[near horse]

Hey Mark,

I’m always concerned about leaving my fields w/ enough leaf area and time to recover before winter hits. My understanding is that it can really affect stand health and vigor.

[near horse]

Hi Mitch,

I’m still “on the fence” about this harrow. Just concerned about the size – owner says it’s 8′ wide and that makes me question whether I can use it w/ just my pair. It is a nice looking disk ….. Are you headed for NEAPFD this yr? Maybe I’ll see ya there (possibly w/ my disk in the trailer:).

[near horse]

Thanks Andy for that “nice” thought 🙂

I’d pictured a sort of Geoff bologna left in the field 😮

[near horse]

@Tim Harrigan 20815 wrote:

My first reaction is a 4+ horse disk if you want to work right along. This is a heavy duty, tandem disk built for a tractor? We visited single disk draft some time ago in this thread. For a tandem disk the pulling force is proportional to the weight of the disk, like most things. At a typical working depth the draft (lbs-force) on a clay soil would be about 1.5 times the weight (lbs) of the disk, 1.2 * weight on a silt loam and 0.8 times on a sandy loam. So if your disk goes about 200 lb/foot or 1600 lbs my starting guess for draft would be about 2400 lbf in clay soil, 1920 lbf in silt loam and 1280 lbf in sandy loam. If you want to test your team, hitch on to a 6000 lb stoneboat to estimate the clay soil, 4800 lb stoneboat for the silt loam and 3200 lb boat for the sandy loam. Those could easily be +-30%.

http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?t=3226&highlight=disk

Hi Tim –

Of course I didn’t search the threads first! That would make too much sense (sorry). When I did, I came upon the “long thread” regarding power including horse vs tractor etc.

This disk is a single gang 8′ IHC – w/ tongue trucks & seat so it seems to be a horse drawn disk to me. The guy that has it says it’s too much for his ATV to pull in tilling his food plots. Maybe that’s not a good sign.

I’ll try and post a picture

[near horse]

Hey BigJohn,

White Horse will send you a nice little catalog/brochure showing some of their plows, carts w/options for a phone call. I’ve heard a lot of good things about their sulky but never have seen one out here.

Good luck – and very glad to hear that someone’s making some “extra cash” w/ their horses. Kudos to you!!

[near horse]

I guess I was thinking about any mechanical advantage(s) to be gained from having a flywheel as part of the system. When used with a slipclutch, it “seems” like it could be a useful way of generating more RPMs than direct drive and still not beat up your team. Plus, there are a lot of trashed out balers with those drive mechanisms still functional.

[near horse]

It seems we all are seeing some of the same “stuff” happening at the county fair(s). I wish they’d close down school here for the fair because it really ends up being wasted days with kids not there but the teachers/admin like getting to count those days towards the total required by the state

Around here, there is really no livestock farming like there was 50-100yrs back – just huge wheat tracts now – so almost any animal exhibitions etc are from the local 4H and FFA groups. And that has seriously dropped back to mostly hogs because they’re “easier” and require “less work and time” than cattle and still bring the same (or better) cash return. It’s down to a handful of kids raising steers.

Funny thing – the LA county fair (that’s Los Angeles all right) had representation from every species breed etc and demos to boot – including draft horses. Most weren’t from the county (or even the state) though!

BTW – how far is Fryeburg from NEAPFD and when is it? If it worked out, I might be able to swing by there on my X-country adventure this Oct (will be at NEAPFD). I might end up with a sore butt after this trip but ……………………

[near horse]

I still have to ask about what you’re cutting that “leaf shatter” is a concern? You all are making alfalfa hay? (I did notice that Donn mentioned clover).

If I remember right, there’s an article in “Hay and Forage Grower” this month that swears that 1/2″ of rain won’t hurt your down hay at all and really swear that the curse is letting your hay get even a little over-ripe. But again, these are guys doing research not making a “real living”. Sorry for any toes I stepped on but some of the research info is just not as practical as the investigators try and make it.

[near horse]

I think Tim might be getting at this point but I’ll mention it. The “current conditions” can change the drying time substantially so it’s hard to make an “X” number of days suggestion.

Daytime temps, relative humidity and wind can all drastically affect drying as well as night time temps (which can really increase the RH if they get low enough). Finally, what are you all cutting? When you talk about leaf shatter, you’re usually referring to a legume rather than a grass crop. Is that true here?

Wind is a good thing – as long is doesn’t blow your hay into the next county:) Works like a blow dryer.

I would be more prone to give hay at least one or two days drying then tedd, let it dry and rake/bale. Once I’ve got hay into a windrow, I want to get it baled up ASAP – raking into a windrow slows drying IMHO.

BTW- Your mileage may vary if you’re east of the Mississipi 🙁

[near horse]

My condolenscences to you Carl as well as to Raymond’s family and friends. It may seem to be of little solace right now, but it is a blessing that he spent his last time here on earth in the woods with a family member. Many of us might appreciate that as being a part of our final day.

[near horse]

@goodcompanion 20531 wrote:

It’s not my horse I’m worried about. It’s being hit by a car, or inadvertently causing a car-car collision. My horse has behaved quite well throughout, but we have nevertheless had near misses due to the behavior of motorists.

I guess that was my original thought – is there a way to convey to motorists what “you want them to do”? Not just a slow-moving vehicle sign, but maybe a “Please pass with care when safe!” sign on the back of your rig. You’d hope people would know but as you said, one hesitant driver causes the jam up and then folks further back take bigger risks trying to pass.

I know what you’re saying Erik. Good safe drivers still can get killed by idiots on the road. Be careful and good luck!

[near horse]

What do you consider to be the “best” thing drivers can do when coming upon a HD vehicle?

– continue to follow slowly
– slow down and then pass when safe

My horses don’t like it when vehicles seem to lurk along behind.

[near horse]

Hi Jen,

I’m planning on being at NEAPFD and would like to assist w/ the breakfast but I need to know a bit more. Do you need folks to bring something or just cook/serve at the event? I’ll have been on the road for a while so I might have a hard time “whipping up some Buckaroo Breakfast” but …..

[near horse]

If any of you that might be on the “path” from ID to VT are interested in some of the remaining equipment AND it can fit in a 20’L 7’W horse trailer, I’d be willing to haul it for you at N/C. PM me if you think it would work for you.

[near horse]

@dlskidmore 20361 wrote:

Well yes and no. They’re not going to vote against animal power, but for misguided health laws. The misguided health laws have unintended consequences of putting small farmers out of business and making some uses of animals illegal. If some politician says we need these rules to secure the food supply, the city folks are gonna keep voting for them.

Great segue (is that how you spell “seg way”) into the S 510 Food Safety Bill posted over in the political part of this forum. Most of the big food borne illnesses come from the big processors, running at production level speeds. Unfortunately the clout of these corps twists the legislation into something that hurts the small guys and does nothing to solve the REAL problem. Just today it was 100,000’s of eggs w/ salmonella.

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