[Ed Thayer]

Carl,

Glad to hear everything turned out OK. I cringed as I read you post and thought at first it was going to end badly.

We are all very lucky to live in an environment/region where we can look out for one another. Imagine if that accident occurred on the 95 corridor somewhere in the city. You would have been on your own.

Glad to hear you are back up and running again.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Michael,

I hope your right and the the snow indicates a good season, we finished tapping all our buckets yesterday and the sap actually ran a little today. It looks like a good week weather wise. Anyone boiled in NH yet?

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Tapped most om my tubing lots today, sap was runnung really well. Hanging my buckets this week and waiting for a warm spell.

George, a pung is A low, one-horse box sleigh.

(pŭng)
n. New England
A low, one-horse box sleigh.

[Short for dialectal tom-pung, from an Algonquian language of southern New England.]

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Mike,

You are up in elevation and are wise to hold off a little. I saw the forecast for our area and it looks darn chilly down here. North slopes are good in this area because when we get those crazy warm ups, it seems to keep the sap better and prolongs the season.

Bill,

Sure bet you miss the team this spring, I am sure Tracy is having fun with them. I really enjoyed your picture last year of pulling the sap sled with the mares. Like you said though, you get a chance to visit this year, and that is something we often miss when we run our own operation.

Mitch,

Glad you got the team out in the woods. I am amazed how the snow had dropped in our region. We are off to pack trails tomorrow and Sunday then wait for warmer weather to gather. Are you using a sap sled or log scoot arrangement?

Does anyone gather with a single horse? I will be boarding Jim Garvins Canadian/Percheron during March and hope to use him with my horse for sap gathering if all works out. Happy sappin’.

[Ed Thayer]

Mark, I think you are right on regarding the weather. Our old rule of thumb was to tap at or by Town Meeting. Last year we were done boiling on March 23rd.
Your friend must have a fancy set with vac and RO. All my tubing is gravity and then I have a couple hundred buckets. Did it run enough to boil anything?

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Awesome pics don, the go devil looks like it works great. Thanks for sharing. I wish I had a forest with 100 ash trees like the ones pictured. Lots to build around here.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

I guess it serves two purposes, I heard my reasoning from an old NH logger as described in a film he had seen back in the day.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

That wooden cross peice on the front of the bob is for a set of single shafts to attach, it is offset so the driver could see where he was going behind the horse.

Nice looking set up. Do you have the 5th wheel pin and slides for it?

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

No predictions here, just hoping the sap will flow for more than two weeks like last year. Plenty of wood left but may need hay before first crop. Wish you were closer Mitch.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

It does force the shafts up a little when really loaded, however by riding on the cart my weight is forward beyond the pivot point being the axle and it helps. My shaft loops have a belly band so they can’t get to far up on the horse if adjusted right. This tool works great for small and large logs alike. We pulled a 24′ x 8′ long pine log with no problem. Well I had no problem the horse grunted a little 😉

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Jim,

I welded two square tube receiver pockets on to the back of the fore cart then two male sq tube pcs on the arch. I simply drop it into the receiver and let gravity hold it in place. When I want to take it off, I lift it out of the pockets and put the seats back on. Works great. I think I would like to modify it just a bit and cut the height of the arch down so I can mount a set to the top rail.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Here is a link to some more photos of the project.

Ed

https://picasaweb.google.com/107396364480794542661/LincolnWoods2013#

[Ed Thayer]

This is a copy of an e-mail sent to DAPNet from John Marunowski of the US Forest Service.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all those who helped with the Black Brook debris removal project in the Pemi Wilderness. For me it was an unforgettable experience to see draft horses in action, work with amazing partners, volunteers and employees and bring partial closure to a multi-year bridge removal project. The new partnership with the Draft Animal Power Network (DAPNet) was a huge success and I couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated, down to earth bunch of folks. My hope is that we will see their faces around the forest working on future projects.

The project was projected to last 3 days but we pulled it off in two long days (we were motivated with the prediction of freezing rain). In summary, sixteen Steel I Beams weighing approximately 900 lbs. each were pulled 1.8 miles to the Pemigewasset Wilderness boundary along with an assortment of wooden components from the bridge.

Thanks again for enduring cold weather and long days out there. We couldn’t have done it without your support. Ed, can you please pass this message along to all the DAPNet folks involved with and supporting the project.

[Ed Thayer]

Good Morning all,

We have serious concerns with the forecasted temperatures in the Lincoln woods for the upcoming weekend. Forecasts show double digits below zero with real feel temps around -30 below. Horses and people work slow and it will be cumbersome at best in these temps if not down right dangerous. We are rescheduling this project for Monday, Tuesday Wednesday of next week, January 28-30 or 31st. The following weekend does not work as we lose a teamster and other critical support staff for the project.

I realize most of you that have volunteered have jobs and this schedule will probably exclude you from this project and I apologize for that. But the bottom line is to get this job completed while the conditions are suitable, ie; snow covered trail and safe operating conditions.

I have spoken to the Forest Service and they are all set with the schedule change. We plan to head up Sunday and load scoots, set up camp and mobilize other items at the Ranger Station on Rt 302, then stay in the Ranger Station Sunday night and head for the woods first thing Monday morning.

The Forest Service has allowed us to use the Ranger Station for volunteers to sleep in during the night. They only ask that all cots, sleeping bags etc. be removed during the day as they will staff it and it we be open to the public.Please let me know who may still be available to help with the project and the new schedule.

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your flexibility.

Ed Thayer

603-495-3554 Home
603-340-4035 Cell

[Ed Thayer]

Good point Mark, May would probably be best for me.

Ed

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