Slick Way To Sort Hogs

Slick way to sort hogs HOG EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Hog Equipment & Ideas (351) 16-2-10 "I operate a hog and grain operation by myself and needed a way to sort hogs that wouldn't take up a lot of my time," says Kirk Deardorff, Hale, Mo., who came up with a simple one-way gate that lets hogs sort themselves while he's off doing other chores. Hogs are sorted by shoulder width. They're given the run of two pens with the sorter installed between. The 10-in. space between the two uprights is sized so that hogs over 235 lbs. can't fit through. "It took a lot of trial and error to come up with a design that would eliminate the problem of catching heads as hogs passed through and that would keep small hogs from figuring out how to get back through. Hogs quickly find the sorter when it's installed in the divider wall or gate between two pens. In due time, only hogs 230 lbs. and up will be left in the first pen," says Deardorff, who made the sorter out of angle iron, pipe, angled sheet metal and two large metal hinges. He notes that you could size the uprights to sort hogs of any size. He's willing to sell plans for the sorter if there's enough interest. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kirk Deardorff, Box 164, Hale, Mo. 64643.

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