[Baystatetom]

I would put her in a yoke now and train her while she is young. I think if you want her to pull you have to teach her to do so now, or when she is big she could get balky on you. I could be mistaken, I’ll never claim to know everything. I have seen a lot of teams come from 4H kids who had them broke like robots. Then somebody buys them and tries to hook them to more then a 100 pounds and they won’t pull it. Because they were trained for shows not pulling. Maybe you don’t want to do heavy work but when you hook her to a sled of manure or cordwood or whatever your going to get pretty fed up she refuses to work.
My two cents for whatever its worth,
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I would just go to a 7 as well. Most guys I know use even numbers until 8″ then start with the half inch increments, but having the best fit is good no matter how big they are. Mine current team spent only a few months in a 7″ before out growing it, then a whole year in the 8″. I just moved them into a 9″ but would have gone with a 81/2 if I had one. Another trick I have used when they are between sizes is to use smaller bows in a bigger yoke. For instance 7″ bows in a 8″ yoke. Having the proper fit is definitely better but it’ll work if you have no other option.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

When I was a kid it was made very clear to me that oxen were meat that was going to end up in the freezer some day. I think that is just the old yankee way of not wasting anything. I however still have a hard time with it. I am a hunter and kill all sorts of stuff and it doesn’t bother me in the least. My oxen and I have a connection that I can’t get past though. I’ll still eat them when its time, but somebody else is going to have to pull the trigger.
This whole issue in my mind just comes down to people being disconnected from their food. Most folks don’t give a second thought to a package of meat in the store, but if they spent time with that steer I think they might feel squeamish about it.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I might be mistaken but I think there is some sort of nematode you can by and put down in the garden that will control them. I plant about 1 1/2 acres of pumpkins but this year I just seeded it to grass because squash bugs and cucumber beetles were so bad last year. Luckily I was able to plant another field a good distance away.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

Hate to be disagreeable but I have a 372 xp that has let me down a bunch of times. Start/stop switch, easy fix but it cost me a morning going to get one, It was revving too high so I took it to the shop twice they said it was fine then it blew up. They rebuilt it for the cost of the parts. So I won’t blame the shop. Then a couple weeks ago the muffler let go. Another cheap fix but it cost me a days work. I used to run Stihls and will again when I buy the next one.
One thing I learned from talking to loggers is everybody buys the saw the dealer they like sells. Get one from the closest, most convenient place if you ask me. Luckily for me the place has Husky and Stihl. I know a few guys who really like the Dolmar 7900 as well.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

You know already that the monetary investment is nothing compared to the time investment when it comes to breaking oxen. I wouldn’t put that investment into something I didn’t have my whole heart in. I have had at least four different breeds and would like to try four more! Of course we are different some folks like one and that’s all they ever have. I think you need to take a trip to New England so you can check them out. Friburge Fair in Maine will blow your mind.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I don’t mean to stick my nose in and complicate things that other folks have well at hand. I am glad to help, just tell me what you need.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I just printed the registration form to mail in but had an idea. I think if you, me or somebody submitted a agenda to the Massachusetts Forester License Board, licensed foresters could get continuing Ed. credits for it. I need 20 hours a year to maintain my license. If this were to happen we could also have notification of the workshop put out on the UMass extension service email list to all the licensed foresters in Massachusetts (many of whom are from abutting states). Having a audience of professional land managers could be a good thing for our craft.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

Tongs are great on bigger logs, but I can’t make them stay on smaller firewood. Maybe I just need smaller tongs, but then again chokers don’t take much time or extra energy on the small ones.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

Here in New England the stuff I am most often called to spray is multiflora rose, honey suckle, burning bush, buckthorn, barberry, and bittersweet. All are vines or shrubs although I have done a few swallow wart, knapweed, and stilt grass jobs as well. These plants are unpalatable to wildlife which is partly how they become so plentiful. The deer over browse the natives and the invasive plants are left with limited competition. The fall grazing idea sounds good as a lot of these plants remain green after the natives have browned out for the winter, however I would think if there is any chance of them getting browsed to any extent the spring of the year would be a better choice because the young shoots are much more tender. I wonder if for my application a first round of mowing would be best with a grazing follow up. This way the large woody stuff would be chewed up. The problem is mowers capable of that type of work are pretty expensive to run.
How many of those seeds make it through a cow or goat and have the benefit of a manure case to germinate in?

Anyway I look at it I think chainsaws, mowers and herbicide have to be involved to some degree. If I am going to charge people for the service they are going to expect a reasonable price for a job completed in a reasonable amount of time. I hope that incorporating animals into the program will enhance the job in someway and become a valuable tool to have at my disposal. The real hang up is convincing my wife that I need to go to the auction and bring home a barn full of critters, or should I say another barn full.

[Baystatetom]

That was indeed a interesting article. This topic has been on the top of my mind for a while now. I call myself and forester and do prefer that work however the past several years I have concentrated on invasive plant control for the summer months. Its kind of a love hate relationship. I hate running through multiflora rose and barberry all day with a tank of herbicide but I love the pay check it provides. I have been trying to figure out if I can use animal power to do this work for clients. My instinct is to go for cattle because of the ease of temporary fence for them verses electric netting for goats, that I would guess would be a royal pain in a mass of invasive shrubs. I was expecting I would have to supply some amount of hay to sustain the animals and they would browse shrubs and brush out of boredom when the daily ration of hay was gone. Not to steer this too far of topic but any thoughts are welcome.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I have seen a few brush lots turned back into pasture by Scottish Highlanders. My jerseys ate almost everything and can be had cheaply. Those jersey steers went after poison ivy first before grass and clover. My current holstienxshorthorns are finicky and really just want grass until they are real hungry then they bust the fence.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I think beech isn’t used much for two reasons first its grain looks kind of plain compared to some other hardwoods and secondly it is so dam hard it can give woodworkers trouble. My grandfather put a beech floor in his house, I thought it looked nice, although he said it took forever as each nail hole had to be drilled out because the boards kept splitting.
As far as forestry goes, most forestry is driven by markets, period end of story. If markets were found making beech more financially valuable then more foresters would pay attention to its management. Things do change, I have heard of old timers girdling veneer quality cherry out of spruce/fir stands. In recent memory sugar maple has increased in price many times fold while ash went from $600/mbf down $100 and stayed there for 20 years. I would never try and eliminate beech from the forest, but if the landowner wants to manage timber for its monetary value then I might chose another species as a seed source or growing stock.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

Another great video Tim! Is it okay to email the link to some of my clients? Just heartbreaking to think of all the pests damaging our forest. We in southern New England are getting hit hard by the hemlock wooly adelgid already and the emerald ash borer is looming.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

You can come hang out with me in Western Mass, although I never seem to have a real schedule. I have two jobs lined up for the winter. Whats your degree in? Bay State Forestry has been looking for help.
~Tom

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