Stampede

[Dave]

There is 117 freshly weaned calves in my corral. During the night something must have spooked them. It could have been a cat, or the neighbors dogs, or who knows. That many calves all trying to get through an 8 foot opening at the same time just doesn't work. They snapped off an older RR tie post. That put them into a 30 by 30 pen. The next gate was open but it only swings toward the direction they were coming from. They must have pushed it to closed and then tore it off the hinges. The hinges are bent beyond use. They would have then swung out into the other two pens where they stopped. Good thing it is just interior stuff they tore down other wise this morning they would have been strung out all over the country.
For some reason they like to lay down where the calves are standing in the first picture. They hit the post and last section of that fence. Second picture is just turning the other way to where the gate use to be.

 

[Dave]

I looked and found some before picture. The green gate just above the grey calf's head in the first picture is the one they tore down. The red gate to the right goes up the loading alley. It was pushed as far that way as it can go The post right above that grey calf's head in the second picture is the one they broke off. There is a double gate that both gates attach with a chain to that post closing off both pens. Or they both can be open and chained together allowing critter to go to both pens, that is what it is like now.

 

[MurraysMutts]

At least they didn't get out!
Have to call them 5 cowboys back out again

 

[Allenw]

They can tear things up when they have a run away away. I remember one bunch kept having a run away on a regular basis . I finally killed a coyote early one morning that would stop and howl every little bit. He was traveling the two track ahead of and I kept hearing him until I caught up with him.

 

[greybeard]

I've seen good sized calves hit a tube gate in the middle real hard, bow it out which makes the length of the gate less and the iron latch bar no longer reaches it's latch mechanism. Goodbye calf.

In Dave's instance, the rotted, then broke off rail tie is something that can't always be foreseen. I had several ties that looked perfect above ground but not so down where the tie was in wet soil for decades. Nothing lasts forever.

Nice corral Dave. That type would be extraordinarily expensive in many places.
E. Texas and southern pine even above ground rots pretty quick and there are tons of insects that eat it up. Resin content isn't high enough I guess.

 

[Dave]

I've seen good sized calves hit a tube gate in the middle real hard, bow it out which makes the length of the gate less and the iron latch bar no longer reaches it's latch mechanism. Goodbye calf.

In Dave's instance, the rotted, then broke off rail tie is something that can't always bee foreseen. I had several ties that looked perfect above ground but not so down where the tie was in wet soil for decades. Nothing lasts forever.

Nice corral Dave. That type would be extraordinarily expensive in many place.
E. Texas and southern pine even above ground rots pretty quick and there are tons of insects that eat it up. Resin content isn't high enough I guess.

That post doesn't look to be rotten. At least the end of where it broke off. But I didn't install that one, so it has most likely been in the ground 40+ years. I am dreading digging a new hole. The vast majority of the holes I dug I used a mini excavator. Doesn't pencil to rent the excavator for one hole. But this is all old river bed with bowling ball size rocks. Not fun to dig in. With all that rock this place drains real well. And with 10-12 inches of annual rainfall there is not a lot to drain.