__NOTOC__ An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or bullock. A bow pin holds it in place. The term " oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-shaped

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ban ...

in a river, sometimes cut off from the modern course of the river that formed it.

Developed form

Its upper ends pass through a purpose-drilled hole through the bar of the

yoke A yoke is a wooden beam sometimes used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, u ...

that is held in place into the yoke with a metal screw or key, called a bow pin. Where wood is used it is most often hardwood steamed into shape, especially elm,

hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mex ...

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

. A ring, enabling left/right movement controlled from the centre, is attached by a plate to the centre underside of a wooden yoke to enable a pair of bullocks/oxen to be chained to any other pairs in a team and to be hitched to the load behind the animal team.

Uses of the yoke and oxbows

The load is a

plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

or any other dragged, non-motorised, field

agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that ...

Alternative

Wooden staves can be used instead with a yoke, which is then termed a withers yoke, named after animals with high backs (withers) (e.g.

zebu cattle The zebu (; ''Bos indicus'' or ''Bos taurus indicus''), sometimes known in the plural as indicine cattle or humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in the Indian sub-continent. Zebu are characterised by a fatty h ...

) which pull mostly on the yoke part of the equipment, not as greatly on the bow shape borne by the stronger front quarters of oxen and bullocks.

References

{{reflist Animal equipment

Developed form

Uses of the yoke and oxbows

Alternative

See also

References