Plans to build a head gate??

[Billdevaul]

I am new to cattle but i have 4 now and need a head gate and chute to handle em when i need to. i dont want to invest in one yet so cant one be built with lumber? if so anyone got any plans or a picture? thanks

 

[alabama]

Buy a head gate. It will be cheaper in the long run than one out of lumber. Just think what it will cost you if the first cridder in your brand new lumber head catch rips it out and kills it self with that thing around his neck. Or kills you or one of your kids.
Set some 6 x 6 steel post at least 4 foot deep and in concrete and bolt on a steel head gate. it just might save your life as well as saving your investment. And it won't cost you that much more.
head gate $250
steel post $30
bolts $10
concrete $15
total $305


you might save $100 bucks with lumber but sooner or later you will have to do it right.

 

[IluvABbeef]

get a couple things of steel pipe at your local junk yard for free! It'll save you an extra 30 bucks of making a head gate ;-)

 

[Hippie Rancher]

I have seen plans in an old book at the library on homesteading or raising beef or something - and we have a very old (ruined) one in a pen a couple of miles away - but have never use it. I agree with the others, get a steel one. It will last forever and if you do decide to get out you can always sell it.

 

[Herefordcross]

Buy one, it just might save your life as you will have a heartattack with all of the frustration of worrying with a homemade one. Work your way up. Buy a cheap one to start and then work your way up. Sometimes you can find a bent up one at a sale and if you can weld/fabricate you can patch it up. Been there and dun that.

 

[farm princess]

We have an old wooden one in our barn, and after looking at it for a long time I finally figured out what it was and I just about died when I did realize that is what they used (probably a long time ago), when we decided the calves were coming over here (after father-in-law wrecked) we bought one fairly cheap. After the first time running them, I was thankful that we had a steel one and not the old wooden one. They tend to not like being in them things and sometimes they are a bit rough and I am VERY sure they could bust the wood up real quick if they wanted to. I vote to buy a cheap one or at least build one like Alabama said. Just my small thought!!

;-)

 

[Stocker Steve]

You can get by with out a head gate with four head. You can halter smaller calves. You can also "squeeze" larger animals behind a corral gate. The gate squeeze usually works OK with Holstiens or Herefords, but be quick with the treatment or be prepared for a rodeo. Some folks just trailer a small herd to a place with real handling facilites to play it safe.

 

[Herefordcross]

The sale barn close by here used to allow that and the resident vet would do whatever you wanted done to 'em but, after the BSE stuff they stopped it. A local feed store rents a chute now and that helps a lot of people out. I have a neighbor that drives his cattle, only about 12 head almost a mile to our place to treat 'em when needed. He crosses a couple of farms and has never ended up with a stray animal. I have told him that he is nuts. He always tells me "If you would slow down a little you might live to be an old man". He can't hear very well and calls a cultipacker a cauliflower packer. He has been an awesome mentor!

 

[Stocker Steve]

Nothing wrong with being able to drive cattle. You see more of it in the west where they still have fences along the roads. Every time I get a little cocky on handling I get humbled. Yesterday a red limi showed me a new trick. He is going to the sales barn in July...

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I am new to cattle but i have 4 now and need a head gate and chute to handle em when i need to. i dont want to invest in one yet so cant one be built with lumber? if so anyone got any plans or a picture? thanks

If you are really interested, I could probably sketch one up for you. I still remember the one we had back in the 70's. Mind you, the cattle were a bit smaller back then. The truth is though, my Dad's pretty Scottish (that's the polite word for cheap) and he didn't use that wood one very long before he went out and bought a steel one so that says to me that those wood head gates aren't all they are cracked up to be.