[Rod]

Here is a photo of the spreader.

[Rod]

Hi Ed

I wondered about the splatter, thanks. Would it be an issue of too slow a feed rate or too fast?

[Rod]

I have a Hobart 140, Northern Industrial (free shipping) and love it. No more burn through and I use both the solid wire and the flux core which I like better except for the splatter. An 11 lb. spool of wire will do a lot of welding. Hobart is made by Miller and a lot of the parts are interchangeable. Don’t buy a cheap 3/16 model, my helper had one, another brand, and it was trouble. I read the reviews on the Northern site before I bought. Mine even came with a free cart which is real nice to have.

[Rod]

Hi Ixy

I had the same thought about the bit recently. It seems when ever we use the donkeys riding or driving that the otherwise (semi) cooperative boys are fighting the bit. Maybe they consider it an insult and degrading, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. I don’t think the bit is needed to provide runaway control with these guys who never run away but do the opposite stopping all the time. They might need a bit on the other end to get them going.

[Rod]

I built a solar kiln 15 years ago when I had a bandsaw mill. We used it to dry red oak and pine boards we cut on the farm. The design was a hybrid based on the Woodmizer model but with a fixed wooden structure loading from the non-collector side. The Woodmizer design contribution was a double poly roof surface at a 45 degree angle facing south. This roof was 20′ in length and covered two 12′ x 16′ bays. The bays had insulated walls and doors, A 16″ fan was installed at the peak of each and operated on a thermostat when the unit came up to heat, On a sunny day temperatures would reach 120 degrees inside. The double plastic roof operated as a dehumidifier and insulated surface. A small blower would pressurize the envelope between the poly and circulate the moist air from the kiln room through this envelope causing the moisture in it to condense on the inner face of the colder outside poly surface and would drain down and out an outside drain. A blue plastic tarp was fastened to the bottom of a baffle coming down from the ceiling which we dropped down and fastened to the top of the load with boards for weight. This forced the air from the circulating fan to go through the stickered pile of boards.

The kiln worked good during the warmer parts of the year and we could dry 1″ red oak boards to 6-8% MC in about 6 weeks with little degrade. Pine was faster. Operation of the kiln was very simple, just load it and shut the doors until the load reached the target MC.The lumber was nice to work with because the heating and night cooling cycles kept degrade and stresses to a minimum. Operating costs were mainly for the fan and it did use quite a bit of electricity. Later when the plastic gave out I replaced it with translucent fiberglass panels without the dehumidifier and used it like that. At one point I had a household dehumidifier hooked up inside which ran on a humidstat.
Later I also toyed with and built a dehumidification kiln using a used Nile unit but never got it running as we sold the mill and abandoned the whole project. The kiln building is now has a metal roof and is used as a carriage shed, donkey barn and as a mounting surface for our photovoltaic solar panels.

[Rod]

Hi Robert

I think your observation on the blinders may be on the mark. I have been thinking along the same lines for our donkeys. I don’t think they need them as they are a lot less likely top be startled or bolt by something happening behind them and usually they stop to think it over if they see something out of the ordinary.

We have “be kind to long ears bridles” for our donkeys. These have a buckle in the strap that goes behind the ears so that their is no need to pull or disturb those large, stately and sensitive ears pulling a bridle over them.

[Rod]

From QR (quick reply) hit the go advanced button, scroll down to manage attachments, browse then upload.

[Rod]

@Robert MoonShadow 4246 wrote:

I just joined here… and am learning to use my standard-sized donkey for farm work, includng snigging firewood logs… perhaps we can keep each other posted here? Mine is a 4 yo standard spotted jack, heading here to central Idaho from Texas (boy is HE in for a surprise {snow}). 😮

Hi Robert

I have been reviewing old Donkey posts and wondered how you are doing with yours. I am especially curious as to how they are working out with the heaver tasks like pulling fire wood logs etc. Do you use them as a team?

[Rod]

@jac 15485 wrote:

Hi Rod .. That is a seriously neat bale mover !! We are also looking for a good way to move bales and do away with one more job our 1954 fordson has to do around the yard.. moving bales and powering our hay chopper with the belt pulley is the only jobs left.. I take it there are no hydraulics and it does it all by pivoting to get the lift ?? Simplicity..
John

Hi John

I like the one Howie has, they are made out West somewhere (Ohio?) and the last literature I had the price was around $1200. The other photo came off the internet also and I do not know where I found it. When I notice a piece of equipment on the net that I like I save it in my equipment photos file for future reference. Mine are moved with my tractor and a bale grab. We feed out over 200 a year and storage areas are tight on our hill farm. Some are wrapped silage bales. We keep 140 dry ones in a drive in barn.
I think Tim Harrigan’s method sounds as good as anything else and has the added value of simplicity and using equipment most have available anyway.

[Rod]

My dry round bales weigh around 600 lbs. Howie has a nice round bale mover which is pictured on the right and discussed somewhere here on this forum. I have a photo of it on my computer which I copied posted below. Some drag them on car hoods or stone boats and you can find lighter bales (and heavier ones also). I think they would be too much for a donkey team to pull unless on wheels and flat terrain.

[Rod]

Oops, sorry I didn’t mention this is an ox team.

[Rod]

I would not want one of my 2000lb. oxen to mount one of my 700 Lb. Lowline heifers, that’s for sure.

[Rod]

Does anyone feed by hay weight or percentage of body weight, say 2.5% etc. My oxen weigh 2000# each but the two of them are eating dry round 4×4 bale in 3.5 days free choice. I am going to weigh the bale today and see how much weight they are actually eating. I want to cut them back because of the cost of the hay and was trying to get an idea of what they need for maintaince in the winter. They are not working much at this time of year.

[Rod]

Working my my heated shop like I do every winter. Get the chores done and in I go. Of course I also have to deal with frozen manure, frozen water systems, frozen round bales and a frozen butt.

[Rod]

@Howie 14992 wrote:

That sure is one nice ox cart.:)
I have all the material to build one like it, but I am having a little trouble with my get-up and go.:o
Would it be possible to get a set of plans for that one?:cool:

Hi Howie

The sheet size for the set I have is too big for me to copy but you can get a new set from the web for $26. Here is the address for the plan http://www.wildhorsebooks.com/thompson.htm
It’s half way down the page plan no. JT2a.
This is an excellent plan, well detailed and can be used to build a model or the full sized cart. Let me know after you get it if you want photos of how I adopted it to a pole as the plan is setup for shafts. I made some other changes also to make it easier to construct which you may be interested in also..

[Author]

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