Who has just a headgate and who has a chute? I am fixing to buy one of the two. Which one would you all buy? Do you have to have a concrete pad for a chute? I have looked at the powder river, priefert, and ww. What is some of your opinions? I have 43 mother cows and a bull to work every year. This next year I will have 17 1st calf heifers to calve. Which would you buy?
Chutes and headgates
- Thread starter Pharmer
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I did have just a headgate, an older one, which was mounted on 2 crossties with gates behind it on each side. Gate had some wear on it and some off them would get out of it. Also if one was a little wild they would move around a lot making it tough to give a shot. We bought a new Priefert this spring and have ran about 40 head thru it, we really like it. I looked at the others also, one thing I like about the Powder River XL is it squeezes from both sides, but did not like all the levers that stick out. I like the Priefert style gate better by being able to use auto or manual. I also like the rear gate on it, not a drop gate like WW. We looked long and hard bought what we felt was the best choice for us. Hope this helps.
Bama
Well-known member
I'm setting up a new corral. I bought a manual big valley headgate only (60110022). I bought it with neckextenders for $732.00 I ain't decided if I want to get the squeeze chute to go along with it yet. I probally will next year. I'm in the process of relocating my corral closer to the barn. I'll probally leave the other intact as another place to work them. I saw a nice heavy built Tarter chute that I may get to go with it. I like the back gate on it better. Be careful mixing differant headgates to chutes. I happen to work in a maintenance department and can do all the extra fabwork required. If your gonna go with only one its got to be a headgate. A chute ain't wirth much if you can't hold their head.
WE put it at the end of the alley we had already built, just took out old headgate down. I put some textile fabric down and rock over it the put 2 rubber stall mats down to set the chute on. Going to build a small shed over it hopefully one day. We got the bigger Priefert SO4 not the Rancher with some bigger cows I am glad we did, the bull is a pretty good squeeze.
Rafter E
Well-known member
Good point worm, in regard to kids, kids, kids. Our chute was made by my father-in-law...He applied for a patent on it but was declined. It is 50 years old or something like that. These things are a very good investment and they last nearly forever.
sidney411
Well-known member
We have 2 working pens. 1 has just a head gate at the end of the alley. 1 has a concrete pad with squeese chute on it at the end of the alley. It is a lot easier to doctor and work the cows through the squeese then jus thte head gate alone. With jus the head gate ther is not as good a restrain and they can still move around quite a lot. Also with ours we have to back them out of it, that is a challenge sometimes on an animal that just wants to go forward. If I had my choice I would go with the squeese on a conctete slab. I think it will also help with rust problems on the bottom of the chute, as you can easily spray the mess out from under it. Also we have ours chained to the last posts in the alley, some cows come through it pretty hard and I want ot make sure it doesn't move.
Crowderfarms
Well-known member
I bought an old WW brand Squeeze Chute, last week. Trailer type, had been sitting in a field for at least 20 years, or better.Tires dry rotted, Soaked it down in Diesel and PB Blaster, freed the gate up in no time.Gonna replace the rotted wood tomorrow. Works like a champ.That steel used even 20 years ago, is like new still, just surface rust.Just needs some primer and paint.Will be ready to go to work in a few days.One man's trash is another man's treasure.
We used to use just a headgate with heavy gate panels on the sides, worked ok but it was rather a challenge sometimes with the cows wandering around with their rear when I was trying to AI them. Giving shots to calves was a real challenge. We got one ofthe Priefert Ranchers and put the auto headgate on it and it's a whale of an improvment. Being able to squeeze a 150 lb calf instead of wrestling with make things much easier. We set our on dirt but it has concrete blocks at the corners and one on each side so that the dirt and crud doesn;t accumulate under it. I see a lot of them that are set on concrete and they seem to have more rust problems because the moisture gets trapped under them rather then being able to drain away like it would if it was on dirt or rock/gravel. But in our case one of the cows are really nutty, the calves may slam it pretty hard, but they only way a small fraction of the weight of the chute.
dun
dun
samm
Well-known member
we welded our squeeze chute to the end of the alley, and set it on rocks, we bought it used, and the paint is faded, but when we get around to painting the corral and the pens its will get a new coat of paint too......we cant decide what color though... the only thing that gets me....and its my fault... is when i forget to lower the handle that squeezes it, and it rains, then i think ....hey i need to put that down, and when i do i get a good cold bath 
sidney411
Well-known member
Dun, our squeese chute is a portable one so the concrete slab is the same width as the chute so we can get the wheels on and off it. I don't know about the one's that are not made to be portable but ours has open spots on the sides that I can spray the crud out with a water hose so the concrete stays clean, we have had no rust problems with it that way. Also since ours is a portable version it may not be as heavy as a non-portable version and I've had cows hit it so hard it scooted up on the concrete, that's why we have it chained. If it moved very much any direction it would have the possibility of tipping off the slab.
jerry27150
Well-known member
i use a priefert head gate, first we just had a dirt floor. works, but cows keep digging holes & they have a lot more push. added concrete & that is a lot better. also added a set of scales that we can take out if we want. have a gate behind scales which keeps other cows from trying to get in at the same time & keeps them from backing out
We have a Formost headgate with gates on each side. The one additional thing we bought was a nose bar that locks them in pretty good. Originally got the nose bar for implanting, but now we use it for pretty much everything, it really prevents them from moving around. I think it cost $75 for the nose bar.
Bama
Well-known member
while we are on the subject of headgate and chutes. I have been building another corrall. I have planned on a chute for the larger calves and cows. This chute will only work down to about 300 pounders. In my other corrall I have a homebuilt wooden headgate for the smaller calves. I'm planning on using two alleys, one for the smaller ones. I buy several calves from the salebarn in the 150 - 300 pound range. I like to treat them as quickly possible. Im a big guy but I don't want to throw calves all day. I have had good results with the homebuilt one but was thinking of doing something differant. Any suggestions.
brokenmouth
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Bama":23g7z400 said:
just a thought... if all your doing is shots and ears sometimes its faster to just crowd a bunch int he chute and work from above. different story if there are bull calves in the mix
Bama
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Most of the time its a mixed lot. I have a catwalk along the working chute. I used to throw all the bulls and band them. When I started using the headgate I found it easier on me just to do everthing there. Im considering building a calf table to go on this chute also. A friend of mine has a table that he can tilt a 1200 pound cow. I don't think I'll go to that extreme but a calf table would work nicely in my operation.
brokenmouth
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your 100% right about roping and throwing. thats a young mans work. ive never had a calf table but have used them plenty when working on some bigger operations in my younger days. they are awful nice. we use headgates now but dont have any squeeze chutes. they are nice too but we wouldnt use them often enough to justify the cost. sure are good to have though. imo calf tables are high cotton. i believe i would almost rather have calf tables than squeeze chutes but thats because we dont AI or palpate and would use the tables more often.
jerry27150
Well-known member
for calves we just wire a pallet to one side of the chute & use the same headgate
Bama
Well-known member
My headgate only works on 300lb and up. In another corral I have a differant one that will catch the litttle critters fairly well. The fairly well part is what prompted me to build one from scratch. Its a simple design that works pretty well. I only have one chute in that area and I drop a 4"pvc pipe down the side to try to keep them from turning around. This dont always work so In this other location I thought I would put in a sorting gate and send them down a differant chute.
