I recently purchased a Priefert SO4. Yesterday was the first time to work cows since I bought it. We ran about 40 head through and I was very pleased. My dad bought a Filson about two years ago and I felt that things were a lot easier on us and the cows compared to the traditional headgate only method. Back to the Priefert, I really like the scissor gates, both front and back. The back gate opens and closes quickly with a very short movement on the overhead lever. It can also be pushed closed from the side if necessary. I have noticed with the small gates that drop down from above the cows in the back tend to want to reach over or under while waiting their turn. With the headcatch, I should mention that I am accustomed to the swinging type of headgate. With the swing type, the cows are further back in the chute and can get more of a "running start" before the gate latches. Makes for a pretty good jar when it closes. With the scissor type on the Priefert, I was concerned about not getting it closed fast enough and the cow getting through. What I found was that most of the time I just needed to open it enough for them to stick their head through since they could stand right against the gate as opposed to being backed up for the swing type. Of course, some stood back and tried to lunge forward when I cracked the gate but I had no problems catching them. Also, the lever for the squeeze pulls down parallel with the chute and is out of the way. On the Filson, it is perpendicular with the shoot and I have hit my head on it a few times. The Filson will squeeze itself sometimes when a cow gets to moving around due to the weight and position of the squeeze bar. After we ran a few cows everything flowed well. I could close the back gate while reaching for the lever on the headcatch. Another advantage to the scissor type headcatch that I quickly noticed, only one hand is required to release the gate and let the cow out. Remember, this is an initial evaluation of the Priefert SO4 and other opinions of long time users may be way more valuable than mine. I was talking to a friend the other day that prefers WW. As he pointed out a lot of it is what you get used to.