Got WOOD?

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
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This is from one of my favorite old photo sites shorpy.com I have never seen so many historical and high quality photos! They are close to 7000 images in their collection! Some days I'm on that site for hours
If you folks like historical classical photos check it out! ( no I have nothing to do with the website! Just love the photography!)
Jim
 

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
Sorry I just had to post another one:
It is Possom sellers in New York City!
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Yumm Look quite tasty!
 

uncle jimbo

Well-Known Member
I looked at the picture and started to feel sorry for the horses. That looks like a lot of weight for just two of them.:(
They are fun pictures. I like looking at old pictures. And like what JWFlips said, what you see was what the picture really was.
 

S Mac

Sept. 10, 2021 Steve left us. You are missed.
Don't think in modern terms two horsepower would do that much work.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
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This is from one of my favorite old photo sites shorpy.com I have never seen so many historical and high quality photos! They are close to 7000 images in their collection! Some days I'm on that site for hours
If you folks like historical classical photos check it out! ( no I have nothing to do with the website! Just love the photography!)
Jim

Rick is salivating, over all that firewood.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I looked at the picture and started to feel sorry for the horses. That looks like a lot of weight for just two of them.:(

That's what I thought also. In snow and can't see what kind skids are under there but green lumber, a lot of tons to pull. Also I don't think I would be to anxious to be standing on either side of the stack.

Rick is salivating, over all that firewood.

I guess John didn't look at that wood. :eek: That ain't firewood.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
The wood pic may have been a staged pic at a camp. But, FWIW, they used to run the sleds on ice roads. A crew would be out all night in freezing weather, watering the road, rolling it and watering if it got snow, sanding the down grades, filling soft spots, etc. I rather doubt many loads like th eone pictured were ever moved any distance, but maybe across a lake or pond. Tipping sideways would be my concern. The runners on the bobs (sled) were generally 38- 42" on center. Wouldn't take much of a side hill to tip something like that.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Staged picture.
Nobody in their right mind would put two horses (or any horses) in front of that load; 6 or more mules maybe.
Horses are too skittish, panicky.
 
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Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Staged picture.
Nobody in their right mind would put two horses (or any horses) in front of that load; 6 or more mules maybe.
Horses are too skittish, panicky.

I disagree as far as the horses being too skittish. My experience says otherwise.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
most of those horses will pull about 80-90% of their own weight in soft dirt no problem.
a good set will pull right at 100%, that's why they have a few different weight classifications in horse pulls.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
First of all, the load is unstable and dangerous.
Bret, I've been around horses off and on nearly all my life. Used to train horses for trail patrol and crowd control for the National Park Service. There's not much around a farm or ranch that a horse can't be trusted to do, assuming the person in control uses good judgement.
However, horses have a tendency to act unpredictably when you try to make them do something that is well beyond their capabilities.

fiver, what do you suppose that load of logs weighs?
 
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fiver

Well-Known Member
I figured about 25-2800 per row average for 8 rows.
taking the smaller ones into account with the three top rows as make up weight.
the horses pictured wouldn't pull more than two or three rows at most.

those horses are also a bit too fat for hard working horses.
 

Ian

Notorious member
They're missing half the team judging by half a dozen photos from a quick internet image search.