Making Use Of Highway Guard Rails

Making Use Of Highway Guard Rails FENCING Techniques 25-6-25 Dick Kruger runs about 80 to 100 head of cattle, mostly on small rented pastures. If he needs a corral to pen up his animals in those pastures, he has to bring his own. Since he'd operated a wrecking yard for several years, he knew where to find used highway guard rails. "I've made 15 to 20 portable fence sections out of guard rails, putting them on wheels," he says, noting that guard rails come in 13 and 26-ft. lengths. He puts a set of guard rail fence panels on top of an auto rear end with wheels. He mounts a sturdy center post on the axle made of 2 by 2-in. angle iron to attach the panels to. Then he runs a couple of angle braces up to the fence panels. To tow the portable panel, he attaches a length of angle iron to the front of the lowest rail with two bolts and attaches this to the drawbar on his vehicle with a clevis. When he arrives at the field, he removes one of the bolts that fasten the hitch piece to the guardrail and swivels it down to the ground to make a stabilizer leg that keeps the fence panel level. There's a similar length of angle iron on the back. He says the portable panels can blow over if they're not anchored, but if two are put together at an angle, you can fasten them together at the corner with a chain and they can't be tipped by cattle or the wind. In addition to fence panels, Kruger has made portable round bale feeders and even a stationary crowding alley from used guard rail. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dick Kruger, 25225 SW Grahams Ferry Rd., Sherwood, Ore. 97140 (ph 503 682-3943).

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