10 cow/calf What it would take ?

[HomePlaceAngus]

With such little information to go on this is a tough question. Do you have any livestock expenence at all? Got any money in savings? Do you have a wife? what does she think about this? With all that said if you go ahead with this project I would buy the land, though I would want more like a min. of 40 acres myself. Buy about 2-4 bred cows. Better yet, 2-4 3in1 with heifer calves at side and bred back, more bang for your money. Think about how you are going to breed them back next year, AI? You are going to need somethings in place to start. A small shelter, small corell, steel head gate , no tractor. The first year you can build what you need to work 10 cows the next year. Also work on the pastures if necessary. By purchaing all your feed including hay it has been my expenience that you are going to have to get to about 25 calves a year before you will start turning a profit in a cow/calf operation. I think it would take less numbers with a feeder operation. Everytime a peice of equipment breaks down, I wish I had bought new. Then I think of all the money that I would have spent and that brings me back to reality. I see many good old 30 year old tractors out there working alongside those brand new ones. And last, ALL OF THE ABOVE ADVICE IS GOOD. Be ready for a lot of hard work and don't rush into a financial desaster that will take a lifetime to recover from. :2cents:

 

[Caustic Burno]

On the Massey 135 a front end loader would be mighty rough to operate on one without power steering and I have only seen two that had it. I had one and the neighbor he still has his. I don't know that I would call it power steering more assisted. Now I sold that old 67 MF135 to some nut for way more than it was worth. A 265 will handle a front end loader nicely and has enough power to do most anything you want. I am still running a 77 model everyday and they can be found fairly reasonable you can rebuild the engine for a few hundred bucks.

 

[Arkansas]

Would I be better off to start with a lower number then 10 ? Like 2 or more ? Because I dont want to get in over my head. And right now I can get a squeeze chute at the Orcalines Feed for like 500 dollars brand new ? I have seen on the show Last american cowboy, I seen a family useing a Wood style neck chute or what not. But would seem like you may get kicked alot..lol

10 is not all that hard to handle if they are gentle. TXBobcat and RunningArrowBill both have links to "Medina hinge gates" that you should take a look at. We simply refer to them as medina gates. I've got a 20 foot medina attached to my portable squeeze unit. You can either work them in the medina or you can use it to push them into the chute and catch their heads. Most cattle seem to remain calmer in the medina than they do in a chute. If I only had ten head I'd consider a medina only. There's many times that is all I use anyway.

I've watched that Last American Cowboy show and, quite grankly, I'm not impressed with any of them. There's very little innovation going on there. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the camera being there at times it is, Hollywood mentality not wanting to show real happenings to city family's etc.

If you are bent in spending your nickels on something, buy yourself a good welding machine and start burning rods. You'll never regret that. You'll get better and better over time. If you get out of cattle, you can still use it for all kinds of things. If you stay in, You can build or repair equipment. Custom building things to fit your needs is much better than buying an item and using it makeshift to match your facility.

If you get burned out just one time, your opinion of that wood chute (or wood anything) will never be the same.

You need to understand that I am expressing my opinions here in this thread. Other folks will disagree or have had different experiences. No matter how many head I am running, my goal is to make a nickel or two. There is no romanticism here for me. I got my gut full my entire childhood. I don't wear a hat. If you set everything up for just a few head, what do you intend to do some day when you have 175? You're probably going to wish you had made things a bit more versitile and adapatable. It is really hard to weld rails onto that wood chute

Well along with construction work I also used to Build Rail cars for about 2 years. I got the training I needed as a welder from ARI American Railcar Industries. And I am certified as a Level B Welder out there. Dont know how good that is by any standards..lol But Its only 1 away from being the highest welder at there factory. But I can weld with a MIG and a TIG welder pretty good. We used to spend our extra time in class's trying to weld 2 Aluminium Cans together. Never got good enough to do it though..lol Always burned a hole through. But I got enough welding experiance I made my own Trailer 5x8 mesh bottom for my riding mower Axle and all. So I figure I should be able to weld a few pipes together. I have a MIG welder right now a small Flux core wire by Miller.. Its not the best but does what I need it for. So I am on a good start. I quit welding after I read alot of crap about going blind and your lungs deteriating from the fumes so I chose to do something different after that which was college then became a cop afterwords...lol Thanks for all the info I appreciate it alot, everyone is very helpful around here

 

[Arkansas]

I have 4 Pregnant girls and a heifer. Had a Nice Bull on loan from a friend, hes gone now.
I have about 9 acres of pasture, I frost seed clover in march by hand(walking) and same for rye grass in the fall.
I'd like to have 6 girls.

I have a 17 HP diesel kubota (1973) 3 point hitch disc, old bushog, bottom plow, snowplow,, you know old stuff but it works well.
I can spear a big sq or round bale and carry it out in the fields and i can bushog.
you can get one cheap.

I also built a catch pen & chute little at a time,, still need to build a blocking gate and havent found a used headgate yet.

Oh yeah and a freezer full of beef.

So start small build a chute, Halter break your cows so you can work em easy.
It can be alot of fun without a lot of money tied up.
Good luck,,Bill

Wow that's good info there.. Seems it would make sense and make the cattle easier to handle too Thanks! Also 9 acres with 5 cattle, are you having to do alot of feeding hay on the side. If so is it managable and do you run a cow/calf operation how does all that work out for you ? If you can PM me a few pointers and detailed info if you have the time I thank You very much for all the help

 

[Arkansas]

With such little information to go on this is a tough question. Do you have any livestock expenence at all? Got any money in savings? Do you have a wife? what does she think about this? With all that said if you go ahead with this project I would buy the land, though I would want more like a min. of 40 acres myself. Buy about 2-4 bred cows. Better yet, 2-4 3in1 with heifer calves at side and bred back, more bang for your money. Think about how you are going to breed them back next year, AI? You are going to need somethings in place to start. A small shelter, small corell, steel head gate , no tractor. The first year you can build what you need to work 10 cows the next year. Also work on the pastures if necessary. By purchaing all your feed including hay it has been my expenience that you are going to have to get to about 25 calves a year before you will start turning a profit in a cow/calf operation. I think it would take less numbers with a feeder operation. Everytime a peice of equipment breaks down, I wish I had bought new. Then I think of all the money that I would have spent and that brings me back to reality. I see many good old 30 year old tractors out there working alongside those brand new ones. And last, ALL OF THE ABOVE ADVICE IS GOOD. Be ready for a lot of hard work and don't rush into a financial desaster that will take a lifetime to recover from. :2cents:

Yes, I am married with 2 kids a boy thats 9 and a girl thats 6. The wife is all for the lifestyle and she is backing me and will be willing to help out in any way she says. I have about 12,000 put in savings and exspecting about 8k in 2012 so about 20,000 But I was plainning on using that towards my home/property as a down payment. So a cheaper monthly payment. I have worked on a farm as a young teen but it was running tractors and only picking cotton and running cotten modules. No livestock experiance at all. Hell I never riden a horse but once in my whole life..lol

 

[Arkansas]

On the Massey 135 a front end loader would be mighty rough to operate on one without power steering and I have only seen two that had it. I had one and the neighbor he still has his. I don't know that I would call it power steering more assisted. Now I sold that old 67 MF135 to some nut for way more than it was worth. A 265 will handle a front end loader nicely and has enough power to do most anything you want. I am still running a 77 model everyday and they can be found fairly reasonable you can rebuild the engine for a few hundred bucks.

How funny would that be for him to be the nut thats asking about it..lol j/k

 

[rjbovine]

I started two years ago with a old barn and mf 135 with bush hog and chainsaw. Found most of fencing supplies on craigslist. Bought gates and hay ring at farm auctions . I buy all my hay . It took the first year to clear brush and get fences built and install water line . Bought three bred cows to start . Leased a bull to cover the re-breeding. My rambling means , a lot of work to get started , a lot of expense . Would not trade it for anything . And believe me if it could go wrong it has . Neighbor uses his pickup with a stinger connected to the bumper and uses a wench to pickup the bale to move hay to the cows . Used supplies are out there a lot cheaper than new . It surprising how the cost add up to get started . If you could find a good mentor , priceless !! Good luck with your project . :tiphat:

 

[Arkansas]

I started two years ago with a old barn and mf 135 with bush hog and chainsaw. Found most of fencing supplies on craigslist. Bought gates and hay ring at farm auctions . I buy all my hay . It took the first year to clear brush and get fences built and install water line . Bought three bred cows to start . Leased a bull to cover the re-breeding. My rambling means , a lot of work to get started , a lot of expense . Would not trade it for anything . And believe me if it could go wrong it has . Neighbor uses his pickup with a stinger connected to the bumper and uses a wench to pickup the bale to move hay to the cows . Used supplies are out there a lot cheaper than new . It surprising how the cost add up to get started . If you could find a good mentor , priceless !! Good luck with your project . :tiphat:

I am thinking I could be getting Metal T-Post and Barb Wire now and just bye a little at a time until I get moved onto a place. RIght now I like about 5 more months on my House lease. Its a waste of $550 a month for a 2 bedroom thats not worth it to me.. I could be putting that same amount of money into my own acerage So I am gonna do what I can for now. Sell all my old Stereo equipment and weight sets and trade them all in for some Stuff to use towards my own piece of heaven

 

[backhoeboogie]

I am curious. I have a MF 135, no power steering that I have though about putting a front end loader on. Do you have power steering? Get a load on front can you turn the wheels? Your reply will be appreciated. Thanks

I agree with CB. It would be tough without power steering. Balloon front tires might help but not enough to do it for you. My Massey is an 1105. The power steering comes off of the hydraulic pump.