Slick Way To Sort Cattle

Slick Way To Sort Cattle Cow Catch Carrier sorting gate introduced by Herb Hoffman South Dakota rancher and livestock equipment manufacturer One man whether in the saddle on foot or in a pickup simply pushes the button on a hand-held transmitter to operate the distant automatic sorting gate The electronic sorter operating somewhat like an automatic garage door opener offers several exclusive advantages according to Hoffman You don t have to have somebody standing by the sorting gate which makes it a lot easier to drive one or more animals through without getting them riled up ” he points out “With nobody there to spook them they’ll walk right down the sorting alley and up to the gate As they do the man or woman driving them from behind simply pushes a button to swing the sorting gate right or left Heifers for example may be diverted to a pen on the left and steers to the right By simply pushing the appropriate button he controls action of the sorting gate from as far away as 300 ft He can be driving the animals on foot on horseback or in his pickup or car The sorting gate is equipped with safety chains and regardless of how many animals are crowded against it will allow only one animal to pass through at a time Action of the gate is fast taking only about two or three seconds to switch from open to close or vice versa Radio signals are transmitted to the “electric over hydraulic” receiver and control unit which regulates action of the gate’s opening and closing cylinder The control operates on a 12V battery pack or can be plugged into 110V electricity if available “You can use the opening at either end of the sliding gate as a squeeze chute to catch and hold individual animals ” explains Hoffman “For example if a cow won’t claim her calf she can be caught in the opening and held with a retraining bar against the gate while the calf sucks ” The key advantage of the system Hoffman feels is that one person can sort cattle without getting them riled up “I’ve fed a lot of cattle and quite often have delayed sorting them in extremely hot weather just because I didn’t want to get them riled up and overheated Or there may be times when the cattle are ready and should be sorted for market But if you’re short on help at the time you hold off until extra hands are readily available There’s no need for waiting with the automatic system One man or woman does it all and the cattle don’t even work up a sweat ” Cost of the standard double unit which allows cattle coming in from two facing alleyways to be sorted automatically is $1 600 complete with the radio controls four 10 ft gates made of 2 1/4 in pipe control unit and cylinders An optional kit gives the sorting system down-the-road portability “We hope to have a similar radio-controlled sorting gate for hogs on the market in the near future ” says Hoffman For more details contact: FARM SHOW Followup Herb Hoffman Cow Catch Carrier Mfg Platte S Dak 57369 ph 605 337-3591

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