I'm late to the party, lol. Not an expert by any means but we raise and work LH. Four current chute options are the Joe Chute, referenced above - $4K & up, P&C -$4K & up, Dube Chute - $3K & up, Bry Chute - $2K. The Joe, P&C & Dube have a variety of options with them like alleys, sweeps etc…You'll need heavy posts for the Bry as it's essentially just a couple heavy gates. Powder River is discontinued as is the WW. Both can be found but they are scarce. Did a lot of looking and digging for ours and found a good used one. They come up in the LH forums, FB, etc…if you don't want/need new.
We have a Dube and it works well for our purposes. Have used a friend's P&C and been around the Joe. They are all similar, side load style, no real head squeeze like the powder river had. The squeeze is from the opening sides, they ratchet in and can be locked as tight as you need. Some you can adjust the width on, so if you are working calves or smaller frame cows it makes it a little nicer. Solidly built out of structural pipe, opposing swing sides and both ends have gates for head or tail access. The long sides have " windows" if you will that allow access to the cow and most have drop down bars on the opposing side. Shots, brand, preg check, etc… all pretty easy to access the cow. You can head, horn or tail rope them as needed to immobilize. The LH chutes are basically bi- directional- Unlike the traditional style head gate - you load or unload from either direction. I have worked polled cows in Arrowquip, Priefert, etc… it's just a different loading process.
We don't have any crazies, so they get guided in from a 8x10 attached pen, using the long side as a sweep. Cubes if needed. Close the side, guide the horns where you want them and set the tension where you want it. Let them out either side when done. I worked one of my heifers last week solo- after she tangled with a porcupine. Vet was out 2 weeks ago and a did a dozen ultrasound preg checks, shots, etc… in well under an hour. 2-3 people make quick work of it.
Just my .02, Hope this helps. Have a blessed day!
