Logging with oxen or horses

[NateleeWi]

Ok so I live in northern Wisconsin and am seriously considering starting a sustainable low impact logging company using either horses, mules, or oxen to skid the wood out. Wondering if anyone has worked with either ox or mules. I have used horses before for farm chores but never logged with them. I see a desire for this type of company to go into smaller tracts of land and select cut with out destroying everything on the way out. It would be a one or possibly two man operation. Just kicking around the idea. Any input would be great.

 

[Johnmn]

There's a guys close to me that logs with horses. He's in hill city mn I know he had some info online might be worth searching. His stuff sure looks nice when he's done

 

[Marshy]

I wish I had the time and knowledge to do horse logging as a hobby. The amount of poise they have is impressive.

 

[Gologit]

Horses are fine but a machine only eats when it's working.

 

[slowp]

You need to be healthy. The horses do the heavy work, but you'll be running along with them. Oh, and it takes a bit to get the horse in shape too.

The horse I saw work decided to go home one night. He was in a corral at the unit and got out and went home. He was too tired to work the next day. Just like people.

 

[Marshy]

That is true but if your doomed like I am because your wife is a horse person then you might as well make the best of it.

 

[NateleeWi]

Thanks for your input. My wife is a horse person but I am leaning towards ox but I have access to lots of Amish horses already trained. Never drove a team before so might see if I can get out and work with them.

 

[Marshy]

The horses the Amish use would probably work but they are warmbloods and are not the big work horses people generally use for heavy work. You should consider a draft horse for thst.

 

[Gologit]

Thanks for your input. My wife is a horse person but I am leaning towards ox but I have access to lots of Amish horses already trained. Never drove a team before so might see if I can get out and work with them.

You might want to learn some farrier skills too. A horse is like any other piece of logging equipment...it helps the bottom line if you can work on it yourself.

 

[M_S_S]

Showing horses is tough work, shoeing draft horses are double tough. When I was a young man I shod horses commercially. Mostly pleasure horses and ranch horses. I use to go up to the Sierra Valley about every two weeks and shoe ranch horses for about three days. Several of the ranches had teams they fed cattle with. They wanted them shod every fall. I never worked so hard in my life lol. Most were gentle, all were heavy. I would rather shoe ten rough horses than one gentle giant lol

 

[Gologit]

Showing horses is tough work, shoeing draft horses are double tough. When I was a young man I shod horses commercially. Mostly pleasure horses and ranch horses. I use to go up to the Sierra Valley about every two weeks and shoe ranch horses for about three days. Several of the ranches had teams they fed cattle with. They wanted them shod every fall. I never worked so hard in my life lol. Most were gentle, all were heavy. I would rather shoe ten rough horses than one gentle giant lol

Loyalton?

 

[M_S_S]

Loyalton, Chilcote, Sierraville all over the valley. Shod lots of horses.

 

[M_S_S]

My sister was payroll clerk at the mil at Loyalton in the early 70's

 

[NateleeWi]

I know farrier work other than shoeing. And that's something them Amish could help with. And FYI the Amish up in Wisconsin team drafts for all field and wood work. Only use quarters for wagons and such. So I'll be getting in touch with someone and learning hopefully before snow falls.

 

[Gologit]

Loyalton, Chilcote, Sierraville all over the valley. Shod lots of horses.

Miserable cold country in the winter. We logged on the snow up there for a couple of winters. I don't think I'm thawed out yet.

 

[DavdH]

There used to be a guy in Grass Valley that horse logged, went out on one of his jobs and it was mostly going for fire wood. Can't skid much of a log by horse if there is any adverse at all. Teams 2 abreast take just as much space as a small skidder and you are right about feeding equipment.. It was supposed to be low impact.
Here is paper from the 1980's..

http://www.fire.ca.gov/resource_mgt/downloads/notes/Note95.pdf

The wind doesn't blow in Loyalton it sucks! And cold , you are right Gologit! Truckee is warmer but lots more Sno...

 

[jwade]

i live in virginia and belonged to the virginia draft horse and mule association, you might check and see if wisconsin has an equivilent association. i know here you could get help from members who horse logging both as a hobbey and working small tracts. oxen work hard and are durable, but i have seen them work until tired and then lay down and refuse to work until they are ready. you have to be careful with horses, as you can actually work them until they founder and die. if i was considering this endevor i woulrd highly recommend a belgium or percheron as both of these breeds are hard working, sturdy and relatively easy to train.

 

[Jim Timber]

There's a guy "Len" in the Cloquet area that has a team of draught horses he works with and does shows, etc. I lost his email address and don't know how to contact him directly, but maybe if you snooped around you could find someone who knows him He was very willing to allow me to come visit and watch them work sometime. I'd imagine he'd be a good resource to consult and bounce ideas off.

He was retired from working in the prisons. Super nice guy!

 

[bitzer]

I met a guy who logged with horses. He got paid by time not volume. If that tells you anything. Either that or you have to high grade a woods. He nearly got killed the day after i talked to him by his horses. I also skidded up a bunch of amish logs that were done with horses. How they had them tucked in on the skid trail i could tell they were good at it. They also WAY over cut the woods and left the crap. Believe it or not if done when conditions are right a small forwarder in a small woods can leave very little impact. The horse logging thing in WI (unless you are amish) is kind of a passing fancy.

 

[slowp]

Years ago, I stopped to talk to some woodcutters. They had hauled up their Shetland Pony to thw woods and would hook pony sized logs to his harness, slap him on the butt and he'd drag the log to the road where a person was waiting to unhook it, and they'd send him back for more. Nobody had to run along with him. They said it was how he earned his keep. That little guy was working hard but willingly! Just a little story about a little pony.