Plans for sliding gates

[Craig Miller]

A beam trolley might work to hang one from.

 

[cow pollinater]

In one of my corrals I left a four inch gap in between posts and stuck an eight foot panel in between the gaps. It sounds bad but I love it. It is indestructible and foolproof. All you have to do is shove the panel across and walk away.

I'd hate to be the guy that had to move that 100+ times an hour at preg testing time :shock:

That's what I do and I'm also the guy doing the preg checking. It's much easier than fighting with a lot of the sliding gates that I've dealt with in my customers setups.

 

[KNERSIE]

In one of my corrals I left a four inch gap in between posts and stuck an eight foot panel in between the gaps. It sounds bad but I love it. It is indestructible and foolproof. All you have to do is shove the panel across and walk away.

I'd hate to be the guy that had to move that 100+ times an hour at preg testing time :shock:

In our squeeze alley we have a vertical ( aluminum) gate at back of palpation cage, with room for one animal behind that. Behind that animal is a sliding gate. This gate has 2 wheels bolted to it (seems to me they are belt pulleys I took off an old swather) the pulleys run on a piece of pipe. Easy to slide, strong, doesn't bind.

Take a photo please

 

[John SD]

I like the construction and the way the horizontal slider gates on a Stur-D tub and alley work. If I was building a slider gate on my own alley, I would just copy their design

 

[wbvs58]

A lot of the design suggestions for sliders to me seem disfunctional. I finally got off my ar$e and took some photos of what is pretty much standard gates on crushes and races here in Australia. All the sliding action is from the top so no tracks to stuff up on the bottom. When closed the sliding mechanism goes back in with the gate so nothing to knock your head on. Very little effort to use so fatigue not an issue if using all day long. They just bluddy work.
I knocked mine up about 7 years ago and they get a lot of work. I have a bought one around at my other place I put in last year and it is similar but just a refinement of my battered old thing. It has nylon rollers so is super quiet and has a great automatic lock and unlock mechanism on the handle.




The 3rd roller on the outrigger on the bottom on the left is the key to keeping the gate from dropping when fully opened.

Ken

 

[bird dog]

Don't the animals stick their head through the bars and mess up your scale reading or cause other problems?

 

[fenceman]

A lot of the design suggestions for sliders to me seem disfunctional. I finally got off my ar$e and took some photos of what is pretty much standard gates on crushes and races here in Australia. All the sliding action is from the top so no tracks to stuff up on the bottom. When closed the sliding mechanism goes back in with the gate so nothing to knock your head on. Very little effort to use so fatigue not an issue if using all day long. They just bluddy work.
I knocked mine up about 7 years ago and they get a lot of work. I have a bought one around at my other place I put in last year and it is similar but just a refinement of my battered old thing. It has nylon rollers so is super quiet and has a great automatic lock and unlock mechanism on the handle.




The 3rd roller on the outrigger on the bottom on the left is the key to keeping the gate from dropping when fully opened.

Ken

I really like that track design.

 

[wbvs58]

Don't the animals stick their head through the bars and mess up your scale reading or cause other problems?

The reader does look a bit vulnerable in the photo, but no I have no trouble with them interfering with it. It has been there for some time.
Ken

 

[Supa Dexta]

I'm gonna build one of those sliders in a week or 2, I also see its used on the Qcatch 8400 video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1PZEJONX0M see it @ 3:36, and it has a lock on it.


Also, heres a handy latch I came across some people may be interested in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnNXj-3wmKw

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Those sliders look almost identicle to the set-up we had where I used to work. Easy to operate,which was nice when running 200 head at a time. I don't know what brand they were. But they were grey/silver like those.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Got a start at it last evening.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Bump on an old thread to get some suggestions. Being as I'm a carpenter and not a welder, would I be better to buy a couple of sliding gates or have them custom built?
P.S. I wish I could find one like the one
Ken posted. That would do the trick!

 

[JMJ Farms]

I like the idea of a pipe and rod top and bottom for tracks

I'm all ears Hook. Got a pic? Or description?

 

[wbvs58]

You really need a couple of nylon rollers to make it work effortlessly and little noise.

Ken

 

[bird dog]

Ken is right, use nylon rollers. If you make the gate heavy and stiff you can get by with only a top roller and this is probably the best way to do one. Mine is made with square tube 2 x 2 x 3/16 and reinforced with 1/4" wire with 3 x 3 openings. The frame around it is schedule 40 pipe. It has about 1" clearance between the gate and the frame.

The rollers came off an old Powder river set up. They also roll on pipe.

It would be difficult to make one strong enough with wood unless you had some some good hardwood and a lot of stainless screws. They take a beating.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Hook, I like the self cleaning idea. I wouldn't want a channel on the ground. And I agree with Ken that nylon rollers would be an excellent addition. I need to do some shopping. I wouldn't be scared to say that I could buy as cheap as I could build. Mainly due to the fact it would take a fair bit of riding just to gather all the needed materials around here. I may call a couple of places that make panels and see if they would build me a few or if they offer one already.

 

[wbvs58]

Here is a video I took of a gate this morning around at my bull paddock. I have built a few myself but this one I bought. The design is similar to most used in Australia but this one has been exceptional, light, quiet, yet strong and effortless to use. The ergonomics of the catch handle which latches automatically when closing yet when you grab the handle to open it automatically lifts the catch. It has stood up to the rigors of bulls backing up for about 6 years so far yet is made of relatively light 40x40mm SHS (11/2x11/2"). I like it. There is a pause at the start of video for a few seconds so be patient.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2-SglKJT1o&feature=youtu.be

Ken

 

[JMJ Farms]

Thanks Ken. That gate looks like it works perfectly.

 

[bird dog]

Thanks for posting that Ken. That is very similar to mine but a little smoother and has the very inventive locking device though I am not sure why you would need one. As I tried to explain, the key to a strong sliding gate is the frame around it.

Mine is built to where it pushes to the inside of the pens and has a simple 1/2 L shaped rod to pull it closed if you are on the outside of the pens. The rod is on a pivot so it slides up as the gate is opened and animals can go under it. When working animals with two people, the person pushing the animals into the tub can also go through a small walk gate and push the slider shut to trap two animals behind the chute. In other words, its easily worked from either side.