Cattle Working Chute Built Out Of Grain Bin Sections

Cattle Working Chute Built Out Of Grain Bin Sections CROP STORAGE Grain Storage 21-3-11 Some animal behavior experts say circular working chutes are a lot less stressful on animals than conventional rectangular chutes. Steve McDermott looked at a couple circular commercial units and decided to build his own out of used grain bin sections. "It's wonderful," says the Epworth, Iowa, farmer. "It used to take two men to work cattle in our old 8 by 20-ft. rectangular chute and we'd always come out completely covered with manure and one or both of us would usually get stepped on. The circular design keeps cattle moving smoothly because there are no corners to spook them." The chute was built on a 6-in. thick cement pad that originally held a rectangular chute. It uses one of the sides of the original chute which was built out of tongueand-grooved 2 by 6's covered with flat sheet galvanized metal. "We used bin sections from a used 48-ft. dia. grain bin to form the circular part of the chute," McDermott explains. "There are seven sections in the ætub', three and a-half on the bottom and three and a-half on the top for an overall height of 66 in., including the 1 in. gap between the bottom panels and the cement. We pushed bin sections together with our skid steer loader so they'd form an 8-ft. dia. semi-circle and screwed them together with self-tapping steel screws." There's an 8-ft. tall center post made out of 1 1/2-in. tube steel with a 5 1/2-ft. tall center gate that revolves around it 6 in. off the ground to keep cattle moving toward the squeeze chute. The squeeze chute gate was also made out of 1 1/2-in. tube steel. McDermott vaccinates 55 beef cows and calves during spring and fall in the chute and says it's more convenient, less time-consuming and less dangerous than his rectangular chute. Out-of-pocket expense was $1,500. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Steve McDermott 21738 E. Pleasant Grove Rd., Epworth, Iowa 52045 (ph 319 876-3635).

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