Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Cattle Chute project Day #4

No, I didn't forget a day. On Day #3 Farmer John and I went to work. Farmhand Dad did some other chores around the farm, went to town, and got more supplies. When we got home, we did some more work (still in the rain) and I didn't take any photos. We got the boards put up on the loading chute. Then we all went for dinner at Boggs - but, unlike some other members of the family, we did not eat their giant calzone.

This is from the morning of Day #4:
We had to pull several fence posts on this day. They needed to be re-positioned in order for the headgate to fit and to make it easier to place boards. Rather than pulling them with the tractor they used the "Handy Jack." They wrapped a chain around the post and then jacked it up and out of the ground.

One post came right out when Farmer John pulled on it, the others had to be jacked up because they had been set with concrete. The post in the photo below only had to move over one inch, which seemed sort of silly to me. However, by moving it over one inch it saved having to cut some of the boards.


Day #4 is also when the headgate was put in place. The headgate is a big heavy beast - but Farmer John and Farmhand Dad made it look easy to get into place. They secured it to two square posts using several lag bolts on each side of the gate.


This is a view of the project as it was nearing completion. The loading chute is angled off to the right and behind the four-wheeler. The guys were measuring where to set posts so that things would be lined up correctly.

Check back tomorrow for final photos!

2 comments:

  1. This set of photos and text really helps me understand the project. I simply could not get the bearings on it until today. "Head gate" finally takes shape in my head and I "get it".
    Thanks for keeping us up to date with life on your West Virginia farm!

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  2. I like the idea of a set head gate. We've got a mobile one that we just pull up to our cattle trailers. It works okay until you get a wild cow who can make enough racket to push between the trailer and the mobile head gate and escape! I can't count the number of times that's happened to us! Your farm reminds me so much of ours!

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