Jeff Ferge is an experienced horse logger who logs alone with his team of Belgian draft horses. Joe spent a few hours with Jeff as he worked in the woods south of Jackson, Tennessee, and John Walker who started logging a few years ago. Jeff is a master of his craft and it is almost as much fun to listen to him talk about logging as it is to watch him and his team work.
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Jeff explains the difference between logging with machines and with horses is only the form of power. All the work itself is the same. He has a background in logging with machines and supervised up to 17 crews at one time. He much prefers working along, although less lucrative, it is much less stressful.
Jeff is mentoring a young horse logger and we see him working in the woods with his own draft horse team.
Jeff uses the cross-halt method of loading logs onto his wagon. This method has the horses perpendicular to the wagon and, using chains, rolls the log up onto the wagon. Jeff and his team are experts at this method.
Jeff talks about his grandfather and great-grandfather who were German immigrants that logged in Wisconsin with sleds using an A-frame loading method. They moved to Tennessee and just switched to wagons with wheels.
Jeff talks about his custom wagon, modeled after an Owensboro wagon.
Lastly we watch Jeff skid logs with a single hitch and a double hitch followed by more cross-halt loading.
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