Portable Pig Processor

Portable pig processor HOG EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Hog Equipment & Ideas (351) 13-6-23 Dean Knepper of Dyersville, Iowa, built a portable cart which he wheels from crate to crate and between buildings on his 150-sow, farrow-to-finish operation to process newborn pigs up to 1 1/2 weeks old. Knepper took second place at the third annual Inventions & Gadgets Contest, held last summer at the World Pork Expo in Springfield, Ill. The contest was co-sponsored by National Hog Farmer and the National Pork Producers Council. The two-wheel cart includes a seat, a removable tub for holding pigs, and a re-movable plastic tray that holds teeth clippers, ear notchers, and syringes, and other tools as well as medications. "By putting pigs in the tub I can take my time processing them," says Kneppers. "The day pigs are born I catch them and put them in the tub to notch ears, dock tails and clip their navel and teeth. I also give them shots to protect against scours. I can carry up to 10 pigs in the tub." Kneppers used 16 ga. sq. tubing to build the cart's frame. A friend in the upholster business made the seat which Kneppei fastened with two bolts onto a vertical lengt of angle iron. He cut a plastic drum in hay to make the tub. The 15-in. long, 8-in. wid tool tray bolts to a flat metal plate. The plat is bolted to two vertical lengths of angl iron. A rod through the bottom of the tra allows it to be swiveled toward the operato The cart rides on 4-in. dia. wheels. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dea Knepper, 504 13th Ave. S.E., Dyersville Iowa 52040 (ph 319 875-2696).

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