setting a cattle guard?

[greybeard]

I've been tasked with setting a pre-made cattle guard my sister bought somewhere. I've driven over lots of them, but never set one. This one is to be placed in the main drive so they don't have to open a gate in the middle of the 1/2 mile long drive--sis is in her early 70s, her husband is over 75 and has alziemers. Her leaser was supposed to install this for her but never has, so she has asked me to do it. It won't get a lot of heavy traffic, just regular pickups and cars except for the occassional power company bucket truck, or one of her kids' travel trailers.
I've driven over lots of them, never paid much attention how they were set.

The guard seems heavy enough, but is built just on a single rectangular frame of 6"x 2"x 1/4" channel with 2" heavywall pipe welded on top of that frame. Cross bracing under the pipe is the same channel the outer frame is made from. That 6" depth will fill with dirt and sand quickly, so I know I need to do something about that. There is no pre-existing ditch or drain where this one will go, and I know I have to have something besides a dirt step for it to rest on, and I ain't sure which way to go with it.
I prefer NOT to pour a cement foundation wall.
1. How deep, does the cavity under the cattlegaurd realistically need to be?
2. Should I just weld on another set of 6" channels to give the thing some more depth? Weld some legs on with flat feet on the legs?
3. My options for something to rest the thing on are:
a. Cross tie frame work.
b. A rectangle wall of solid 9"x9"X13" concrete blocks. (I already have a big pile of those.)
c. Dig post holes along the outer perimeter of the cavity and set some 8" posts in cement.

It looks something like this:

The soil type is red clay and iron ore, with about 6" of sand on top. It's had 40 years of traffic on it. It doesn't have to "last a lifetime" just has to last the rest of their lives.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!!

 

[hurleyjd]

Set it on top of the road and build long sloping ramps up and over it. Ramps could e the same material as the road bed.

 

[greybeard]

It's on a slight slope and the road tends to wash in heavy rain--I don't think ramps will hold up very long. If b-i-l could still run his big Kubota without tearing something up, it would be ok--he could maintain a ramp, but that isn't the case. He's knocked down a barn door, tore rafters out, and run over just about everything on the place, including driving right thru a fence that's been there 30 yrs.
They don't let him drive anything bigger than a little lawn tractor nowadays, and gotta watch him even then. You met him at the funeral JD--he's the one that kept telling you he doesn't have cows anymore.

 

[slick4591]

I have one that sets on the ground and most times is useless. As long as there's no grass visible it works, but as soon as it grows the cows will step thru it. Ended up putting a gate on the danged thing.

 

[runningr]

Easiest thing ive used is an electric cattle gaurd. I got the couple i have from max-flex fence ought of PA. Use a solar charger on it spray roundup 2-3 times a yr not had a problem the electric gaurd is around $100/bucks comes with everything but wire takes 45min to install. With gaurds that require a pit ive had cows learn to go over it or get a leg hung. Just my 2 cents

 

[James T]

I have installed two of them this year. They usually come with a pair of L shaped concrete beams that the cattle guard will set on. They can be bought separately. And the cattle guard is often set at the same level as the road. To do this you just have to dig away the road the same width as the guard and to whatever depth necessary to make the top of the guard level with road. So, just add the height of the beam to the height of the guard and dig out to that depth. The beams usually have a metal eyelet embedded on each end so you can hook onto them with a chain for installation purposes, using an FEL. You can also use the FEL to install the guard. The sides of the pit can stay open.

 

[Isomade]

Just did 2 of em today. First don't just set on the ground. Cattle will walk thru them. Measure a foot inside the guard all the way around. Take your hay spikes on FEL and churn up the dirt in this area. Use bucket to dig out about 2 foot deep in a U or V pattern. Set guard in place. If it has wings you can weld on. If not I welded a horseshoe to the H braces on each side. If you get fine lime rock to build a ramp and set it where you have time to drive over it for a week or so it becomes concrete and won't wash out.

 

[Shadscale]

Lay railroad ties down on the edges of your hole and stack them up on each other till you reach the hight you want and set the cattle guard on them. It works good.

 

[Brute 23]

I set tons of cattle guards a year. You need cement runner to set your cattle guard on. They are made like in the shape of an L. Most are made a standard shape. Flip them one way for 4" runners with 2" pipe. Flip them the other way for 6" runners with 2" pipe. The debth of the cattle guard sits in the L. You set them on top the ground and build up to each side with material. The top of the L is flush with the top of the cattle guard.

Down side is the cement runners cost $400-600 depending on the size of the cattle guard. I would not advise using wood. It will not last.

 

[saltbranch]

This is what they are using here, like Brute said. Our old one(still used daily) that my grandfather set before I was born, was set on what looks like parking lot concrete park stops. Not sure how long ago, 45 yrs for sure though.

 

[greybeard]

This is what they are using here, like Brute said. Our old one(still used daily) that my grandfather set before I was born, was set on what looks like parking lot concrete park stops. Not sure how long ago, 45 yrs for sure though.

Thanks all--especially saltbranch for the pic--it speaks volumes. I'll start looking for the concrete L beams.

 

[tsmaxx47]

Lay railroad ties down on the edges of your hole and stack them up on each other till you reach the hight you want and set the cattle guard on them. It works good.

same way I did it - works great except for the occasional calf that figures it out. once they figure it out, I never have been able to break them.........

 

[Shadscale]

Railroad ties will last a long time and it's cheaper than concrete.

 

[dcarp]

Brute has the answer. Just follow what he said, can't go wrong.
My neighbor has guards just like that between all of his pastures. Puts a gate next to the cattle guard. He can drive in and out without opening a gate & when he wants to move the cattle he just opens the gate next to the guard. He does have gates over the guards that lead out of the property. :2cents: :tiphat:

 

[greybeard]

How deep does the pit under the cattle guard need to be for it to 'work'?

 

[Brute 23]

How deep does the pit under the cattle guard need to be for it to 'work'?

Dont dig it. Set it on top the ground and build up material from the road to each side. That keeps the cattle guard from filling in.

 

[greybeard]

Not possible at this location. Travel trailers and motor homes would high center on it unless I used a LOT of buildup for a long ways on both sides, and since it isn't mine, and the land owner doesn't want to spend any $$ for more rock or iron ore, so it has to be set down in the existing roadbed. Not to mention the fact that I already addressed this in a previous post. (There's no one there to maintain ramps.)
So again, How deep?

 

[James T]

The cattle guard pits I dug are 15" deep and I used the cattle guard assembly that Saltbranch posted a picture of with the two cement beams.

Figuring the exact depth to dig is easy. Measure the distance from the bottom to top of the cement beam (at it's edge) and that is the depth you have to dig to have the cattle guard level with the road.

The width of the pit (looking at it from the side) will be the width of the cattle guard PLUS the width of the TWO cement beams (measured at the top). Digging it a little wider is not a big deal since you can always fill in the difference.

It's best to measure because the cement beam manufacturers make them to slightly different specs.

Also, make sure that your two "L" shaped cement beams are installed setting the same way. On mine, one leg of the "L" is 7" (on the inside) and the other leg of the "L" is 7/3/4" (on the inside)

 

[Brute 23]

Not possible at this location. Travel trailers and motor homes would high center on it unless I used a LOT of buildup for a long ways on both sides, and since it isn't mine, and the land owner doesn't want to spend any $$ for more rock or iron ore, so it has to be set down in the existing roadbed. Not to mention the fact that I already addressed this in a previous post. (There's no one there to maintain ramps.)
So again, How deep?

Its your project but it will cost more in the long run to have it at ground level. The labor it will take to keep it cleaned out plus the time to dig the hole to set it in will cost more than the material to make gradual slope. That has been my experience. Good luck. :tiphat:

 

[James T]

Haven't experienced a clean out yet but, it seems that the cattle guard itself will come out the same way it went in. I position my FEL bucket flat over the first few guard rails (over the first half) and about an inch above, wrap chain around two of the bars and back up over the bucket (did this on both ends of the bucket), then lift it straight up. You can then reverse the tractor to get the guard out the way for clean up and then set it back in place after your done. The concrete beams should stay where they were, in theory anyway.