![]() ![]() Tillers International in Michigan has for many years offered workshops and internships for those seeking to learn the craft of working steers and building related equipment. 4-H clubs around the country offer working steer programs and the opportunity for youth and their families to participate in their project. The New England Ox Teamsters Association, the Maine Draft Horse and Ox Association, the Midwest Ox Drovers Association, the Mid-South Ox Drovers Association, the Prairie Drovers Association, and many more offer expertise and opportunity for those interested in working cattle. Organizations provide support at regional levels. Magazines such as Small Farmer’s Journal, Rural Heritage, Mother Earth News, Draft Horse Journal, and others provide us with articles telling stories of cattle working on farms, in the woods, and on exhibition, etc. Photo from Tillers International of Kalamazoo, MI. A complete novice can follow Conroy’s teamster guide and produce a good pair of working cattle. His many articles in farm magazines go into greater depth on a variety of subjects. His books The Oxen Handbook and Oxen, A Teamsters Guide are the most definitive sources of information to date. He has spent many hundreds of hours researching and writing. The older, accomplished teamsters will say that no one ever taught them to train cattle they just did it! Very little information was available in print until Dr. Many farms trained a team each year, either for sale or for future replacement in their own draft program. It was common for a young boy or girl to be responsible for the care and training of a team from calves to the age of working capability. There are several factors contributing to this increase.įor centuries, the skills of training steers for work and the craft of building yokes and related equipment was passed down from generation to generation. The present number may be the greatest in over forty years. The number of teams of working steers and oxen being trained and used in some fashion in North America is on the rise. Working Steers and Oxen on the Small Farm And, if so, I will share the stories with you folks.Photo from Drew Conroy of Berwick, ME. I hope to one day have time to sit with Joe and learn more about his, and his dads early lives. Doesn't this ring familiar as to how life was in America early in the twentieth century? There was no electricity or plumbing in their home. ![]() Horses and oxen were supplying much of the traction power for work and transportation. Note: When Joe left the island of Santa Maria the were only a few cars and trucks being used. Tim also builds traditional Portuguese ox yokes for Joe and others. The steel tires were 'hot' mounted onto the wooden wheels by Wheelwright Lee Sawyer of Jaffrey, N.H.Īll of the iron parts are hand forged and were made by Russell Pope of Elements in Steel Forge, located in Newmarket, N.H. All of the joints are mortised and tenoned. Both power tools and traditional hand tools were used to their best advantage. Tim and Master Woodworker Doug Ham of Rochester, New Hampshire spent a couple hundred hours building this piece. The lumber used to build the cart was logged and milled by the late Les Barden, ox and horse teamster also of Farmington. Joe is but one of many accomplished ox men that came here from mainland Portugal and the Islands. When Joe moved to America in the early 1970's from the Santa Maria Island in the Azores, his father Tiago, was still making his living as a teamster. ![]() ![]() Joe's father, grandfather, and generations before made their living as ox teamsters doing all sorts of work on farms, in vineyards, on roads, etc. This traditional Portuguese Ox Cart was custom built for our friend and longtime customer Joe Tavares of Hudson Massachusetts. In most every case, we select and saw the wood needed for a project, after we have consulted with the customer. Our primary sawyer is a long time ox man and horseman therefore, he is well suited to get the right piece out of the log. We choose good quality logs and Tim oversees the milling of each log. The small, tight growth rings are beneficial to making a strong ox yoke. Due to the short growing season in northern New England, the Yellow Birches grow at a slow pace. We purchase much of our yoke stock from a family owned log concentration yard in Northern Vermont. The runners are Ash, the bunks and stakes are Red Oak, and the shoes are Rock Maple or Beech. A logging scoot for example is built using three different hardwood species. The New England forests offer us a large selection of softwoods and hardwoods well suited for our many uses. Over the years they have come to know what we look for in respect to species and quality as it pertains to its respective use. We are fortunate to have several family members who are professional loggers. We custom build ox yokes, carts, sleds, scoots, stone boats, and other draft animal equipment. ![]()
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