First Road Experience
About this time of year it is sometimes necessary to haul extra hay to see us through until the grass starts growing. That may be a bit later this year due to the fact that Old Man Winter showed up late! We had the choice of taking a day to haul a couple loads of hay with the Old Dodge, or utilize an alternative experimental source of power that had the potential to be more exciting and take twice the time. We chose to try out our alternative source of transport, energy, and muscle power.
The ox team was voted to replace the Dodge. If they can haul logs they can haul hay, right? This would round out their winter semester of education nicely. The only question was, were they able to haul a load on the plowed road without the use of ox shoes up and down grades without slipping, or being run down by the sled?
Here they are back after a successful first load of hay. Smiles all around; well, the oxen might not be smiling, kind of hard to tell. They hauled eight bales their first trip out. With a 78-pound bale average it was total hay weight of 624 pounds plus a sled weight of a 100 pounds it was a total of 724 pounds. And they weren't even winded when they got in.
The third trip out they managed a nine bale load for a total weight of 802 pounds with the sled. By the way, they walked 2½ miles going and coming to the neighbor's house to pick up this hay. So it was 1¼ miles pulling a couple boys, and 1¼ miles loaded with hay back to our place. They made a total of four trips the first day. I thought this was a pretty impressive feat! They had never been on the road before to meet occasional car traffic, a road grader, UPS truck, and dogs. They hauled a total of 34 bales that day.
The second day they managed 10 bales a load plus JW2 who snuck a ride up the driveway. They were now pulling a total weight of 880 pounds which included the sled weight. The sun finally came out for a few hours in the afternoon so I tagged along in the heated truck to document the whole trip.
First it was down the driveway and around the corner.
The hill you see rising in front of them is a 7 percent grade. Luckily the oxen get to walk up it empty, excepting a light, 150-pound load of boys.
After the long 7 percent uphill grade, the oxen have short rolling hills until they come to the hay stack.
Turning the corner into the neighbor's barnyard.
We are loading the sled right next to his corral, so JW1 was commissioned to hold the team so they didn't wander off and visit the neighbor's cows on the other side of the feeder.
CW threw the bales out of the barn window and Dad loaded the sled.
A turn negotiated to the other side of the road.
All lined out and headed for home, with a 10-bale load up a short rise.
I love how they pull completely in sync with each other. Usually, if you look at the pictures of them pulling hard, they are always stepping out with the same foot.
Looking good about halfway home.
Starting down the 7 percent grade. The guys keep the sled pushed over into the deeper snow beside the road creating a bit of resistance, so the sled doesn't creep up on the team. At times it was necessary for the boys to hang on and drag their feet to slow the sled's downhill momentum.
Swinging wide to miss the neighbor's mailboxes at the bottom of the hill.
It's not every day you see a picture in your side mirrors from the 1700-1800s. Others who passed by thought so too, and asked to take pictures of the team and sled loaded with hay.
It's not every day you get rear-ended by a team of oxen either! They were supposed to go around me and into the driveway but for some reason the back of the suburban was more interesting!
And finally, the last 4 percent grade uphill into the driveway and the home stretch.
JW1 decided to hitch a ride the last little bit to the house. You can see how deep the snow is on either side of the driveway where the guys threw it when they cleared the road.
The haystack about half done partly visible above the snow. It took the team and guys two and one half days to haul and stack four tons of hay. The first and second days they hauled four loads and the third day they hauled three loads. It took an hour and 15 minutes per round trip.
The last load to come in had 11 bales on it for a total weight of 958 pounds! The loads hauled were worked up from about 50 to 60 percent of the combined team's body weight. The team traveled 27.5 miles during this time and the road experience improved their training tremendously. The training sled held up well even though we exceeded its intended GVW. Everyone had fun, so it was considered a successful venture!