new off farm loading pen and small crush for about 15 cattle at a time

Reggie.

renandstimpy wrote: »

Kinda the way it is oil probably would just run out of it .. to be honest it's probably just use it needs to wear it in .. the nylon washer would definitely free it up and stop wear .. ya all the weight is on the bottom hinges ..

Crush .. forcing pen ... and safety rails along crush .. 2900 Inc vat ... crash barrier came to 900 ... internal gates in local hardware came 400 .. bolts nuts and washers 70 ... concrete and expansion joints 1110.. digging and stone 400 .. miscellaneous 100 for welding rods and steel plates for hanging gates off crash barrier .
Total 5880 Inc vat

Not bad money for peace of mind

Water John

Great pattern for everyone. Especially handy for an outside piece of land. Thanks.

RobinBanks

Great job R&S. Credit to ya.

Muckit

It's an excellent job. There are few farms in the country with as good a handling unit in their main yard, let alone on an out farm.


If l could make one small suggestion though, and I'm surprised someone else didn't mention it, it would be to put in centre pillars and change the dividing gates for two 'half' gates. Will be hard to swing open and change cattle from one pen to the other with those gates. Also weight of cattle squeezing out could push the gate back on top of operator.

Muckit

Water John wrote: »

Great pattern for everyone. Especially handy for an outside piece of land. Thanks.

I'd put €1000 on that there isn't another person on here that'd put a setup like that on an outside piece of land.

Belongamick

Excellent job and reasonable enough money for safety, peace of mind etc..
(Super looking stock as well by the way!)

charolais0153

Muckit wrote: »

I'd put €1000 on that there isn't another person on here that'd put a setup like that on an outside piece of land.

I'll hold you to that
Pics tommorrow

Reggie.

charolais0153 wrote: »

I'll hold you to that
Pics tommorrow

Cha chig

renandstimpy

Muckit wrote: »

It's an excellent job. There are few farms in the country with as good a handling unit in their main yard, let alone on an out farm.


If l could make one small suggestion though, and I'm surprised someone else didn't mention it, it would be to put in centre pillars and change the dividing gates for two 'half' gates. Will be hard to swing open and change cattle from one pen to the other with those gates. Also weight of cattle squeezing out could push the gate back on top of operator.

Yup You are a 100% right Muckit . Myself and the father were talking about it but alas it was after the concrete was poured so didnt have chance to sink 2 extra posts . if you look at picture you will see posts on safety rail are about 5 inches too low to use the round hangers that i have on small gate on end of walkway.
What i will do ( or should i say im going to get a more professional welder to do:D) is to extend them 2 posts in height and weld up 2 sets of heavy duty 1/2 gates for the exact reasons you stated . probably be a few months to be honest when bank acc recovers from the shock :D.

Bass Reeves

I would not have concreted the gathering pen. Reason being when cattle are in it on a wet day and you are loading or sorting you will have a lot of slips and falls as cattle rush around.

renandstimpy

If you look closely I've a tapped finish on the concrete with the prongs of a metal rake .. this should stop any slipping I was very conscious of this when we were pouring ... there is grip without being a trip hazard .

welton john

renandstimpy wrote: »

If you look closely I've a tapped finish on the concrete with the prongs of a metal rake .. this should stop any slipping I was very conscious of this when we were pouring ... there is grip without being a trip hazard .

your right, with that finish and keeping it clean never a danger of slipping

Bass Reeves

renandstimpy wrote: »

If you look closely I've a tapped finish on the concrete with the prongs of a metal rake .. this should stop any slipping I was very conscious of this when we were pouring ... there is grip without being a trip hazard .

welton john wrote: »

your right, with that finish and keeping it clean never a danger of slipping

No matter how clean when you put cattle in it off grass on concrete will become dirty and slippy no matter how well or rough finished it is from urine and dung if they are there any time. Maybe for the first year or two it will be ok but over time it will get smooth and cattle will slip on it. When you herd cattle on concrete if they begin to move around they will slip.

dh1985

Bass Reeves wrote: »

No matter how clean when you put cattle in it off grass on concrete will become dirty and slippy no matter how well or rough finished it is from urine and dung if they are there any time. Maybe for the first year or two it will be ok but over time it will get smooth and cattle will slip on it. When you herd cattle on concrete if they begin to move around they will slip.

Same as every yard in the country. A rough finish like that is perfect. It's better than trapsing round in 6 inches of dirt and sh1te. Let the cattle.slip, it's more.favourable then slipping or falling yourself on bad ground with a pen full of cattle around.you

dh1985

Ren it's a fantastic tasty job. Fair play and serious value to add

Muckit

When you were talking about not concreting it bass, l was thinking you were on about for bps eligibility purposes! Especially important for poor beef farmers. We need every available eligible fraction of a hectare!!!!

Have it growing grass and leave the gates open when grazing!

welton john

Bass Reeves wrote: »

No matter how clean when you put cattle in it off grass on concrete will become dirty and slippy no matter how well or rough finished it is from urine and dung if they are there any time. Maybe for the first year or two it will be ok but over time it will get smooth and cattle will slip on it. When you herd cattle on concrete if they begin to move around they will slip.

thats why you keep it clean afterwards to stop the dung filling the pores and making it slippery.two hours once a year with a powerwasher would keep that like new. its not like they'll be cattle on it 24/7

charolais0153

Bass reeves is referring to acid rain wearing down the surface until its smooth, I think

Bass Reeves

dh1985 wrote: »

Same as every yard in the country. A rough finish like that is perfect. It's better than trapsing round in 6 inches of dirt and sh1te. Let the cattle.slip, it's more.favourable then slipping or falling yourself on bad ground with a pen full of cattle around.you

No need to be trapsing in 6'' of muck I see lad do that in Concrete yards as well. You just lay a hardcore base and cover with gravel. No slipping, no tripping and no muck.

welton john wrote: »

thats why you keep it clean afterwards to stop the dung filling the pores and making it slippery.two hours once a year with a powerwasher would keep that like new. its not like they'll be cattle on it 24/7

Powerwashing will wear it away. Talking to a friend lately complaining about how his rubber mats on slats were wearing away. It transpired that he was giving them a good power washing every year

charolais0153 wrote: »

Bass reeves is referring to acid rain wearing down the surface until its smooth, I think

Age wears concrete in the old days lower cement caused it ti ravel nowadays it just becomes smooth.

Muckit wrote: »

When you were talking about not concreting it bass, l was thinking you were on about for bps eligibility purposes! Especially important for poor beef farmers. We need every available eligible fraction of a hectare!!!!

Have it growing grass and leave the gates open when grazing!

Nothing like a good cover of grass in and around a crush. It is very handy if you have to keep an animal in it a day or two no need to be drawing feed to him:P

welton john

Powerwashing will wear it away. Talking to a friend lately complaining about how his rubber mats on slats were wearing away. It transpired that he was giving them a good power washing every year


lol , so by your rationale a new milking parlour will have to be rebuilt every few years:D

Bass Reeves

welton john wrote: »

Powerwashing will wear it away. Talking to a friend lately complaining about how his rubber mats on slats were wearing away. It transpired that he was giving them a good power washing every year


lol , so by your rationale a new milking parlour will have to be rebuilt every few years:D

If you read my post and I quote

Age wears concrete in the old days lower cement caused it ti ravel nowadays it just becomes smooth.

The lad and myself had the same mats approx same age his under suckler cows and mine were under bulls and bullocks. I give mine a quick clean after cattle go out. His are done during the summer when 5h!te has dried he spend hours cleaning.

Power washing will wear surfaces away. A few years ago i was listening to the whinge (sorry Joe Duffy) show. It was on about the lads doing dodgy jobs. One contributor was complaining bout an issue with his tiles/slates. He had them power washed every year for 6-8 years. A small builder came on and said that slates and tiles only have a thinish waterproof membrane and if this will be damaged by power washing and over time dampness will then get through your roof.

It is well recorded for years that concrete gets smooth over time. Big difference between conc now and 30 years ago now you have a product with a significant amount of cement it will not ravel like the old days but it will get smooth.

ford 5600

welton john wrote: »

your right, with that finish and keeping it clean never a danger of slipping

A fine job. Did you leave the gap between barriers a bit much ? Just it slows progress if they try sticking heads out.
Here is my own effort. How , or where do i put in for the €1000 ??

renandstimpy

I left width of crash barrier so if I get sheep in every couple of years in the back end depending obviously on grass price etc .. all I have to do is fit nine lenghts of crashbarrier in bottom gap and it is sheep proof . There is a hedge on the left where they will be walking down so should stop any of that .

Muckit

ford 5600 wrote: »

A fine job. Did you leave the gap between barriers a bit much ? Just it slows progress if they try sticking heads out.
Here is my own effort. How , or where do i put in for the €1000 ??

Ah now here ya chancer!:D
Not bad but you're still a bit off.
Where's your semi circular forcing pen and railing to keep stock in pen from climbing up on your walkway?
And that headgate is a death trap!!!
And you want to add another bar on top of that crush and get rid of the crumpled gate!!!
And all those gates are only field gates that will bend in a hoop under pressure.

Sorry a poor imitation.

charolais0153

This pen is far more' multi-purpose'. How will you send on the money muckit:D

Muckit

Not bad now not bad! The cattle would never stay in that circular tub though.... sides are too low! :D:D

Reggie.

ford 5600 wrote: »

A fine job. Did you leave the gap between barriers a bit much ? Just it slows progress if they try sticking heads out.
Here is my own effort. How , or where do i put in for the €1000 ??

Ah but your disqualified cos you have no concrete down

I said

All fine jobs

Water John

Fine jobs. The only point I see and it applies to my own home crush as well is, to have access to both sides of the animal. At least the front beast, for lameness etc.
Heavy duty field gates do for most stock. Exception might be a lunatic of a suckler cow.

renandstimpy

Well got christened at the weekend. .. worked very well with flow of movement and plenty of space for sorting .
Just one minor adjustment to crush gate width was set too wide when they run into it but there is a bolt up underneath the top of crush you can adjust.
All the cattle in pic bar 2 young bullocks in middle pen went to the factory an hour ago .
Just for anyone else that is lea ing an opening for a lorry the 9 ft is spot on for the ramp about 4 inches each side .