting peas in Haying w/ Horses or maybe in the Mower Book?

[near horse]

Hey sickle hocks,

The guy that made that film brought it to NEAPFD and “premiered” it. I thought it was, as you say, inspirational rather than technical. But it was good to see young people working at finding a way to use horses in making their livelihoods. Definitely worth watching.

[Author]

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