Type of Snow Plow

[BIGNASTY]

Have been looking at this Youtube and snow plow, But cant seem to find the name of them. obviously its a snow plow, but WHAT KIND? It seems as thou its an idea from the North East, or upper Northern tier of the U.S. any thoughts????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuGTH--1yqw

BIG

 

[GCroyle]

BIG,

If that was recent can't you put a message up there for the poster to answer or send an e-mail to them as a g-mail account.

Just what you need, more toys.

We actually had a dusting on the ground here in SC the other morning!

Gary

 

[BIGNASTY]

BIG,

If that was recent can't you put a message up there for the poster to answer or send an e-mail to them as a g-mail account.

Just what you need, more toys.

We actually had a dusting on the ground here in SC the other morning!

Gary

I didn't know that I could do that Gary, I will have to give a look see.

For the new toy's My Son gave me two new toy's that are alive!!! He is working hard at a job and a half and has very little free time. He some time ago picked up two Percheron Draft Mules, they are sort of green on their training and didn't have the time to spend with them. He gave them to me, since we are back in Seeley I have more time and love to work with some REAL HOOF POWER, at 17 hands high and 1300lb each!!! ( I took them to the truck scales) these are like the ultimate in team driving. I had to get different equipment just to work with these guy's because of their size.

Our snow and winter is coming faster than it has in pervious years, according to the older locals, GET READY FOR A LONG HARD WINTER!!! im ready!! I like it when things get extreme, the more extreme the better (as long as I have a place to get warm again!!!)


Take Care Gary
BIG

 

[DonFitzwater]

That ain't no blizzard plow I know that much! Looks like a box blade for horses.........contacting the poster would be the easiest.

 

[GCroyle]

BIG

How about a pic of the new hay burners? Got names?

Gary

 

[BIGNASTY]

BIG

How about a pic of the new hay burners? Got names?

Gary

Gary
Gail and our Son have taken a *bonsai run* (don't know if that spelling is correct?) to Martin South Dakota. They are picking up a few head of cattle, and to make sure his Dodge will still do well over the speed limit im sure!!! Don't know if that's going to happen the weather is deteriorating pretty bad along the route looking at the Weather Channel. Any way im not 100% sure but this is a picture that we got when they were purchased in Kentucky, some people that Gail knows on another site had them and have been here hunting, it was labeled in their folder in his computer. They are Giants!!! Jeb and Jake

 

[GCroyle]

Penny,

My horse knowledge is way less than most and mules are less than that. But those guys just look serious in harness, like OK now what ya got that needs pulled. Over the years we've watched several horse pull competitions and its a trip to see a matched well behaved pair strain in the collars.

We've got clear skies right now and shirt sleeve temps. Nothing to shovel.

Gary

 

[BIGNASTY]

Penny,

My horse knowledge is way less than most and mules are less than that. But those guys just look serious in harness, like OK now what ya got that needs pulled. Over the years we've watched several horse pull competitions and its a trip to see a matched well behaved pair strain in the collars.

We've got clear skies right now and shirt sleeve temps. Nothing to shovel.

Gary

Gail's two teams are having a war right now!!! he says that they are having a Personal Sword fight!! ( Im not even going to try to explain that one) he has tried to put them in a 4up configuration and almost got ran over by them. It will take time to get them to work as a 4 mule team rather than 2. The way he explains it is that there is a leader in each team and they are the ones that have the problem. luckily they are on the opposite side of each team? for some reason that makes a difference. The Family leaves all the horse problems to Jason and Gail gets all the mules.

When either team works, as soon as the harnesses are put on them, their ears perk up like that and they seem more attentive to the drivers actions and voice. Its actually pretty interesting to watch someone that knows what they are doing work with the mules. Gail wont let anyone drive the new team until he's sure what they are going to do. When he's gone like today I can drive the older team. They are really well mannered and will do what ever is asked of them without question, because they trust Gail that he wont get them hurt.

Its snowing here today 32* and 3in on the ground!! soon time to go out and play in the snow for now it just makes it sloppy!!

Penny

 

[GCroyle]

Penny,

Its neat to watch a trained well mannered team back up and hook to a pulling sled vs a high strung pair of prancers. The trained team obeys commands, the hook hits the sled and you could hand a cup 'o joe to the driver and he aint spilling a drop. The prancers take at least 3 guys to get them to to back up and as soon as that hook makes any noise from the sled, its off to the races often w/o the sled.

Campfire tonight.

Oh Penny, BIG actually made the new issue with a post on a truck question!

 

[BIGNASTY]

Penny,

Its neat to watch a trained well mannered team back up and hook to a pulling sled vs a high strung pair of prancers. The trained team obeys commands, the hook hits the sled and you could hand a cup 'o joe to the driver and he aint spilling a drop. The prancers take at least 3 guys to get them to to back up and as soon as that hook makes any noise from the sled, its off to the races often w/o the sled.

Campfire tonight.

Oh Penny, BIG actually made the new issue with a post on a truck question!

We went to a mule/horse pull one time. Gail seen what would happen when an animal got hurt it disturbed him terribly. We have never been to another, working is what these mules do, working them to the point of exhaustion or getting hurt is wrong. There is another competition that is fun and we have taken our team and placed 4th. Its where you have them pull a load (poles) in and around a course without hitting the cones and stop on the line, or as close to it as you can. Jason and Gail went to a mountain man competition, where you had to pack and tie a string of 5 animals get on your horse and run around a 1/4 mile track. Daisy wont run so they came in 2ond on that one.

Gail's Brother called and told us that his name was in TDR with a question. The magazine get's sent to our old address in California where his Brother lives he also has a Dodge. Gail's only problem with the magazine is that they don't have the maintenance articles that he's looking for. I know he's not real comfortable working on automatic transmissions, adjusting them when they need service. He changes the filter and oil but leaves the adjustments to a shop in town that he trusts. It just seems geared more towards the new trucks and the older ones that are in need of repair because of miles. Ours is in the middle it is either the cream of the crop, or the ones like ours just don't need much in the way of repair.

Penny

 

[JR]

We lived across and down the road a piece from an Amish family for 8 years. They had a lot of snow to clear as they operated a large saw mill. When the snow would get deep they would break out a machine similar to that, on rails. It didn't look anywhere as good as in the video, it was an old machine and primarily made of wood.

 

[BIGNASTY]

We have some Amish people we know, we will have to send them a note and see if it's something they know of.

Thank You

 

[mwilson]

I'd call it more of a snow scoop than a snow plow.

He stomps on the release pedal and steps aside to let it dump at the very end of the video..(I think)....and if that is how it works I would be some careful where my feet were placed while filling it....

 

[BIGNASTY]

Seems like im Stalking you mwilson on this post also!!

Gail thought that you might know what its called he thought that it was a tool from the Northeast for some reason.

We have a snow shovel (if you can call it that) that is something that Gail got the idea from Maine. Its about 3ft wide and tapered from the front to the back with the back being about knee level with a handle that goes from side to side. Get a little clear spot on the driveway near the shop or the house garage it makes quick work of clearing the rest with no lifting to hurt your back, just shove it into the snow and pull it away and dump it someplace.

Pretty cool idea really!!

Penny

 

[mgonske]

Nice looking team!

Here are the ones I get to drive once a week or so (Fancy and Bandit):

 

[BIGNASTY]

Thank you, but you actually get paid to drive this team? if so im so filled with envy that it should be a sin!!

I've been at wit's end trying to get my two teams to work as ONE!!! Both of the teams are fine, they handle great but they would NOT work as a 4up team. I was beginning to loose hope until (I hope I don't throw a whammy on this) I tried to intermix the two of them. As you know there are right and left animals, I split the two teams and put them in there correct position THEY DIDNT TRY TO KICK EACH OTHERS A** !!!!!! (excuse the pun) they worked as if they had been together forever, so I tried the other pair, and again they got along.Oo.

So I thought what the hell give it a try again, I wanted to find a football helmet to try this. Last time I had one hell of a DRAG across the pasture hanging on the side of the neck collar and hames I got things ready and said a Prayer to not get trampled TO BAD!! hooked them up and THEY WERE FINE!!! GOT THE BALL'S to get on the hay sleigh and got ready for a rocket sled ride, yelled Head Up!! they took the rein slap and gently walked across the field, well ok for going straight LETS SEE ABOUT TURNING, and BINGO!! a little bit of a problem but im not in an ambulance heading to the ER Oo. so a good day!!!!

Looking at your Picture is it me or is one animal smaller than the other or is it just the way the picture is taken. My two teams are way different in size. The older team are Draft mules but are on the small side. The new ones are Percheron Draft mules and are at the very least 2 or 3 hand taller. The way they work they look like some kind of retard (aka me) hooked them up wrong. I was hoping to go from the tall in the back and the smaller in the front, right now im just happy that they are getting along. After we fed the cattle with the hay and had no mishaps I got some Testosterone built up and hooked them up to my Forecart that has a snow plow blade on it, again was kind of worried, no place to get off of this, Mule in the front of me snow blade to the rear. Not a problem!!! its been snowing all day. So we've been working all day as a TEAM!! In the AM im going to make sure that my Medical is good to go, and give it a try the way I want them to be small to tall. They have been sniffing and being more friendly around each other, maybe they have figured out who is who?

Now how did you land a job (if you can call it that) driving a team, It may sound weird but ive been called worse so it don't matter, but I try to live in the period,(part time the wife wont live in a sod home) people stop and look at us working in the field in the summer plowing the earth and pulling stumps, then in the winter plowing snow. I know that the towns people thought I was some kind of WACKED OUT loony, they would see us in the market and turn down another isle or give me the head of the line at the check out. But have since they found out that, YES HE IS WACKED OUT but pretty harmless, and they even talk to us now!!:-laf

Looks like your are pulling some sort of cover wagon, judging by the axle hubs must be a freight wagon?


Take Care

BIG

 

[mgonske]

Big, I'm living the dream down here!

Bandit (male) is bigger than Fancy (female). You'd expect the big guy to be on the curb side, but we run these the other way. They're a great team, and clearly worked for a living before coming to us (although their ground manners leave a little to be desired--let's just say you DO NOT get complacent around them!). That's a cavalry escort wagon, and we're heading out of the arena at full tilt after a cavalry/indian battle (if I look tense, it's because I'm anticipating what it will take to haul them down after we clear the gate).

We also have a team of Percheron/Morgan crosses that pull the cannon and caisson, and four Percheron/Thoroughbred crosses we use as a four-up on the stagecoach. We've tried every possible combination with the four-up, even mixing in one of the Morgans.

There are also four Belgians we're lucky to make one healthy team at a time with. They get the heavy duty stuff like the fire wagon or chuck wagon or the Mitchell freight wagon. There's also a myriad of doctor's buggies and surreys we use (pretty much only once a year for the buggies).

We've got a great wagon master who periodically rebuilds all this rolling stock--he does beautiful work! But pay? Nope--every person involved with this are all volunteers. And this harness team (12-15 adults) is only a small adjunct to a kids organization that does mounted drill (~1000 kids, plus a few hundred volunteers). They're the Westernaires, known for the finest mounted drill at speed, anywhere.

I started volunteering as a wrangler taking care of the saddle string (~130 head--the kids can bring their own or rent from the string), then got recruited to the harness team, then became an instructor. I feel like the luckiest guy on earth being able to do this! I had never been around drafts, but my Dad always told stories of fond memories of farming with Percherons before I was around. After he died, and I moved out here, I became fascinated with the draft shows at the National Western Stock Show (especially the sixes and eights--there are a couple of Percheron hitches that are my favorites to visit with and cheer for every year). That was all due to the connection to my Dad. A few years ago I got some great video of 21 six-horse hitches in the arena at once--never dreaming at the time that six months later I'd be driving (in fact this same team at the same show this photo was taken at, but two years earlier than the pic)!

I envy you and your teams (and your packing, too)--keep enjoying them!

 

[BIGNASTY]

Well it seems that there are two of us that are living a dream then, I got involved with mules after I got married and went hunting with her family in Montana where we live now. They didn't use mules as pack animals they thought that they were to stupid (if you can imagine that) My wife and I were at that time raising a family in So. Calif. diffidently NOT mule country. We were camping in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Bishop Ca and went to Mule days, I WAS HOOKED!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYgd1Yg_k7w

We made our annual trip to Mule Days for quite a few years, then by one of the best strokes of luck I have ever had, I got to the show and no place to sit in the stands except by a man that smelled worse than fresh mule crap. I bought him a beer and some lunch while watching the show, he was the real deal as a packer he told me, he was second to none, later I found this to be an understatement. We took a trip into the Sierras on the pack string that ran out of Bishop Ca. My wife a gal from Montana thought I had gone off the deep end with this idea of learning to pack, especially from a guy like Jacob Earl Daisy. I will admit he did make your eyes water if ya didn't watch wind direction but this man could do more with mules and ropes than could be imagined. After a bunch of trips to the Sierras after working 4 days a week at a regular job, I would drive like hell to Bishop and get in his way until one day he asked if I show you this will you leave and NEVER COME BACK? We packed together for many years, he got paid I got experience. He was the best at what he did and that was anything MULE.

By another stroke of luck I met a man that was a team driver/ owner and worked in the movie industry and had appeared many times in the Rose Parade with his Mule team, again I was HOOKED!! I had to learn to drive. I had my first 3 mules by then for a few years, Jacob is the leader, Earl is the power Daisy is the sweetest riding mule in the world my wife calls her my Mistress. I spent time with the driver and got a good idea about what was going on (if that can ever happen with mules) but ran the idea by my Pard in Bishop, he to thought that I had hit my head. BIG he said there are pack-in mules and there are team mules THEY AINT THE SAME MULES!!

I worked with Jacob and Earl until I thought that MAYBE he was right. Then one day I went hitched them up to a forecart and they worked as a team, I was as proud as a puppy with two peters, I HAD DONE IT!!! They packed AND they worked as a team. I went to Bishop picked up Jacob one day to take him to the Super bowl of Cowboy-in the NFR in Las Vegas NV. Stopped by our house took him out back hitched up my PACK-IN mules that he had seen many times before, and DROVE them around our 5 acres tears came to his eyes. Told him to quit beller-in go in and take a shower and put on those new dud's we bought you!!, he didn't know why the seat of his britches hadn't worn thru yet, his shirt had just started to stand in the corner on its own!! My wife said because Im not riding in a car 300 miles smelling like a goat when I get there!!!

We took him hunting with us in Montana a few times, where he exclaimed that BIG WE HAVE HIT THE BIG TIME!! MULE PACKING NIRVANA!!!. Don't know if you have ever been in the Bob Marshal MT. It IS!! truly a sight to behold, to anyone I know the area is where Mule Packing Started. Jacob passed a couple of years back, that was one of the things that we talked about was he wanted to have his ashes spread in the Bob!!

Our Mules are MY PASSION!!! I like to work them doing what mules do best ANYTING, they work for me pulling a plow, hitched to a hay wagon, plow snow and yet are as nice as can be to anyone, unless you try to get on their back. Had some pretty tough cowboys try and get pretty busted up doing it. Packing is where they excel between the two of them they can pack out an entire Elk in one haul, I don't do that on a regular basis but they have done it when it was getting dark and in bear country back to camp.

The two new Percheron Mules were my Son's, he was raised around animals and always wanted to have a team for pulling. When he moved to MT with us he got these two magnificent animals but with starting a family and running a start up cattle operation plus working at a local hospital, he found that he didn't have time to work them and felt bad about letting them stand and be idle. I took them and here we are now working up some testicular fortitude, enough anyway to hook them up the way I want small to tall and give it a try. As anyone that's around animals its known that its not IF your going to get hurt it's HOW BAD!! its part of the game that I hope I don't experience today, this near the holidays I don't think being in a cast would make the wife understand my OBSESSION!! any better

Take Care
BIG

 

[mgonske]

I've never been to the Bob, but it's been in my awareness for a long time. You mentioned going to the NFR--I'm heading there Thursday to watch the first four performances. I've been lucky enough this year to be riding two very experienced pick-up horses, one of which has been to the NFR three times as such. Their skill and experience is orders of magnitude better than mine, but it sure is fun riding them and learning to work cattle on them. I'm getting to know the folks at a ranch that supplies saddle, draft, and pack animals to a multitude of stables, dude ranches, and outfitters, so hopefully I can continue to build my experience. Pack-in elk hunting is on my to-do list (my hunting experience is all for whitetails in northern Wisconsin--time to take advantage of living in Colorado), it's just tough to squeeze into the budget.

 

[BIGNASTY]

I have came to a point that I may have to lower my standards and get a horse!! The cattle operation that the family is in, requires an animal that will run Daisy my riding mule has only came close to running ONE TIME, when we took a peek over a mountain pass and she seen the winter storm coming up the other side. During our yearly round up of cattle for a check up and any medical attention I usually ride one of the horses that my in-law has, they are good stock but are not what would be needed for this kind of thing. Im not sure if I want one, im getting to old to be of much use wrangling anything other than a pack string. Those young cowboys bounce off the ground better than I and besides somebody's got to guard the beer cooler and BBQ, and make a visual inspection of the cowgirls Don't want them to feel left out

Elk hunts on Muleback is the best thing of the year. I didn't get to do as much as I wanted this year with the building of homes, barns and the like. But have been told that Im free to roam the hills next year. Or Nephew and I have done almost all of the packing in years past, his father has given him the business to run he's taken off with it like the wind. He added a fishing season to the hunting season and has taken reservations to take some people that my Wife and I know in for just a fun week in the mountains.

My other BIL and I go in and sing around the campfires to give to the experience. With us its all about the WHOLE experience and good meals that the girls put out 30 miles away from any restaurant, campfire talk if they aren't to tired from the days activities are a part of it that people seem to enjoy. Give them the chance to make a choice in what they want to do, after all its their money and vacation we are there to help then have a great time.

BIG