Weight is bad
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slowzuki
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John you're spot on, ground that was horse plowed for years is well compacted usually. Horses are pretty neat through, if they can get through the mud to a hard layer they can generate a pile of force, more than their weight because the slack in their harness lets them "jerk" a load which a tractor can't do.
This is sometimes bad because old leather and wooden tongues give way when they have to do this. Neat to watch a 2000 lb horse move a hitch of lumber in winter that my 6500 lb tractor can't move without resorting to the winch.
This is sometimes bad because old leather and wooden tongues give way when they have to do this. Neat to watch a 2000 lb horse move a hitch of lumber in winter that my 6500 lb tractor can't move without resorting to the winch.
MtnViewRanch
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If I were to use only water, there would be a good chance that the tires would freeze up on me in the winter. And as far as adjusting the weight with the fluid, not really practical for me. Remember, I am just a weekend warrior and very seldom am I doing the same task for any length of time. I am not worried about compaction or fuel consumption at this time thus any weight adjustment for those reasons would really just be a waist of my time at this time.
As far as why did I think that I thought that you thought that I didn't have fluid in my tires. I don't know, I'm going to blame it on the holidays. I need to go and do my weekend warrior thing.
I wonder what the correct ideal weight and balance is on a horse drawn plow? Any idea what the ground contact psi is per hoof? Talk about compaction!
jb
Depends what you use for a plough horse.
Generic all purpose "Compact utility" farm horse might be as low as 900 lbs,
Ahh, but then there are the draft ponies, which could be even lighter.
Up to Shires, Percherons, Belgians, Clydes, etc; any of which could be well over a metric tonne EACH - and I've heard of 9 horse plough hitches still in use on Amish farms in PA.
60% on the fore, 40% on the hind, but that is static; when they get their hind legs under their hind ends the front maybe gets a bit light.
Figure it comes down on an area about the size of... again a range, anything from a salad plate to a dinner plate, (maybe serving platter?). At least it is compaction in a few points, not a couple of 18 inch(or more) wide strips.
I'm sure the plows were developed to match various sizes and weights of horses, the horses were probably not loaded with ballast just to add traction, so I'd guess they were well matched for power, weight & implement.
{Yeah, I'm convinced that the implements were designed to match the horses - fairly sure anyway}
Soundguy
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Egon
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If possible post some pictures please. When young I can recall months when horses were our only transportation as the roads were blocked by snow. Only main roads got the attention of the County snow ploughs. Yes, blankets. footwarmers and all that stuff!
On the Farm it was also interesting to see the paths with the sled runner tracks and each individual horse tracks well defined even after much use.
slowzuki
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Did you see my can't vs your can? Maybe I read yours wrong. I'm not trying to be too contrary but I think a lot of it has to do with the different soil types around the world. I've heard Fl has very sandy soils. Locally ours are very silty clays and because we have winter and 2 wet shoulder seasons, the ground seems to always be slime.
Uh.. I think I pretty much said that in my 2nd+ paragraph..
soundguy
slowzuki
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I'll try and find some. I'm not old, but I've cut trees that a horse dragged out, eaten from a garden that was plowed and cultivated by horse, and loaded hay on horse drawn wagons. This is just locally and we don't have amish or menonites here. Oh best friends grandfather used to plow using an old horse drawn railway plow well into the 2000's.
Up until the mid 1960's, the road I live (it was the main highways!) on was not plowed in the winter. You parked your car and the horses pulled the sleighs. To get to town you crossed the river to catch the train.
One of my neighbours horse logged in the winter up until maybe 2003. They had a big 4wd tractor but it was faster to use the horse to get it to the skid trails, and the horses would break trails in the deep snow for them to walk in. He told us quite sadly one time about a team breaking through the ice on the river and not being able to save them. It was half a lifetime ago for him and it still made him upset, he always had quite a connection with his horses.
He was telling us about the first rich neighbours to get a tractor, a gas JD. He said the first summer it caught fire somehow and burned a field. That was the 50's so they waited into the 60's to get one.
Up until the mid 1960's, the road I live (it was the main highways!) on was not plowed in the winter. You parked your car and the horses pulled the sleighs. To get to town you crossed the river to catch the train.
One of my neighbours horse logged in the winter up until maybe 2003. They had a big 4wd tractor but it was faster to use the horse to get it to the skid trails, and the horses would break trails in the deep snow for them to walk in. He told us quite sadly one time about a team breaking through the ice on the river and not being able to save them. It was half a lifetime ago for him and it still made him upset, he always had quite a connection with his horses.
He was telling us about the first rich neighbours to get a tractor, a gas JD. He said the first summer it caught fire somehow and burned a field. That was the 50's so they waited into the 60's to get one.
If possible post some pictures please. When young I can recall months when horses were our only transportation as the roads were blocked by snow. Only main roads got the attention of the County snow ploughs. Yes, blankets. footwarmers and all that stuff!
On the Farm it was also interesting to see the paths with the sled runner tracks and each individual horse tracks well defined even after much use.
