[Rod]

Nice arch. I copied your plan from your site and was going to build one until I priced out the steel. Whew! Instead I made a rack that fits the back of my WH forecart. Came out pretty good, it fits into the 2″ vertical receivers made for the bench seat. It should work fine for the limited use that I will have for it, mainly firewood.

[Rod]

I don’t know the capacity as I did not get any papers with it but it’s decent size. Probably would hold 4 or 500 Lbs. of fertilizer. The unit itself if not that heavy to lift or pull and I am sure your Mini’s could pull it fine. I haven’t used it yet, just bought it because it was on sale and I had been looking at them in the catalogs and liked what it looked like. I am going to sell my 3PH Herd spreader and replace it with this one which is a lot easier to use and hook up. I could even pull this unit with my golf cart.

[Rod]

The one I bought was a return, almost new. The previous owner tried to spread damp sand with it and it didn’t work well I guess.

[Rod]

I just bought one at Tractor Supply, slightly used, ground driven, cone type and apparently it works for seed as well as granular fertilizers. It has a seed table with adjustment settings printed on the spreader barrel. Made for an ATV but a forecart would work fine.

[Rod]

How about ducks. We have a small pond that gets inhabited by a pair or sometimes two pairs of wild Mallards each spring. They arrive when the ice is about 1/3 off the pond and stay to raise a clutch of ducklings after which they fly away, usually in late July or August and we don’t see them until the following spring. this has been the same pattern for 20 years.

Except for last year. A friend gave us a pair of Rowen ducks, male and female for the pond. These ducks were quite tame and did not fly like the Mallards did. Both kinds of ducks got along separately but well and when the female Rowen duck went to set on her eggs something got it. The mallards took the remaining Rowen duck into their swimming group and unlike previous years flying off in late summer instead stayed around until the pond started to ice up. They left at that point and shortly thereafter before I could catch the remaining Rowen and bring him in the barn for the winter something got him also.

Well a couple of days ago the wild Mallards flew in as usual but instead of hanging out on the edge of the ice and swimming around which is the normal pattern they started a search walking around on the snowy banks and hills adjacent to the pond presumably looking for the Rowen duck that they left last fall. Not finding him they left and have not been back. How bout that.

[Rod]

Spring in Vermont is sugar time. Pails on trees, sap dripping into buckets, sweet sap smell mixed with wood smoke, snow and bare ground in scattered patches and MUD. The sun filtering through the woodland trees unhindered by leaves and the thrill of a full sap bucket. Not much else one can do anyway this time of year and the spring sugaring is a nice way to get out and get going. Sociability fun and work all mixed together.

[Rod]

We have worked in a round pen with our donkeys and also have a couple of donkey training videos that use round pens. One of them says you can use the same techniques on horses so it sound like the same procedures will work either way although I have never trained a horse so can’t say from experience.

[Rod]

One problem that occurs when Congress writes a law is the the agency that is responsible to administer the law then writes regulations that bring the practical effect into being. These regulations do not have the same scrutiny as the enabling legislation has nor do the authors have the same level of accountability as the lawmakers experience. And by the regulations sometimes the intent or meaning of the laws is altered. Not only does that happen but later the regulations are often revised and sometime become more onerous or far reaching. Isn’t that what is going on with NAIS and the Department of Ag? It happens at the EPA and also in any agency that writes their own regulations and these regulations can and often do take on a life of their own. I have witnessed this happen in the wetland regulation field. I worked on one project which involved a household well which was 1300 feet away from a designated wetland area. The project was required to obtain a wetland permit for the well tailing (the soil and rock fragments which come up out of the drill hole and form a small mound around the hole). In addition we just learned from the news that the various Presidents up to and now including Obama have been adding their bias to the signed bills as they are sent down to the various departments for implementation. Seem like the President can tell his Departments what the legislation really means and how to implement it.
Maybe the simple representative Government model we learned about in grade school and like to think we have has morphed into a monster and is not any longer as pure as we would like to believe?

[Rod]

My experience with government regulations is you get them initially in small increments, bite size, and as time goes on they often grow and become more complex and intrusive. Like the frog in the hot water, I’m sure most have heard the way to boil a live frog is not to put it in hot water to start but in cold water and slowly raise the temperature. It’s the same with regulations, start small and “improve” a little at a time. This technique is not lost on the ruling class, Oops I meant the Government regulators.

[Rod]

Hi Jason

I appreciate your keeping us informed about this kind of thing.

[Rod]

Price reduced and may be even less for a youngster who will take him over and train him to be the good little ox that he is capable of being.

[Rod]

I agree that about the efficiency losses but you might want to temper the pure efficiency arguments with the practical. I many instances this may not be the most efficient in a pure energy equation but is workable with what is available and may be the least capitol intensive.
Also mixed systems are very appealing wherein you use direct animal power where ever possible and stored power for those task where the direct power is not practical. Of course the first and most efficient approach to the power requirement in any system is conservation (not using it unless absolutely necessary).

[Rod]

Their was some discussion on another thread about using animal power to lift a weight as a source of stored power. If you have a water source power can be stored also by using the animals to power a pump, say via a treadmill or round table and pumping to storage. The power can be later recovered by using the stored water directly or through a generator. Of course you need the water source , elevation and a place to store the water there. The latter can be a large tank or as simple as a dug out (lined) excavation.

[Rod]

I want to second the suggestion to consider a Donkey. These are really efficient animals, good feet, easy keepers, healthy, versatile, friendly, strong, smart, and has been said, live a long time. I also like the fact they are surefooted and small. Mine get through little spaces without destroying things, something that might be good around raised beds etc. I think Donkeys are a underutilized animal resource in the American homestead. They are used in the third world extensively on small scale agriculture and you could likely find some practical information about the use of Donkeys in this type of environment.

[Rod]

Relisted, see above.

[Author]

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