Handling facilities question

[peacemaker]

Can anyone tell me where to find the best deal in handling facilities?
I'm looking at the powder river products at tractor supply.

Homesteader deluxe = $3000.00 (sweep tub & 20'alley )
chute = $1650.00
Then I guess I would need extra panels,etc,etc.

Does this sound like a fair price or is there a better manufacturer out there ( virginia area)

Or is it better to just build most of it myself (except the chute)
Seems like it can be done alot cheaper.

I dont see myself having more than 25-35 head so I'm trying to be cost effective. but in the long term if it takes six or eight thousand to be set up right then I guess it's worth it.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[backhoeboogie]

Or is it better to just build most of it myself (except the chute)
Seems like it can be done alot cheaper.

Any help would be appreciated

I built all of mine. Guilotines, cut gates, panels, chute and all. It is built out of 3 inch tube steel with 5 foot tall by 20 foot long sheep panel welded to it. Top and mid rails are 3 by 1 1/2" tube steel. The whole set up is portable and pins together. Slick as a whistle. I did buy a used head gate and it is bolted to the end of my chute. A vet saw it (the whole thing in operation) and tried to buy it from me.

Personally I feel my pens are much better, certainly much tougher and more robust/rugged, and cost way less.

If I were you, I'd shop around and find what I liked, then I would reverse engineer the design. If you pin it all together, you can come up with many different configurations, add on, take away etc.

 

[Carlos D.]

Built mine out of 5-6 inch treated posts ---2x6s-- bought used squeeze for 400.00 bucks works greatcost about 900.00 dollars

carl

 

[IL Rancher]

For 25-35 head I would build something and I am not exactly handy, lol... Well I would build the alley and probably buy a squeeze of some sort.. That is what this place had when we moved in, a wood alley that was about to fall over and a headgate, that is it. They ran 90 head + feed out all the steers.. they had a second headgate in another barn but it was i pretty bad shape when we moved in, looked like it hadn't been used for years..

Handling facilities build up cost in a hurry.

 

[Carlos D.]

For 25-35 head I would build something and I am not exactly handy, lol... Well I would build the alley and probably buy a squeeze of some sort.. That is what this place had when we moved in, a wood alley that was about to fall over and a headgate, that is it. They ran 90 head + feed out all the steers.. they had a second headgate in another barn but it was i pretty bad shape when we moved in, looked like it hadn't been used for years..

Handling facilities build up cost in a hurry.

I agree if you run a small herd there can still be some profit BUT YOU HAVE TO KEEP EVERY $ YOU CAN AT HOME

CARL

 

[LonghornRanch]

:(

 

[Susie David]

Alot of good advice.
IMO it all comes down to how much $$ that you ar willing to spend. Portable is great, especially if you rerally don't know where you want to build the facility or how it needs to be laid out for your operation.
Don't know about your location but a farm auction is a good place to pick up some used equipment unles you have two hardheads that don't know the value of the item bidding against each other.
We use the portable panels and have set posts for support, actually pretty strong unless you have a nasty cow or a couple of bulls in a whizzing contest then they can bend out of shape.
We designed ours to allow the panels to be opened and act as a gate to create alleys between pens. Makes it easier when sorting.
Just my two bits worth...DMC