This is obviously a pretty well to do Amish family. They bought the Jim Weaver farm in Lincoln County, Ky. I don't know how many acres he had but there was a LOT of black walnut trees on the farm. Apparently they cut & sold most of the bigger ones. Uncle Jim would turn over in his grave if he knew that. These people live a simple life & everyone in the family works on the farm. Reminds me a lot of the way we lived when I was a kid. Around the area where I live now, tomatoes sell anywhere from 35 to 50 dollars a bushel delivered. These Amish were selling them for $7.50 for a 5 gallon bucket. Pick them yourself. You can't beat that price with a 2x4 anywhere else. They don't have automobiles or engine driven farm machinery. These 'sedans" are horse drawn family buggies. I really like their little two seater coupes. Some of them are works of art. It's a shame  everyone can't live like this any more. They are the best of  neighbors too. ......Paul H

I was looking them over closely and noticed the drop-heel shafts. It's interesting to me how people solve problems.

The carriage itself is designed for, and must accommodate humans, but the power for locomotion is supplied by a horse. In case you hadn't noticed, horses have longer legs than humans. Therefore, unless you require the humans to step up significantly, you have to account for the difference in elevation between horses and humans. The drop-heel shaft takes care of that. (The "shaft" is that part of the carriage that attached the carriage to horse. The two long shafts that attache to the horse's harness.) Notice how these shafts that are parallel to the ground and are in the 'middle' of the horse, yet attach to the carriage at the level of the axles of the wheels. That is accomplished with the 'drop-heel' shaft. It's not exactly 'spectacular engineering', but like I said, I find HOW people solve problems, interesting.

Paul

Speaking of "Uncle Jim turning over in his grave" if he knew about all the big walnut trees being cut down: It pains me to see trees cut down. (I'm a bit of a 'tree-hugger'.) It takes a LONG time - measured in human life-times - to grow a mature hardwood tree. Cutting them down takes the blink of an eye. I'm all for tree farms where softwoods are grown for the lumber industry, and most of those for the construction industry. That's "farming". However, when it comes to cutting down old-growth timber OR native timber OR even trees that were planted by humans a century or more ago, I think careful consideration is called for. Furthermore, I think we all could do well to take a lesson (at least in part) from "Johnny Appleseed", and plant more trees. It's easy to ignore planting trees because WE will not see the fruits of our labor for at least 20 years. However, having passed through more than 3 of those 20-year intervals, I can say with some first-hand perspective that they pass very fast.

When the pilgrims landed on North America, there was a forest that extended from the Canadian boreal forest in the north, to the Gulf of Mexico in the south, and the Mississippi river in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east. It is said, with authority, that a squirrel could travel from Canada to the Gulf Coast without touching the ground. Considering the eastern hardwood forest, the Great Plains, the West Coast, and the extraordinary wildlife, North America was truly a 'paradise'.

Plant a tree. Plant trees you like. (Walnut, oak, hickory, elm...?) What's the worst than can happen?

Paul

"What's the worst that can happen?" Elm trees. In my opinion they're useless as a milk bucket under a bull. ......I brought several different varieties of evergreen sprouts about two feet  tall from Maine & set them out behind the house in the corner of my lot. I added a few more each year as I found one I liked. Now thirty some years later one white pine is around 50 feet tall & the bottom limbs spread almost 50 feet. One I can't positively identify would be 60 feet or more if the wind hadn't broke the top out of it. .......As for the Amish buggies, I think they're all pretty neat vehicles. I especially like the little coupes. On the road down there a few years ago I met a beautiful little coupe with one of the most beautiful young ladies driving I ever saw in my life. Her buggy & horse were both black & her smile would melt a grizzly's heart. I fell in love on the spot.   ......Paul, when I was a kid down in the Cumberland mountains all the mountain & ridges were virgin forest. Never an ax or saw in it anywhere except in the valley. There was no small trees. Yellow poplar & hemlock well over 250 feet tall & 7 feet  BHD was common as corn in a  field. American chestnut would go 8 to 12 feet BHD. All gone now. What a shame.   ......Paul H

QuoteAll gone now. What a shame. ......Paul H

Along with the buffalo, passenger pigeon, prairie, and the redwoods.

Yes... What a shame.

Paul

Been up since 3;05 AM & just looking thru the forum. I probably should have explained the meaning of "BHD" for the ones not familiar with the timber industry. It means breast high diameter. An old term for measuring the diameter of trees at a certain height from the ground. It pretty well eliminates burl & root swell & better explains actual size. This is/was a common term in the south at least. ......Paul H

"Breast High Diameter" is a standard term in the timber industry all over the country, not just the South. I am almost certain that it is still used.

Paul