Approaching the winter season when we have to put away the water hose. Son #2 wants to make a yoke to make water hauling easier. Does anyone have any ideas, suggestions or cautions? Thanks, Craig

-- Craig Giddings (ckgidd@netins.net), November 15, 2001

Answers

Response to how to make a yoke

Hi Craig.

Backwoods Home magazine had an article called "Make a colonial shoulder yoke" in issue #15 - May/June 1992. It is reprinted in their third year anthology. It's not available to read online, but I have it at home. Will copy it and send if you'd like.

Sandy

-- Sandy in MN (onestonefarm@hotmail.com), November 15, 2001.

Response to how to make a yoke

FOXFIRE books had it also,,, you could just take a pole, tie ,loop or thread rope to each end, may not be the most comfortable thing, but it wil work

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), November 15, 2001.

Response to how to make a yoke

Roll the centre of Stan's pole up in an old towel, and tape around the ends of the towel. That will still not be ideal, but it can make it good enough to work as a proof of concept, and then hold you until you can make the proper thing.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), November 15, 2001.

Thanks for your e-mails. #2 went into the grove and found a small, live tree with a curved trunk. He duct taped foam onto the trunk. Added twine with metal hooks to hold buckets and away he went. It will need some altering around the neck area.....but it works. Thanks for your responses. Craig

-- Craig Giddings (ckgidd@netins.net), November 15, 2001.

I take it this is not an area where you could place buckets in a large child's wagon and pull away.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), November 15, 2001.

#2 sounds like a keeper. Nice when you see it happen, isn't it? Two inches taller, two inches more chest expansion, two drinks more "all's well with the world". How old is he, anyway?

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), November 16, 2001.

IF THERE IS ANY WATER SOURCE UP HILL FROM YOU TRY GRAVITY FEED AND LET IT RUN CONTINUOSLY SO PIPES DON`T FREEZE.THIS WORKS IF ITS A STREAM AND NOT A WELL..AS YOU WOULD DRAIN YOUR WELL MOST LIKELY.TRY THIS BEFORE YOU TURN SON #2 INTO A BEAST OF BURDEN.

CORDWOODGUY

-- CORDWOODGUY (cordwoodguy@n2teaching.com), November 17, 2001.

We haul water in five-gallon jerry cans on a sled in the winter -- but I've been thinking about a yoke, too, for the period before we get snow cover. And, no, we don't have a spring uphill from anything, and the springs we do have are either frozen or dry right now.

Won't hurt a good strong lad to haul a few buckets of water -- sounds like a smart young man.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 17, 2001.

Thanks for the suggestions of down hill piping.......our area of the country is SO flat that we have to travel 10 miles to get to a hill to even sled on. Sometimes Dad (who runs a snow plow) will pile up snow to create a "mock" hill. It is a poor replica but the best that can be done here in this flat prairie country. Last year we had a drift off the end of our horse shelter that was over 12 feet tall. We had a grand time with that "hill"!!!

We had things better organized, then we had a fire that burned down the corn crib, barn and horse building. It will take us a few more years to get everything back to an efficient order.

For now, it seems that the yoke will suffice. I want to get out FOXFIRE. I had looked in an old issue of LEHMAN'S and several old time farming type of books and found nothing.

We tried a garden cart, but bumping over the frozen hunks and ruts make it hard to arrive at the animal pen with any water left in the bucket. Plus to use those types of things a path has to be wide enough for the cart......more work. 4 horses drink a LOT of water and pigs spill a lot of water.

Hopefully we can better insulate the hydrant this year so we don't have to carry water from the house.....The hydrant used to be in a building-but it burned down........

This is about the 4th time I've posted questions to this list and have always gotten GOOD responses!!! Thanks much!

-- Craig Giddings (ckgidd@netins.net), November 17, 2001.

Craig, another thing that might help the yoke is bending it. Now, you can soften wood by steaming it, but soaking in boiling water will do as well. Take a metal trough (say a drum cut in half lengthways with an angle grinder), fill with water, light a fire under it, wait 'til the water's boiling, then bend the yoke just enough to get the middle of it in the water (diagonally from corner to corner). Leave like that for a few minutes, then out and bend it to shape using thick rubber gloves, or leather gloves inside plastic bags, then tie it in place and shape until it's cool. If you want, then treat each end. Your son's gone to some trouble to find something that's fairly good already, so don't experiment on it - send him out to get another piece for experimentation first - tell him to get something that would be even better, if it were bent; then you and he can work on it. The trough could be useful afterwards as well, and if you've made it from an oil drum then the boiling water should help clean it.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), November 17, 2001.