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Transcript of Hugh’s 1950s radio talks, # 3
The number of beasts in a bullock team was usually governed by the job it had to do. For instance, there is the breaking out team and the skid road team or wagon team as the case may be.
The breaking out team is the one that hauls the logs from the stump out to the main road. This calls for as few bullocks as possible, compatible with the size of the timber, because this team has to be manoeuvred literally over tracks cut to individual logs, but they usually used the heavier bullocks, and the team may be from 10 to 14.
The skid road team or the wagon team is usually about 16 bullocks.
Now, the method of yoking the team: First, the yoke itself, which is usually made out of young Kauri (Rika), owing to it being tough and stringy. It is about 5 feet long and 7 to 8 inches square, with two half-moon shapes cut out of the undersides to sit on top of the bullocks’ necks as they stand side by side.
Then there were the bows, originally made of bent wood, but later 1¼ inch water pipe was used. These were bent in the form of a U or staple. The bows were pushed up under the neck of the bullock and through two holes in the wooden yoke. They were secured by a pin on the top side of the yoke to prevent them from falling out.
Through the center of the yoke, midway between the two bullocks, there was a ring, bolted with a double link on the underside. This was called the start, and the pairs of bullocks were coupled together by a chain with a hook on each end and approximately 9 feet long. That was the coupling chain. It was hooked into the back of the start on one pair and the front link of the start of the pair immediately behind them, and so on with the next pair down the team.
The first pair of bullocks in the team were the leaders, and required a bit of training and a good driver. They were surprisingly obedient.
The last pair in the team were called the chainers and usually were very heavy-necked cattle; often bulls were used, or stags [i.e. bullocks — desexed males — but castrated later than usual, often after sexual maturity, so they developed more of the physical strength of bulls] were used as chainers. The reason for the heaviness was that they were close to the load, and a terrific strain was placed on the necks of the last pair of bullocks in the event of the log being over the top of the hill, when the whole team pulled down on the necks of these.
From the chain yoke was the drag chain that hooked on direct to the load.
The third pair of bullocks from the back, these bullocks, should be the strongest in the team. This pair has a particular job to do in going around corners or bends. A bullock team, when pulling in a straight line, needs two pointers to pull harder. If the corner was to the left, these two would be pulling out to the right, putting a kink in the line of coupling chains. If the corner was to the right, the pointers would be driven hard.
The bullock driver was usually a man with a commanding voice and fluent speech. He was always credited with using many more adjectives than can be found in the Oxford dictionary! I have known many bullock drivers—good, bad, and indifferent—but I think the doyen of them was Joe Treadwell, and he never tired of relating his experiences with breaking out teams, skidded road and wagon teams. He drove them all.
The driver’s whip was about 6 feet long and mounted on a handle about 8 feet long. This handle was invariably lancewood. This sapling grows long, straight, and tough, and when dry is very springy. The cracker on the whip was made from flax fibre, and the driver usually made enough in the evening to carry him through the next day. He drove his team from what is called the near side, that is, the left side. The yoking and unhooking was also all done from the near side. The idea of the long-handled whip was to be able to reach the offside bullock without interfering with his nearside mate.
All bullocks were named, and usually short names were used. The best type of cattle for working bullocks are, in my opinion, Shorthorn or Shorthorn-Hereford cross. They are usually quiet, good-tempered cattle and grow to large size with good constitution.
The breaking-in stage is usually at three years, and the general method is to tie them together with a swivel between, leave them to run in the paddock for a few days, and then put them in the team with trained bullocks in front and behind.
I’ve told you quite a bit about the bullock team and the driver, but I have not mentioned the bullocky’s offsider. He was the chap who helped the bullock driver, and the origin of the name “offsider” came about this way. Very often, when operating a team, it is necessary for someone to run around on the offside and push—or rather force—the point bullocks over quickly, such as when going around corners or perhaps avoiding some obstacle, such as a tree or a stump. This is where the offsider came in. If he knew his job, he got around on the offside of the team in time to do his stuff; otherwise, he could expect a special outburst from the driver. Even the bullocks didn’t like to hear that, so the offsider was usually pretty good at his job.
He was also required to be on hand when the team moved in alongside a log they were going to pull out. The offsider had to be there with the grips [metal tools, generally shaped like hooks or claws, hammered into the log to secure it while it’s being hauled] —drive them into the log and hook the drag chain into the ring of the grips. If it was a particularly heavy log and the bullocks had difficulty in starting up with it, the offsider got at the back end of it with a jack and actually lifted the end. The bullocks took it off the jack.
A good offsider was a great assistance to a bullock driver, whose greatest objection was to keep his team standing waiting while the offsider may be running to get an axe, or maul, or jack. The ideal bullock’s offsider was the one who carried all his equipment with him,. This consisted of a jack, say 70lbs, a set of grips, about 40lbs, a maul and an axe, and a cheerful disposition under adverse wedding conditions.
Having followed a team for a considerable time and helped in yoking and unlocking, the offsider finally tries his hand at driving, but there was no license issued in this case. He just wins out by results.
The bullock driver and his mates had long hours. They had to be astir early to muster the bullocks. If they were running in the bush, they usually put bells on quite a number to assist in finding them. The yoking took quite a while, then the unyoking at the end of the day, and perhaps driving the bullocks to a paddock. This meant the actual working time of the team might only be 6 to 7 hours, so the driver liked to keep them busy once he started.
Most bullock drivers took a personal interest in their team, became very attached to them, and were very jealous of anyone else driving them. His chief concern was that they get to water easily and quickly after work and were able to get a good feed. If plenty of grass was not available, he would take his axe and fell Karaka trees for them to feed. Cattle have a great liking for Karaka leaves, and they have quite a good food value. Bullocks that have been fed this way will travel quite long distances when they hear the axe-man at work and are soon surrounded by bullocks looking for their evening meal.