HORSE Power

[stub]

I don't know about pulling, but when I was stacking square bales in the barn this summer, my gelding reached in from the outside and lifted the top bale right off with his teeth. Those bales were pretty green - it was all I could do to get them up there. I was impressed - and also glad he doesn't bite.

[grsthegreat]

I once saw an Amish farmer with a 4 horse team pulling a loaded manure spreader at a canter. They didn't appear to be having any problems with the load. I know I couldn't have done it with my 45 hp 4wd machine.
I wondered how much time was spent just tacking up that team.

for my pair it takes me about 20 minutes to tack them up if im working by myself. the wife and i can do it in a bit less than 10 minutes together. We have to do it all the time at competitions.

[kemary]

Once delivered hay to an amish farm and buried the truck in their lane. F350 4wd dually, 24 foot gooseneck loaded with 9 1500lb round bales. Truck and trailer were in to the axles. The amish farmer brought out 2 belgiums that were so tall it looked like he could have walked under them. When I asked him if he wanted me to unhitch the trailer he said " naw, I have strong horses". Once he hooked them to the truck they sorted of leaned into the harness to test the load and then they started digging in, they were pulling so hard their bellies were 2feet off the ground, but everything started to move and off we went. On that day 2 horsepower was better than a powerstroke diesel!!! I was very impressed.

[Soundguy]

another lil tidbit, gleaned from the same source boakly used in post #2:

"A healthy human can produce about 1.2 hp briefly (see orders of magnitude) and sustain about 0.1 hp indefinitely; trained athletes can manage up to about 2.5 hp briefly[8] and 0.3 hp for a period of several hours."

[k0ua]

another lil tidbit, gleaned from the same source boakly used in post #2:

"A healthy human can produce about 1.2 hp briefly (see orders of magnitude) and sustain about 0.1 hp indefinitely; trained athletes can manage up to about 2.5 hp briefly[8] and 0.3 hp for a period of several hours."

The guy that powered the Gossamer Condor (human powered aircraft) must have had a high power to weight ratio.

James K0UA

[IndyIan]

Once delivered hay to an amish farm and buried the truck in their lane. F350 4wd dually, 24 foot gooseneck loaded with 9 1500lb round bales. Truck and trailer were in to the axles. The amish farmer brought out 2 belgiums that were so tall it looked like he could have walked under them. When I asked him if he wanted me to unhitch the trailer he said " naw, I have strong horses". Once he hooked them to the truck they sorted of leaned into the harness to test the load and then they started digging in, they were pulling so hard their bellies were 2feet off the ground, but everything started to move and off we went. On that day 2 horsepower was better than a powerstroke diesel!!! I was very impressed.

Impressive example of the amount of force a pair of trained horses can generate. At the fairs I watch the horse pulls and I think they are trained to "pop" the sled off the start using a bit of slack in the harness. Probably equal force to what a 50 or 60hp tractor can sustain.
My sawmiller has used horses for logging and he was impressed what could be done with smaller logs and an ATV. If you have little 300-400lb sticks, an ATV will out work horses easily, but with 1000lb+ logs the ATV quickly becomes useless.

[Mark Page]

The guy that powered the Gossamer Condor (human powered aircraft) must have had a high power to weight ratio.

James K0UA

He was a marathon cyclist. Who better to choose?

[PHILIP8N]

I have always used the following rule. My 20 drawbar hp 8N can pull a 2 bottom 12" plow. My Uncle used 2 mules to pull a 1 bottom 12" plow. That equals about 5 hp per mule. Not science, but probably pretty close. Philip.

[Soundguy]

yer N will pull a 2-14 and a 1-16 as well.. ( soil dependent of course.. )

[PHILIP8N]

yer N will pull a 2-14 and a 1-16 as well.. ( soil dependent of course.. )

I have a 2-14 and a 2-12, you can guess which one it pulls better. I would only use the 2-14 in really soft dirt (Indiana), or pull the rear plow to dig a trench. I don't have a 1-16, but I would be embarrased to pull a one bottom plow with an 8N. At plow events, most people don't know if I am pulling a 2-14 or a 2-12, so I pull the 2-12 and try to run down the other guys. Philip.