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Pinedale Online > News > April 2006 > The Unstoppable Hay Rack

Winter in Bondurant. Photo by Barbara Ellwood.
Winter in Bondurant

Hitching up the team. Photo by Barbara Ellwood.
Hitching up the team
The horses’ harnesses and the rig’s tongue are attached directly to the two front runners of the of the sleigh for maximum maneuverability and lift through the snow.
The Unstoppable Hay Rack
Getting cattle through winter in Bondurant, Wyoming
by Paul Ellwood with photos by Barbara Ellwood
April 2, 2006

Feeding has moved on from the Dell Fork Ranch to the Campbell’s Old Bondurant place. Do you want to know how Lennie Campbell and his four horse up hay rack sleigh have managed to cope with Bondurant’s snowiest winter in nine years?

At forty below with three feet of soft snow and almost three hundred cold, hungry cows and horses every day is a survival exercise for the cowboy and his herd.

The Campbell Cattle Company’s hay racks are equipped to cope with every possible contingency. Ice too thick for the cows to get to drinking water: bring along a big pick to chop drinking holes in the creeks. Moose raiding the hay stacks: equip the sleigh with an array of fencing tools to repair the stack yards fences. The thousands of dude visitors to the Bondurant Ranch web cam want to know how it’s done.

Scroll through the photos below to find out more about the tools carried on the hay sled.

For more information about life on the Dell Fork Ranch, e-mail Lennie Campbell or Paul Ellwood.



Related Links
  • Bondurant Web Cam - At the Dell Fork Ranch
  • Winter Ranching in Bondurant - (1/6/06) 8 photos & story by Paul & Barbara Ellwood

  • Hay Rack Hitch. Photo by Barbara Ellwood.
    Hay Rack Hitch
    When snow depths are minimal, Lennie relies on a two horse hitch. Even though it’s more work to harness them up I suspect Lennie prefers driving the four horse team.

    Hay Rack Tool Bar. Photo by Barbara Ellwood.
    Hay Rack Tool Bar
    The well organized hay rack’s back end is a combination hardware shop, tack room and human hydration set up.

    Monstrous Ice Pick. Photo by Barbara Ellwood.
    Monstrous Ice Pick
    Beginning on the left side, there is a ring for the shovel Lennie is using, next a combination fencing tool which functions as a hammer, wire cutter and twister and then the Angus “ice pick”.

    Harness and Fence Fixers. Photo by Barbara Ellwood.
    Harness and Fence Fixers
    Next at the bottom center there is a loop of black wire for repairing harnesses, then rope to close gates, and at the bottom a loop of fencing wire for repairing the stack yard fences.

    Ice Cold Drinking Water. Photo by Barbara Ellwood.
    Ice Cold Drinking Water
    Finally, at the right rear is a strip of leather for baled hay hooks, a fence stretcher, pitch forks and a jug of drinking water. If the lid and surface of the water freeze, Lennie bangs them on the side of the hay rack.

    Lennie Campbell. Photo by Barbara Ellwood.
    Lennie Campbell
    This is the last view you will get of Lennie until this spring when we start moving cows to mountain pastures. Nice going, they all made it!
    Pinedale Online > News > April 2006 > The Unstoppable Hay Rack

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