Building a Logging Sled/Scoot

 One of the first projects that the students have completed is a logging scoot. This is being used to drag wood out of the woodlot. It is then put into a jig( see below) to buck up with a chainsaw to a size that can fit into the wood stove and the Finnish fireplace. The logging scoot is seen above, with a load of hardwood. To build the logging sled, first the runners where cut from spruce.
Hardware was taken off an old logging sled and then bolted onto the new logging sled. Because we had the wrong size drill bit, we heated up the steel shaft and pressed on the bunk, which is the crossbar of the scoot.

 
The shoes where made of oak and were nailed into predrilled holes. These holes were filled with plugs, so there the bottom of the shoe is smooth and without any drill holes.

Posts were made from wood to fit into brackets. These hold the wood on the sled when the sled is in motion.
 
At this point the sled is finished. We used it for a few days. The group decided that a barrier between the driver and the horses would serve as a balancing aid for new drivers.
 


In the above pictures the floor planks can be seen. This is where the driver stands before wood is loaded onto the scoot. The images below show the detail of the harnesses and eveners.
 
 Bucking Jig
 

My First Time Driving a Horse!

Today I got to drive Marcus for the first time. There were some blown down spruce trees behind the workshop which we are going to be using for firewood, so Jim got Marcus harnessed up and ready to go.

It was interesting to see Marcus get very serious when his harness got put on. Gus was trying instigate some horseplay, but once Marcus knew he was working he was all business.  He stood up steady, and didn't moved around as Jim put on his all his gear.
I went back in the woods to watch them pull out the trees. Jim attached the tree to the chains in the back of the harness, and Marcus waited and made noises, proably because Zeus was trying to herd him.  Its wasn't time for herding, and Marcus probably thought, "What the hell is with this guy?" .  Zeus can't help it.

Well, in short order,  Jim called for Marcus to start pulling the log forward, and the log started going. Jim jumps from one side to the other, and sometimes stands right on top of the log while Marcus pulls it. The snow is about 3 1/2 feet deep in the woods where we were working, so, you had to try and stay in the packed down area, so that you don't break through into the deep snow.
Once Marcus and Jim had pulled all the logs out they needed, I got to drive Marcus.  I took the reigns, and walked him down the driveway to the end of the road. You can tell the horse to go forward, back up, go left, or right. They know these commands verbally, and they have a bit in thier mouth attached to  a long set of reigns, so you say the commond, then put slight pressure to indicate how much you need the horse to move in that direction.
It was amazing  to say " Come ahead!" and to have a massive animal respond in a way that almost seemed thoughtful. He was very calm, and didn't move to fast. When I pulled back slightly, he immediately slowed his pace, and when I put some pressure and said "Turn Gee!"( Gee sounds like "Ji-E") he did a 90 degree turn into the drive way.
I could feel instantly how deep a connection someone would develop with their horses. To work with an animal is so different from anything else I have ever done. With draft horses there are many more things to respond to emotionally then with tractors. For instance, sometimes they get out of their pasture and run around the neighborhood, which forces you to stop whatever you doing and go get them- this can be frustrating- and is something that a tractor would never do. They also can frolic in the snow, and move in a way that is has the same grace as a leaf drifting down to the earth, yet they are so massive. They are powerful, beautiful, and can not be forced. You have to be gentle to work with them, and I think that is a powerful lesson.

Living at Stone Soup....

Today began with letting the chickens out. Zeus, our resident sheep dog, stands watch right outside the hen house door, making sure that none of the hens run out.  He takes his stance, and the hens all start clucking and carrying on about Zeus being there. They bail out the hen house door into the hen yard, running around and checking out the pile of kitchen scraps I threw in there. Jim went and mucked out the horse stalls, and to feed and water the horses, then bring them down the road to the pasture they stay in during the day.Breakfast is fresh eggs, fried potatoes that Jim grew and some onions that I grew, seeing as he can't grow onions worth a shit (his own assessment, not mine) . And left over cornbread.

Jim, co-founder of SSI hauled spruce from the wood lot next door with Gus, one of his draft horses. I think, often, that I see here what my ancestors must have seen as they went about there day and I eat the meals they must have eaten.