Farming with horse power...?

springvalley · #21 04/01/12, 08:19 AM

Well I have worked a good many horses in my day, and if you have the time, they are wonderful. Most of my twenties and thirties were spent driving horses, and I just don`t have time for them now even though I still have a big team of Belgians. I am of the mind set that my team is also a prep item for me, I can farm if we loose power and fuel. I have a full line of horse equipment right down to threashing machine, that alone takes up a lot of room. My horses were my family for a good many years and now that I have a wife and kids I spend my time with them instead. Horses are great to work, and are not as slow to use as jwal10 has made them sound. Now granted they are slower than any tractor, but they always start, even the coldest day of the year. They will also work in more adverse conditions, such as mud and snow, feeding cattle in the winter and spring is a great job for horses. I have been so blessed to have been able to work horses when I have, and hope to be able to do more, but I have also been hurt a good many times breaking and training horses. And you can even get hurt just being around them, been kicked several times from horses kicking at other horses and getting me instead. If you have that tractor in the shed now keep it there, horses are a lot of work, no doubt about it. And yes they eat 365 days a year, and poop 365 days a year, and seems like more comes out than went in. But if you have the time, love horses, and have the equipment at the ready, GO FOR IT. There is nothing more rewarding than see your efforts from working a field with a team of any size, if it`s just two or large multi hitch of eight, it is something everyone should do once. > Thanks and God Bless America, > Marc

Miss Kay · #22 04/01/12, 09:04 AM

We have drafts and love them. We don't farm with them, just drive. We almost never have the vet out (we do a lot of our own vet work with all our animals) and they are healthy as a, well, a horse. If you are doing it just to get the job done use a tractor. If you love animals and want to do it in peace and quiet go with the horse. We really don't find ours are a lot of trouble to take care of.

jwal10 · #23 04/01/12, 10:53 AM

I could pull 2-16"s with my Farmall H. It would take 6 horses to pull a 2 bottom sulky plow 8 hours a day. Only 1-14" with a big team of 2 horses, the H would go twice as fast. More than 4 times the field covered in the same time and I could keep working all day except for a few minutes to fill with fuel and check the oil and water. I could plow for 16 hours on the tractor, 8 hrs was very tiring with a team and they needed rest, usually 2 hours at noon and water every 2 hours. Plus all the work of taking care of the horses, the tractor started and went until it needed fuel. After a day on a tractor just take a shower, eat and rest. Now I got great satisfaction from a day working with horses and loved every minute of it but a full season was a grind. I started farming on my own with a Farmall B and a team of horses when I was 12. I used the horses a lot because I didn't have the cash for gas for the B but I bought gas to plow with. My team wasn't real big and the 1 bottom sulky plow was tough on them. I used the team for everything else. That little B pulling 1-16" would get as much plowed in a day than a week with the team with a 1-12" sulky plow....James

sunshinytraci · #24 04/01/12, 11:04 AM

I would do it if you have a great love of horses and old ways of doing things. They will not be efficient and if you want to make money on your farm, the costs of feed and care on those animals will be significant. So are tractor repairs, especially if you have to hire someone to fix it, like I do. It's ok if you are going to have horses on your farm anyways. You might as well get some work out of them.

Also, really pay attention to everyone's advice on the dangers of horse handling. I have been around large drafts and owned a few myself to know that they are not all "gentle giants." They can be as spooky and high strung as an Arabian sometimes and you can't muscle them around like you can a smaller horse. In my experience, with horses, if you work with them just about every day, at least a little bit, they are much less difficult to handle.

FarmboyBill · #25 04/01/12, 02:28 PM

JAs to your post. 1 bottom plows arent sulkeys, There gang plows. I have a B I gave my DD. I loved that little fart. A LOT more than my Cub

jwal10 · #26 04/01/12, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmBoyBill

JAs to your post. 1 bottom plows arent sulkeys, There gang plows. I have a B I gave my DD. I loved that little fart. A LOT more than my Cub

A horse drawn plow with a seat is a sulky plow.

[2sulky]: having wheels and usually a seat for the driver <a sulky plow>

McCormick Deering No 9 Sulky Plow IHC Manual | eBay

FarmboyBill · #27 04/01/12, 04:35 PM

A horse drawn plow with a seat and WITH ONE BOTTOM is a sulkey plow. A horse drawn plow with a seat WITH 2 OR 3 BOTTOMS is a GANG plow

unioncreek · #28 04/01/12, 06:25 PM

It take's approx. half of your crop production to feed the horses. My cousin owns a CSA in WI and uses horses he said the same thing.

Bobg

springvalley · #29 04/01/12, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unioncreek

It take's approx. half of your crop production to feed the horses. My cousin owns a CSA in WI and uses horses he said the same thing.

Bobg

Depends on the crop, and you have to account for the manure they produce as fertilizer. I use to have at least 12 or more drafts at one time, and will never regret owning or working them. They were some of the best years of my life, now we have moved on to the next stage in life. They will always hold a very special place in my life and past. They also turned out to be a very special thing for my parents also, because they had almost as much fun with them as I did. > Thanks Marc

FarmboyBill · #30 04/01/12, 08:59 PM

It depends on the acreage being farmed also.

texican · #31 04/01/12, 09:26 PM

Guess it would also matter whether one had been kicked in the head by a draft horse...

>when someone is about to make a stupid decision, I ask em if a mule kicked em in the head earlier in the day... then reach over to look on the back side of their head...<

Only way I could see someone doing it... religious convictions, making videos/writing a book, tractors no longer had fuel...

Used tractors are common, because fewer and fewer people farm anymore, and when they die, their kids sell everything. Don't know about other areas, but horses sell for less than what dog food costs... true, they aren't draft horses. Can't recall last time I saw a draft horse, anywhere, for sale. Most folks 'round here use to use mules. Can get unlimited amts of mules for less than 500$.

Callieslamb · #32 04/01/12, 09:28 PM

Look up Tiller's International. They have classes on how to train draft animals and run a demo farm with only oxen power. I have a friend that has been training 2 short horn steers for well over a year now. They don't plan on doing using them all the time but just now and again.

Lizza · #33 04/01/12, 10:31 PM

These folks are doing a full year diet for 200 people with mostly draft horses. They do use a tractor and they have another farmer harvest grain. I heard her speak at the Small Farmers Conference here in Corvallis Oregon last month. It was really interesting, she challenged everybody to start a full year diet CSA, I have to say I did raise my hand and said I worried about burn out. The amount of work, working with horses providing all the food 200 people need to eat year round seems overwhelming just sitting in the room hearing her talk about it. She was inspiring.

I read her book from a recommendation from Melissa down in Countryside Families. It is more the emotional year of starting their farm and their marriage but she does write some about starting to work the farm with draft horses. Kristin Kimball | The Dirty Life | Essex Farm

FarmboyBill · #34 04/01/12, 10:46 PM

I have put up hay with a team of hporses, and picked corn with them, and dug out a full basement with one.
Never thought anything about it. They rather seemed to me then, like I might think about useing a 30s tractor for a second tractor.

Wait a minute. I do use a 30s tractor for a second tractor. Sorry bout that, but u get the idea.

arabian knight · #35 04/01/12, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darntootin

O.K I'm convinced. I think I'll stick with the tractor. Seems like complicating my life with horses might not be worth it.

Smart choice.

MullersLaneFarm · #36 04/01/12, 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmBoyBill

Mullers Lane Farm. What 30s Farmall do you have?? Iv had alot of 20s and 2 30s. Loved the 30s.

We have an M.

Here are some pictures of a field day with horses and mules back in 2005

FarmboyBill · #37 04/02/12, 01:04 AM

A 39 M then? My bro has my 41 M that my uncle bought in 63

springvalley · #38 04/02/12, 07:47 AM

Working draft horses is NOT a stupid idea, it can be very rewarding. NO it is not for everyone, no one said it was, there are some amish that shouldn`t be working horses. There are a lot of things that horses can do that you don`t need a tractor for. Raking hay is a wonderful job for horses, not heavy work, and rather enjoyble for the driver. Cultivating corn is another job that takes very little horse power, harrowing ground is a good job for young horses to get them into condition. So many things that horses can do, that a tractor can`t. I have never in my life seen a tractor lay down and reproduce it`s self, horses eat home grown feed, not fuel. A well trained team can also use voice commands to do things, I have never seen a tractor drive through a gate and stop on command. And a horse will start on the coldest day of the year, batteries not needed. Some people should not work horses, just like some people should not be race car drivers. I was born with horses sence, some people don`t know enough to come in out of the rain. So if you hate horses, it would be real silly to try and work them in the field, just isn`t going to work. I`m not even going to venture into the mule debate, another story there all togeather. > God Bless America, Thanks Marc