Refitting the Ox Yoke

Using carpenter's chalk to identify pressure points, I file the yoke to re-size it for a comfortable fit on the growing ox. I would like the pressure to be distributed evenly over the entire yoke seat.

Scout the Ox is just over three years old.

Ox Logging: Fitting and Using a Single Yoke

Tim Harrigan has just posted this instructional video on his TMHarrigan You Tube Channel.  He uses a traditional yoke for his single ox, Will,  and presents in the video concise and helpful information on fitting the yoke, britchen, and chains. Be sure to visit his channel and "like" his video.

To see blog posts on the making and fitting of Scout the Ox's most recent single yoke, (click here).

To see a blog post of the making and fitting of Scout the Ox's previous single yoke/collar combination click  (here) and (here).

Drinking Water Delivered by Ox Cart

England
"The water-cart;" 1856 Illustrated London News; Engraved by W. Thomas; Painted by Troyon


Switzerland 
Postcard; c.1912-1918;  

Mexico 
Mexican children; Creator: Horne, Walter H., 1883-1921 Date: ca. 1910-1917. Water cart and donkey, Chihuahua; Creator: Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942 Date: ca. 1882-1897. Digitally altered photos; Source of original photos:  Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries,
DeGolyer Library (click link)

 

Portugal
"Fountain At Cintra Near Lisbon" Ox Cart, Portugal. 1883 Illustrated London News. W. H. Overend artist

A Lesson to Learn from Costa Rican Teamster’s Tragedy

Tuesday morning, October 30th a Costa Rican man hauling sugar cane, with a team of oxen, stumbled and fell in the cane field. It is believed he tripped on crop residue from the previous sugar cane harvest. Another man working nearby called out for the oxen to stop but they continued --- running over  Bertilio Quiros, age 72. He died at the scene with wounds to the head, chest, and limbs.

A daughter described  Bertilio as a humble man who loved his work as a teamster. He was a loving father and grandfather. Our sympathies go to Bertilio’s family and friends.

Those of us who work with oxen (and “reitkuhs!”) may tend to become mesmerized by their usually gentle and affectionate natures. Bertilio’s accident is a good, though tragic, reminder of our oxen’s size, weight, and strength, and that oxen may not comprehend the significance of the consequences of their actions. I am reminded of finding dead sheep around the base of our hay feeders because their herd-mates were standing on top of them while they ate. The offending sheep were not cognizant of their actions and it is doubtful Bertilio’s oxen were cognizant of their’s either.

I mentioned “reitkuhs” (“reitkuh” is German for riding cows — riding cows and “springenkuhs” (jumping cows) seem to be a phenomenon of a few young German girls, especially those who live on dairy farms). I've seen several pictures of these smiling girls lying beneath their cows with their faces protruding between the cows front legs (click here to see one Die Kuhreiterin at 1:29 seconds. While the trust these kids have in their cows is admirable, I do fear for their safety.

It could be dangerous to anthropomorphize about our cows or oxen. While a cow may have a natural instinct not to step on it’s calf, I do not believe she would have an understanding of the possible consequences of a misplaced step on her young friend and trainer.

I know the only understanding that Scout the Ox has of the consequences of stepping on my toe is that it makes me holler — and he gets an elbow jabbed in his side!

With these thoughts in mind I’m glad I have trained Scout the Ox to long reins — so I can walk behind him while working. I’m also glad he responds well to “whoa.”  While I’d like to think he would  not step on me if I fell in his path, I’m not prepared to bet my life on it.

Source links: pzhoy.com, diarioextra.com, and  buewabewerber - You Tube

Skidding Trees with Single Ox Under Yoke

We skidded some small hybrid poplar trees out of the woods Saturday (October 27, 2012). The PVC pipe on the chains protects the ox's legs. The log chain is attached to the center of the evener.

Whoa! WHOA! Whoa! Close Call for Ox Cart

Scout the Ox walks through narrow space between trees while pulling the wider ox cart.

Eager Ox, Ox-Cart Ride; Country Roads, Lakes, and Farms

Scout the Ox sets a fast pace. His constant companion, Harry the Dog, accompanies us as we explore some back roads and meet some horses and cattle. The location is northwestern Minnesota, USA.

Fall Drive: Minimum Maintenance Road by Ox Cart

Red Lake County, Minnesota, September 30th, 2012 

 

    .

 

Standard Poodle "Oliver's" Ox Cart Adventures

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My ox cart is antique. To prevent the strength of the ox from breaking it, I connect the pull-chains to the ox yoke with lightweight S-hooks. If the cart hangs up on something the S-hooks straighten out and release the cart. This occasionally leaves me in a predicament. In this video the water crossing was deeper and steeper than I expected.

Oliver the visiting Standard Poodle was determined to "stay with the sinking ship." What was he thinking?

Grand-kid's Ox Cart Ride August 6th, 2012

Levi and Kira went for a short ox cart ride one evening after the sun went down.

White Sewing Machine Trade Card with Oxen

Victorian trade card for  the White Sewing Machine Company.

Controlling Thistles on Pasture

By using a brush saw thistles can be selectively clipped.  This gives the grass a competitive advantage.

Twin Sisters with Oxen Teams at Skowhegan Fair

(click  Morning Sentinel link below)

 Morning Sentinel

Clearcut Regrowth

Last winter I clear-cut an area of poplar using Scout the Ox to haul the wood (click here). This is a picture of part of the vigorous regrowth on July 6th, 2012, just six months later. The clear-cutting of poplar is part of the forest management plan. Tree regrowth is beneficial for wildlife.

The Historic Pembina "Ox Cart" Trail

Experience a day on the historic Pembina Trail, otherwise known as The Woods Trail, one of the many branches of the Red River Ox Cart Trails. The trade route traditionally carried furs and buffalo hides from the Red River Colony (Selkirk) on the long journey to St. Paul, Minnesota. The ox cart trains consisted of several to hundreds of carts. The ox cart teamsters were a  colorful mix of peoples, primarily Metis, who are themselves of mixed race. Portions of the Woods Trail still exist in Red Lake County, Minnesota, near Huott and Dorothy. That is where I made this day trip by oxcart to capture a taste of what life on the trail might have been like. A follow-up video chronicles our stop at Old Crossing Treaty Park where we went for an evening swim after a hot day on the trail.

CREDITS

Music: Silver Spear

Album: Slainte

Group: Siainte

Source: Free Music Archive

Historical photos I referenced for the digital artwork came from numerous sources, most of which are listed here:

State Historical Society of North Dakota

Manitoba Culture, Heritage & Tourism

Project Gutenberg

Minnesota Historical Society

Library and Archives Canada

McCord Museum of Canadian History

Manitoba Historical Society

The Pageant of America Collection

APTN Digital Nations

Encylcopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America

Minnesota Historical Society

Portage La Prairie Images

Whitney's Gallery

Swimming with the Ox at Old Crossing Treaty Park

Near Huot, Minnesota, the Pembina  Trail, otherwise known as The Woods Trail (one of the major branches of The Red River Ox Cart Trails), crossed the Red Lake River at what is now known as Old Crossing Treaty Park. After a hot, bug ridden day of carting on one of the  remnants of the trail, Scout the Ox, Harry the Dog, and I stopped at the park for a swim in the river. This is the location where oxcarts on the trail forded the river, and it became a well known meeting spot as well. The crossing is rich in history and is home to the annual Chautauqua and French Festival at Old Crossing Treaty Park.

CREDITS

Historical reference photo: State Historical Society of North Dakota

Music: Jig of Slurs

Album: Cup of Tea

Group: Siainte

Source: Free Music Archive

Gee and Haw at the Rice Paddies

 March 31,  2012 we visited the rice paddies.  Scout the Ox turned the cart around on the narrow dike demonstrating his proficiency with the gee and haw commands. (This is from a date earlier this spring because it was lost for a while on a crashed computer.)

Sunset After the Rainbow: Single Ox with Cart

Single Ox with cart; on the prairie at the edge of the Red River Valley, in northwestern, Minnesota.

Oxcart: To See a Rainbow

While ox-carting on the prairie in northwestern Minnesota, a small storm over the Red River Valley treats us to a rainbow.

Hope Springs Eternal

Poplar Tree Log Sprouting Shoots

I set this nice poplar log aside when I was cutting firewood last winter. I'm keeping it up on blocks as a possible bolt for a future ox yoke.

In the mean time, it's sprouting branches!

Harvey Dunn's Painting of Rock Picking with Oxen

[Homesteaders Picking Rock with Team of Oxen]
Artist: Harvey Dunn (1884-1952)
Note to students of art: There is camera distortion in this  representation.

This is likely some of the early work of artist Harvey Dunn. The painting's title is unknown to me, but it certainly looks like homesteaders picking rock on The Great Plains in his home territory of South Dakota.


For more artwork depicting oxen, by Harvey Dunn, click on these three links:

Homesteaders Coming Home

On the Move

Plowman

Picking Rock with Scout the Ox

Picking Rock with Scout the Ox

We're clearing rocks from what is to be a mown firebreak between a prairie-forest edge restoration. The prairie area, on the left in the picture, is to be burned periodically. 

Picking Rock with Scout the Ox

Not long after these photos were taken we had a cloudburst and Scout the Ox took off running for home. He ended up tangled in some trees, turned his yoke upside down, and we all got very wet.

Picking Rock with Scout the Ox

The Trail Hills by Oxcart

"Oxen Can Too Run!"

Scout the Ox

Scout the Ox puts some distance between himself and a scary thing.
Click Here to Watch Him Run

The Oxen of American Artist Harvey Dunn: Homesteaders Coming Home

Prairie Homesteaders Coming Home

by  Harvey Dunn, 1909

The Oxen of American Artist Harvey Dunn: On the Move

On the Move
by Harvey Dunn, 1908

 

The Oxen of American Artist Harvey Dunn: Plowman

The Plowman
by Harvey Dunn, 1907

Morning on the Moors

 

 George Bouverie Goddard, 1832-1886 -- Artist
Published 1875 in
The Illustrated London News


Source: Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection

Scout the Ox Pulls Levi and Kira In the Sled

 

 

Scout the Ox Pulls Harlie and Her Mom in the Sled

 

 

 

To Make a Single Ox Yoke

Index Page

To Make a Single Ox Yoke
storybrookeripples: ox and dog blog

This is a series of eighteen blog posts that now reads from top to bottom as opposed to the usual Blogger format. Below is a linked index to each part.

Part 1.) The Old Yoke

Part 2.) The Ox Yoke Plan

Part 3.) The Ox Yoke Pattern

Part 4.) Preparing the Wood for Carving

Part 5.) Transferring the Pattern

Part 6.) The Rough Cut

Part 7.) Chainsaw Carving

Part 8.) First Yoke Fitting: Scout the Ox Rejects My Work

Part 9.) Placing the Ox Yoke Hardware

Part 10.) Carpenter's Chalk Test

Part 11.) More Fittings

Part 12.) Red Jacket Detail

Part 13.) Sanding and Oiling the Yoke

Part 14.) How to Bend an Ox Bow with an 8N Tractor and a Cream Can

Part 15.) Flattening the Ox Bow Ends

Part 16.) Finishing the Ivory Ox Bow

Part 17.) The Britchen Harness

Part 18.) Putting the Ox Yoke, Ox Bow, and Britchen Harness Together

Ox and oxen make, yoke, oxbow, bow, oxcart. Single, bullock, how-to britchen harness, till, and harrow, reins, halter, and pulling. 

To Make a Single Ox Yoke, Part 1

The Old Yoke

Scout the Ox has outgrown his old yoke. The spacing of the bows has become too narrow on his neck, pinching him, and riding up too high on the withers. The top bridge of the yoke has run out of room for enlarging it again (link here) without weakening it. It is time for a new yoke.

Young Ayrshire Ox Pulling Sled in Woods

The old yoke was satisfactory for light duty work during Scout the Ox's training. It was made of readily available dimensional lumber (a discarded stair rail, and a discarded aspen timber.)It appeared awkward, in spite of the fact that it has functioned reasonably well.

Young Ayrshire Ox Hauling Firewood on Woods Trail

In making the yoke, I broke with my own maxim of learning how to do a thing the established way, before going off on my own to find a better way.


The question then begs to be asked "Why not just follow the pattern of a traditional yoke?"


Let me explain.


My use of an ox is recreational, even though I use him for accomplishing work. Oxen, in our part of the world, greatly lack the efficiency of a small tractor or an automobile. So, unless there were no gas, or there were no money, it would be difficult to justify using an ox here for other than recreational work, recreational transportation, historical preservation, or aesthetics.


Part of my recreation is to design and build my own efficient and comfortable yoke using the skills and supplies available to me, on my very small farm here in the 21st century.


Connecting oxen to a load or an implement is an unnatural en-devour. This presents a nice challenge. In the end I may find I have only reinvented the traditional yoke.


This will not be a How-to series of articles as this yoke is to be only my fourth yoke, for my first ox. This series of articles will simply outline my thoughts, at this point, on my steep learning curve. I also hope to document my successes or failures.


Links to past yokes I've used on Scout the Ox.

Just A Rope
Yoke 2: PVC Pipe
Yoke 3 Part 1  Yoke 3 Part 2
Yoke 4


Coming soon! To Make an Ox Yoke, Part 2: The Plan

To Make an Single Ox Yoke, Part 2

The Ox Yoke Plan

I've begun with a little internet study of Ox Anatomy 101. 

Advanced Agricultural Training 

Photographer: Sturm Horst, 1959 (link)

(photo digitally altered i.e. Ox Anatomy 101)

Head Yoke (Link)

 

From an anatomical point of view a head-yoke
appears to have some distinct advantages.
 

Jacques-Raymond Brascassat - "A Bull Fight" (1855)
detail from original (link)

 If you have ever watched two bulls fight you know they can do a lot of pushing with their heads. The one who pushes the hardest and the longest wins; making for an evolutionary propensity to excel in strength and endurance while pushing.

 

Teamsters who use head-yokes advocate for their superiority. I wonder about the possibility of broken horns, or injury, in the case of an accident, the discomfort of being restrained to that degree (especially when two oxen are yoked together), and the possibility of a headache for the animal who is pushing long or hard.

Neck Yoke (Link)

 

I see that competitive ox-pullers in the Northeastern U.S. prefer neck-yokes. I presume this is to take advantage of the strength of the neck for lifting the load. The competitive pull is extremely heavy but of a short distance.

    

Oxen Withers, Anatomical Shoulder, and Angular Musculature

For my yoke, I will concentrate on taking the power off the ox at the base of the neck and the front of the withers. It seems to be the logical position for pulling moderate loads for sustained periods of time.

Ox walking, stride, 6 ft. (c1881)

Creator: Eadweard Muybridge (link)

digitally altered background

The muscles at the base of the neck, and the withers, are relatively stationary while the ox is walking.

Skeleton of the Ox as Covered by the Muscles
Cattle and their Diseases, by Robert Jennings (link)        annotations added by me

These muscles provide a somewhat plastic, shock absorbing cushion over the skeleton.

Withers Yoke (Link)

The withers-yoke, common in many parts of the world, takes advantage of that large natural hump of Bos indicus cattle. The hump, or withers, though much smaller on Bos taurus cattle (like my Ayrshire) will also help to keep my yoke from sliding back while under load.




I will extend the yoke seat down the sides of the neck as far as possible without interfering with the for-and-aft movements of the ox's shoulders while walking. This in theory will help solve the side-to-side instability of the single ox yoke, as well as distribute the pressure of the working yoke over as large an area as possible.

The Muscular Anatomy of the Ox
(private collection, annotations added by me)

 

In this position the forward thrust of the spine is centered on the yoke seat. The major muscles of the legs transfer their tremendous power to the head via the rigid spine. 

Cow Anatomy Dorsal Skeleton
Das Rind (link)
annotations added by me

The yoke is to be tapered in a half-cone shape to accommodate the neck, and to lodge firmly around the spine while under load.

Ox with Britchen Harness on Single Yoke

Rather than sitting square on the neck, the face of the yoke will sit at an angle to accommodate the angular musculature above the ox's anatomical shoulders.


A "bow" will keep the yoke from being thrown off, and a britchen harness will keep it from sliding down the neck when the ox put's his head down, or when he is holding, or pushing back a load.


Metal eyelets will accommodate the reins and serve to attach the pull chains. There will be three possible positions to allow adjustment of the height of the hitch point.