[Rod]

The pointed stick worked fine. It took about 15 minuets for the nigh ox to get the idea and then he walked right where I wanted him to. I used a similar technique for a problem I had while when driving in front. In the beginning they would bum me with their horns and the end of the pole as I walked along. What I did was choke up on the whip handle so I had maby a foot or more sticking out behind my hand. This part I waved back and forth in front of the animals noses and bumped them when they got to close. Same thing, they caught on fast and no more horn bumps when I am not looking.:)

[Rod]

Hi George

Can you weld up a tool made from a steel bar with a piece of pipe at right angles at one end that will slide over the pitman drive shaft? Then weld a piece of steel on the side that will fit into the opening in the flywheel. Put some penetrating oil on the threads at the gear end and see if you can start the thread. Be careful because if the tool you make has a longer length than the pipe wrench you can apply more leverage and as you said you don’t need to break them also.

[Rod]

I agree about the effectiveness. I have used a whip/lash in my stock yard for years and rarely have to touch the cattle with it. They know what it means and are very respectful and responsive to it.

[Rod]

The ones you see in the “praise” book are used by the head yokers who drive from in front.

Exactly, that’s where I like to drive from best and I like the lash also and do not have a problem using it properly.

[Rod]

That would be great Carl if you could get a lead on one of those for me. Keep me posted on what you dig up. Thank you.

[Rod]

That is a nice one and yes similar. But they show a few real calssy ones in the book, fiberglass and I saw one with a leather cover . Also the lash looks to be about a foot longer than the whip part. My guess is the whip part is about 2′ to 3′ long. I found some wooden twisted whips but the lash available is short.

[Rod]

Jen

The exchange is some risk for more stability and ease of execution.

Where is the risk? The market will take care of the balancing (unless of course we try and let the government do the balancing). I doubt any livestock manure producer or lime quarry would benefit by hording their resource.

[Rod]

It is of course highly dependent upon soil and climate

Thank you Tevis, for a very succinct, accurate, well written and explained argument, I love it and wish it would work on every farm because it does work where things are right and it’s a great design.
The problem arises however, as you infer that you need to start with the right soil and it needs to work economically. In case’s where for one reason or another the farm may not posses all the ideal conditions then we need to cooperate with others who can supply what we lack. A highly acid soil or a shallow soil come to mind. There are so many soil variables, wetness, solar aspect, depth to rock, drainage class, slope, till ability, acidity, etc. It seems to me that many farms need to cooperate and import for the very reasons you mention, ie: economic viability or to supply minerals which cannot be retrieved from a soil or for reasons of practicality.Personally do not see the problem with this. What is the difference between owning a small vegetable farm and buying manure from your neighbors livestock operation or buying out your neighbor and doing the two practices yourself and thus qualifying as sustainable.
I wish all our farms had prime agricultural soils, got fair pricing from appreciating consumers and were easy to work and provided a good living for the farmers and any help that might work at the farm. It’s possible in a perfect world that this could be the case but we have to live in the one we have and use our wits to make it work. It is nice to see how it can work however and to strive to get closer to that model spurs us on and keeps us from feeling like agricultural factory workers. Thanks for the good explanation.

[Rod]

I can see where a removable wooden floor on top of the cart with sideboards might work well for some loads. Like bags of grain or things like that would be hard to lift out of the cavity of the base cart.
I do have an old mower seat and spring which I intend to add to the front top so I can ride someday. (I need to train the oxen to do that first).

[Rod]

Are you describing a floor on top of the cart?

[Rod]

Now that you have used it, how well is it balanced when fully loaded with compost? And how well did it dump when you got it there? Is there anything you would change? Or have you not had the chance to use it enough yet

Hi Gordon

I have used it a few times, first behind my tractor then with the ox team. It is balanced real well when the pole is on it. When I used it behind the tractor with just a short shaft it was a little back tippy when hooking it up. By that I mean when I dragged it over to the tractor I had to be careful not to let it tip back too far as it would want to go right over. With the pole however it’s perfect, not too heavy at the end but with no lift on the pole going up hills etc.
It dumps great, the tail gate is heavy enough so you do not have to rely on the load to push it open. As in when the ashes were in it which are a light load the gate open right up and everything slid out without any help. I am sure it will dump fire wood the same although I have not tried it yet. If I were to do it again I might try to make it lighter. I have a lot of steel in this one and it’s real rugged but kind of heavy. Thanks for the questions.

[Rod]

Yes the design is based on the article on the web about the Golovan cart with some modifications one of which is the receiver setup which allows it to be used single or double. I mentioned the cart was based on the Golovan model in the original forum article about it. See ( http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?t=869&page=2 ).
I know the sketch in the web article shows it set up as a single ox cart but I can tell you my team of Holsteins (2600#) had a time pulling it up a hill with a bucket of composted manure in it.
By wooden floor did you mean wooden sideboards? I can’t see how a wooden floor would work or make the cart have more capacity?

[Rod]

Hi Hal

Thats almost a question that can’t be answered until you have your farm because farms and farm soils and farm crops all vary so widely. What might be recomended for a certain soil and climate and crop type might be inapproprate for a diffrent situation. The best thing to do now as you prepare is learn about soils and agronomy so that when you are ready you will have a useful knowledge base from which to make your decisions.

[Rod]

I think most would agree that the present farming/food system we have is seriously flawed and better models can be workable and still be sustainable at least in the larger sense of the word. But I also would contend that the best and most practical course is one of significant adjustment and not one which throws out the whole present system to be replaced by a lot of little self contained sustainable farms. Their are a lot of folks out there which need to eat and the economic system which we have is a reality that needs to be accommodated. In order to do that job we need to work as a larger community and utilize the varied strengths and resources we have and do so efficiently and sustainably. I believe this can involve doing what works best with what we have on our farms and trading with others who do the same in their areas of work.

[Rod]

A challenge that we have is that as a society we don’t think or act as a closed unit. Each individual farm see’s itself as an island unto itself. Nature does not recognize fence lines, deeds or boundary markers

Well said. Some of this sustainability discussion reminded me of my Civil Engineering days when certain zoning boards would pass regulations eliminating gravel extraction within their Town limits. Drove me nuts. Try and build a road, a sewer, a water line, a parking lot, a house foundation or driveway without gravel. It can’t be done but somehow the narrow thinking crowd idealistically assumed they were doing a good service for the community. In fact all they accomplished was pushing the gravel extraction into other communities and raising the costs for themselves as the material needs didn’t change but had to be trucked in from farther away.

A similar dynamic can occur if we take the sustainable agriculture model too far. As has been said our farms are not closed systems with all we need for efficient and healthy agriculture located within our own boundaries and if we act as if they are by trying to use a purest model we only detract from their potential. In addition this type of generalized and sometimes idealistic thinking if carried to an extream can effect other farm units which may need some of what we can uniquely produce. Manure comes to mind as do soil minerals which have been mention before and their are their are others I am sure.

[Author]

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