Which Manual squeeze chute should I get.

[okfarmer]

Temple Grandin's work is another great source for designing alleys, chutes, etc. If designed properly and cattle are handled quietly, they should feed themselves- it's amazing the difference when all is aligned. Learning to handle cattle quietly is huge in the feedlot.

My memory is getting a lot rustier, but from what I remember the silencer chute I used wasn't much different than some other models (I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong and it was in the late 90's). The big difference I remember was the motor being distanced from the cattle. It would seem to me that a lot of companies could benefit from distancing and shielding the noise.

The one thing I would consider adding to many of the manual chutes I have seen are blinders, cardboard, or really anything solid you can use to block peripheral vision and the operator. If cattle see the opening in front of them as the only option and no one is standing in the way, it sure makes using a head gate a whole lot easier.

Rope releases can sure save you the potential for a headache from an ill placed bar, but if they hang down in the chutes or wave in the wind- cattle may repeatably balk.

 

[Soapweed]

Temple Grandin's work is another great source for designing alleys, chutes, etc. If designed properly and cattle are handled quietly, they should feed themselves- it's amazing the difference when all is aligned. Learning to handle cattle quietly is huge in the feedlot.

My memory is getting a lot rustier, but from what I remember the silencer chute I used wasn't much different than some other models (I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong and it was in the late 90's). The big difference I remember was the motor being distanced from the cattle. It would seem to me that a lot of companies could benefit from distancing and shielding the noise.

The one thing I would consider adding to many of the manual chutes I have seen are blinders, cardboard, or really anything solid you can use to block peripheral vision and the operator. If cattle see the opening in front of them as the only option and no one is standing in the way, it sure makes using a head gate a whole lot easier.

Rope releases can sure save you the potential for a headache from an ill placed bar, but if they hang down in the chutes or wave in the wind- cattle may repeatably balk.

We often hang an old blanket in place while working calves, so they can't see the person running the headcatch. It sure makes them flow through easier.

 

[Gomez]

we have a morand system and are very happy with it. I suspect by the number of posts the opinions are regional and varied. Here is the website to add another alternative to the long list of alternatives. It's great to have so many choices.

www.morandindustries.com

 

[leanin' H]

Temple Grandin's work is another great source for designing alleys, chutes, etc. If designed properly and cattle are handled quietly, they should feed themselves- it's amazing the difference when all is aligned. Learning to handle cattle quietly is huge in the feedlot.

My memory is getting a lot rustier, but from what I remember the silencer chute I used wasn't much different than some other models (I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong and it was in the late 90's). The big difference I remember was the motor being distanced from the cattle. It would seem to me that a lot of companies could benefit from distancing and shielding the noise.

The one thing I would consider adding to many of the manual chutes I have seen are blinders, cardboard, or really anything solid you can use to block peripheral vision and the operator. If cattle see the opening in front of them as the only option and no one is standing in the way, it sure makes using a head gate a whole lot easier.

Rope releases can sure save you the potential for a headache from an ill placed bar, but if they hang down in the chutes or wave in the wind- cattle may repeatably balk.

We often hang an old blanket in place while working calves, so they can't see the person running the headcatch. It sure makes them flow through easier.

Old conveyor belting works great as a blinder on the side of a chute and along the alley side. We have it wired in place on the alley and it hangs on S-hooks on the chute for easy removal to brand or vaccinate a cow. Our chute gets minimal use with our small bunch, but serves us just fine when we need it. It is a home built model. The key to a smooth flow of cattle is 30% set-up and 70% handling technic in my experience. A well thought out and built corral system is nice but working cattle in a precise and cattle-sense way is priceless. Cattle that get wound up and on the fight, will fight the chute and corral next time too. It's a lot faster to slow down and get them thinking that where they are headed is their idea and not yours. :wink:

 

[floyd]

I think it was a hydraulic Preifert I saw in Pendleton. It had 4" x24" mud flap material on the bars on the side so the cows could not see the headgate operator. The flaps were not in the way of working the cattle.


Friend of mine has an old WWW manual self catch. Back gate slides up on a track, one side opens if one needs to exit to the side. It is curved in the front. Doubt anyone would want to run 1400#cattle through it. Only one side squeezes.

I have not used it. Just the Powder River at the vet as I do not have one yet.

I run Highlands. Fun to watch them crank their head sideways so they fit.

 

[Northern Rancher]

Our old W-W mid80's model was a real choker-you got to see some cows do the funky chicken in it. Back in the day we just used to have a headgate on the end of a wood runway-we broke the end planks with a couple cows left-I hung a tarp there and we managed to finish. My pet peeve with most chutes is they are a bit too short-it's nice if a cow can walk in and get a pole put behind her without having to catch their head-I like to leave them uncaught when a'i'ing. I was doing heifers at a place with a homemade hydraulic chute-no relief valve-one got jumpy and the owner squeezed her up but folded me in half too lol.

 

[John SD]

Two different veterinarians here have Silencer chutes. The chutes are the same, but the transports are different, and they are powered differently.

One vet has a Honda power unit to run the chute. It's OK, but it requires its own gas and is quite a little chunk of machinery in and of itself to pack and unpack for use. I think it also makes the cattle a bit nervous even though it can be placed quite a ways away from the chute simply because they are not used to it.

The other vet has a hydraulic pump and quick attach outlets on his Duramax pickup. No seperate engine/pump unit to lug around, just the hoses. Cattle are used to an idling diesel pickup or tractor which does not make near as much noise as the Honda does. The Honda has a good muffler too.

I realize this thread is supposed to be about manual chutes. Manual chutes really are becoming a thing of the past. Once users get used to a hydraulic it's hard to go back to a manual. Kinda like having power steering on your pickup! :wink: :lol:

Got a neighbor with a Hi-Qual hydraulic chute that runs off tractor hydraulics. It works well too and the cattle are used to the tractor.

 

[badroute]

I ahve a Formost 450 with a self catch headcatch, palp cage and the scissor tailgate(which I highly recommend). The sad part is that it is only 4 or 5 years old and it hardly ever gets used. My vet brings her own chute which is a hydraulic Silencer. They dont charge anything for it as they highly prefer to use it over a manual chute. It is so fast it isn't even funny, last year we averaged 125 an hour through it preg checking.

 

[Black Mamba]

I bought a Priefert at an auction in Wash, and hauled it home and love it. If a company had them in Canada, I would probably buy another head gate like it has for my maternity pen.

I love that manual scissor gate. It is easy to use, and you can catch anything in it. You can set it to be an auto too.