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Portable cattle guards

George

Well-known member
I thought some of you might be interested in the cattle guards I make. First my cattle all respect a hot wire - - - and I keep the biggest charger available.

I have lots of used conveyor belting ( most gravel pits would probably give you some if needed ) so I take a piece long enough to span the gate I need it in.

I use deck screws to attach a 2 foot long 2X8 to each end. I then nail three insulators to each board ( both board and insulators are on top of the belting). Each board is attached to the gate post at each side of the opening.

I then thread 3 or 4 tennis balls on a piece of fence wire and string the wire between the ends, You don't need to make it real tight as the tennis balls will be used to hold the wire off the belt.

Slide the tennis balls to the high spots in the drive and now the wire will be about an inch and a half off the ground. First time the cattle see the lime green balls in the drive they sniff to check them out and training is over.

As for training the drivers if they just go over without skidding or spining wheels the wire just mashes down and springs back up.

After a few of these I can now lay a piece of belting anywhere I don't want the cattle to go and you could not drive them across. But if you need them to pass disattach one end and swing the belt, wires and all out of the way and they will willingly pass right through.

This would probably work without the belting but I feel the belting helps the cattle see there is something there and if a wire gets loose the rubber belting will prevent a short.

So far this has stopped Cattle, Horses, and Dogs - - - - If you are on foot it is very easy to step over but the dogs will not follow!

If anyone wants pictures PM me and I will send, if there is enough interest that person could then post the pictures.
 

katrina

Well-known member
Pictures................ We have to have pictures........ You and jody need to get that camara clicking.............
 

George

Well-known member
Just PM me and I will email you pictures and you can post them.

Also I Jinxed myself by talking about the cattle guard - - - - we had the first problem last evening.

My loving wife had a brain fade and drove over the cattle guard with the lawn mower - - - - no real damage done but it took about an hour cutting the wire out of the mower and restringing the guard.

I made the first mistake when I ask what in the world posessed her to go over it with a mower. If any of you remember the "evil eye" my Debi can out evil eye anyone! If you don't believe me ask either of the kids.

On the good side the cattle just stood around trying to figure what we were doing - - - never approached the mess.
 

Maple Leaf Angus

Well-known member
George said:
Just PM me and I will email you pictures and you can post them.

Also I Jinxed myself by talking about the cattle guard - - - - we had the first problem last evening.

My loving wife had a brain fade and drove over the cattle guard with the lawn mower - - - - no real damage done but it took about an hour cutting the wire out of the mower and restringing the guard.

I made the first mistake when I ask what in the world posessed her to go over it with a mower. If any of you remember the "evil eye" my Debi can out evil eye anyone! If you don't believe me ask either of the kids.

On the good side the cattle just stood around trying to figure what we were doing - - - never approached the mess.

I like your idea - I have a high traffic gap that is going to have one in the near future. Of course when the snow gets to be 2 feet deep, it may not be quite as effective . . . . :-(


George, you doofus! A man your age oughta know better than to make a comment like that to your wife in that circumstance.! whatever in the world possessed YOU!
:lol: :lol:

Your story reminded me of this funny:

A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.

Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.

"Careful," he said, "CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my GOD!
You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my GOD! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful . CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"

The wife stared at him. "What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?"

The husband calmly replied, "I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving."
 

Denny

Well-known member
My wife can't fry an egg.Well she can if you like them hard so I do all the egg frying here.I was at my parents home a few weeks ago and all my Mom can make is hard eggs I watched as she made them full heat and she just went and sat down for 5 minutes as they popped and crackled.My Dad is handicapped he just looked at me and smiled but he never said a word.I guess burnt eggs are better than no eggs.
 

HAY MAKER

Well-known member
I like the tennis ball idea George,now to figure out how to use em at these water gapps that get washed out regularly :mad:
good luck
 

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
HAY MAKER said:
I like the tennis ball idea George,now to figure out how to use em at these water gapps that get washed out regularly :mad:
good luck

LOL yeap Haymaker, if we start stringin tennis balls on hotwire, on the flood gaps.....all our neighbors will think we've taken up pasture tennis or somethin from all the balls floatin down stream.

But it does sound like a good idea for a cattle gap.
 

Jigger Boss

Well-known member
George said:
I made the first mistake when I ask what in the world posessed her to go over it with a mower. If any of you remember the "evil eye" my Debi can out evil eye anyone! If you don't believe me ask either of the kids.

quote]

Sorry George but it is I that hold the championship for evil eyeness and darn proud of it :)
 

PPRM

Well-known member
Jigger Boss said:
George said:
I made the first mistake when I ask what in the world posessed her to go over it with a mower. If any of you remember the "evil eye" my Debi can out evil eye anyone! If you don't believe me ask either of the kids.

quote]

Sorry George but it is I that hold the championship for evil eyeness and darn proud of it :)

So many pretty ladies in BC, I am guessing it is the contrast of going from that to the evil eye that wins the championship,

;-}

PPRM
 

HAY MAKER

Well-known member
the_jersey_lilly_2000 said:
HAY MAKER said:
I like the tennis ball idea George,now to figure out how to use em at these water gapps that get washed out regularly :mad:
good luck

LOL yeap Haymaker, if we start stringin tennis balls on hotwire, on the flood gaps.....all our neighbors will think we've taken up pasture tennis or somethin from all the balls floatin down stream.

But it does sound like a good idea for a cattle gap.

Well since they dont do anything except wait for me to fix em,IM not sure I care what they think.
I see some rain headed your way,gonna be hard to shred in the rain,you might hafta stay inside and play on the computer all day :D
good luck
 

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
HAY MAKER said:
the_jersey_lilly_2000 said:
HAY MAKER said:
I like the tennis ball idea George,now to figure out how to use em at these water gapps that get washed out regularly :mad:
good luck

LOL yeap Haymaker, if we start stringin tennis balls on hotwire, on the flood gaps.....all our neighbors will think we've taken up pasture tennis or somethin from all the balls floatin down stream.

But it does sound like a good idea for a cattle gap.

Well since they dont do anything except wait for me to fix em,IM not sure I care what they think.
I see some rain headed your way,gonna be hard to shred in the rain,you might hafta stay inside and play on the computer all day :D
good luck

We got a nice shower last night about 10pm, gained about an inch in the rain guage. We sure do need the rain. If it means not shreddin for a day or so that's fine by me. It'll make the grass grow. LOL might even mean another cuttin of hay.
 

HAY MAKER

Well-known member
the_jersey_lilly_2000 said:
HAY MAKER said:
the_jersey_lilly_2000 said:
LOL yeap Haymaker, if we start stringin tennis balls on hotwire, on the flood gaps.....all our neighbors will think we've taken up pasture tennis or somethin from all the balls floatin down stream.

But it does sound like a good idea for a cattle gap.

Well since they dont do anything except wait for me to fix em,IM not sure I care what they think.
I see some rain headed your way,gonna be hard to shred in the rain,you might hafta stay inside and play on the computer all day :D
good luck

We got a nice shower last night about 10pm, gained about an inch in the rain guage. We sure do need the rain. If it means not shreddin for a day or so that's fine by me. It'll make the grass grow. LOL might even mean another cuttin of hay.

I sure hope it rains around here,after we got that flood it quit,pretty dry around here.
Im workin on another set of pens and hay shed,would'nt mind gettin rained out for a day or two tho.
What are your wintering plans this year cotton seed or liquid ?
good luck
 

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
It's Cattle Lix....or Caddilix...can't remember how it's spelt. (always make me think Cadillac)
It's $1.25 gallon here. They man we buy from comes out with his truck and it measures like a gas pump would when it's goin in the lick tank.
Don't rightly know what it would come out to a ton.
 

HAY MAKER

Well-known member
the_jersey_lilly_2000 said:
It's Cattle Lix....or Caddilix...can't remember how it's spelt. (always make me think Cadillac)
It's $1.25 gallon here. They man we buy from comes out with his truck and it measures like a gas pump would when it's goin in the lick tank.
Don't rightly know what it would come out to a ton.

A gallon is about 10 lbs so about $250/ton........not bad and pretty good stuff when you got alot of poor hay like me this year...........good luck
 

HAY MAKER

Well-known member
Here are the pictures of George's portable cattle guard,pretty good idea George,thanks for sharing your idea............good luck
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George

Well-known member
The first picture shows the guard in place - - - I doubt the wire shows up
but I recommend 14 gauge galvanized fence wire and there are three strands with 3 tennis balls on each. If you cut the wire on a diagonal it will be very sharp and you can push it thru the tennis balls with a pair of pliers. This belting is 24" wide just because that is what I had laying around.

This gate is 16' wide and I used 3 balls per wire. On wider gates ( 30' at
the entrance to the gravel pit) I have as many as 5 per wire - - - - depends on how flat the ground is under the belting as to how many you need.

The second picture shows I have screwed a board thru from the bottom of the belting and attached insulators to it. If I have problems I would probably use the round black corrner insulators with lag boltss to the wood on new ones but these have held up great so far.


If you have any questions feel free to PM me and I will try to help. These have been great time savers around here and if they can stand up to 30 or 40 tri axel dump trucks a day with no problems I feel they will last for most of you - - - just don't let your wife mow over them.

Thanks, George
 
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