Post by BuckSkin on May 30, 2022 13:40:13 GMT
The Headgate
or Headcatcher, if you will.
This particular version is an automatic, which is not my preference as they miss the cow too often and create more work and confusion than they save.
The way this works is --- see that horizontal ramped latch at the top --- you release the back/cow side of it and swing the two uprights inward toward the incoming cow --- only enough for her to get her head through, but not her shoulders.
When she pokes her head through, her shoulders push the two uprights behind the ramped latch and she is caught.
Of course, on the first several attempts, instead of getting her head poked through, she will sling it sideways at the crucial moment and latch the thing without her head being in it; thus causing you to have to set the thing all over again--- I hate automatic headgates.
I much prefer the manual style where one must pull a lever that closes the bars on the cow's neck --- I never miss.
If someone misses once in a while, they will find something else for him to do and he will probably never get the chance to improve his technique, as a missed cow creates a ton of work for everyone involved.
The manual style is much quicker as you don't have to manually "cock" it for every cow.
I have put tens of thousands of cattle through a headgate; often working 2,500 or more in a single Saturday night at nearby Taylor County Stockyards.
The noise is horrific.
The cattle bawling and bellowing and lungeing, slamming into gates and anything else that will make a huge noise.
The headgate itself loudly slamming open and shut.
The cattle behind trying to climb over the one you are working on.
The caught cow slinging their head violently, slinging snot and slobber in all directions.
The constant zzzzzzzzzz-POP of a good green-and-yellow hotstick; if something happens to the hotstick, you had better have another; as, without a hotstick, you may as well quit and go home.
See the concrete stepped ramp; that is the loading chute where the cattle climb into the straight-truck or semi-trailer.
Actually, I dislike this setup where the headgate chute is also the loading chute; it makes loading a lot harder.
I have used them all and I very much prefer the manual Blue Mule; alas, they must have went out of business as I cannot find a website for them; give me a thirty-year-old second-hand Blue Mule over anything else brand-new.
Here are Priefert's offerings.
And, from the gate capitol of the world, eight miles up the road, Tarter's selection.
Home Place on Green River
2022_Spring Festival and Plow Day
Taylor County - Kentucky
Saturday_30-April-2022
Here is a closer view of the bird's nest; maybe some of you bird people can identify what type of bird it belongs to.
I cropped in on this sign.
We saw kids going every-which-way, carrying Mason Jars full of cream, shaking them and making butter.
Both of my grannies have many times set me to the task of shaking a quart of butter; it takes a good three hours of constant shaking to get the cream to turn to butter; best to just buy a tub of Blue Bonnet and be done with it.
or Headcatcher, if you will.
This particular version is an automatic, which is not my preference as they miss the cow too often and create more work and confusion than they save.
The way this works is --- see that horizontal ramped latch at the top --- you release the back/cow side of it and swing the two uprights inward toward the incoming cow --- only enough for her to get her head through, but not her shoulders.
When she pokes her head through, her shoulders push the two uprights behind the ramped latch and she is caught.
Of course, on the first several attempts, instead of getting her head poked through, she will sling it sideways at the crucial moment and latch the thing without her head being in it; thus causing you to have to set the thing all over again--- I hate automatic headgates.
I much prefer the manual style where one must pull a lever that closes the bars on the cow's neck --- I never miss.
If someone misses once in a while, they will find something else for him to do and he will probably never get the chance to improve his technique, as a missed cow creates a ton of work for everyone involved.
The manual style is much quicker as you don't have to manually "cock" it for every cow.
I have put tens of thousands of cattle through a headgate; often working 2,500 or more in a single Saturday night at nearby Taylor County Stockyards.
The noise is horrific.
The cattle bawling and bellowing and lungeing, slamming into gates and anything else that will make a huge noise.
The headgate itself loudly slamming open and shut.
The cattle behind trying to climb over the one you are working on.
The caught cow slinging their head violently, slinging snot and slobber in all directions.
The constant zzzzzzzzzz-POP of a good green-and-yellow hotstick; if something happens to the hotstick, you had better have another; as, without a hotstick, you may as well quit and go home.
See the concrete stepped ramp; that is the loading chute where the cattle climb into the straight-truck or semi-trailer.
Actually, I dislike this setup where the headgate chute is also the loading chute; it makes loading a lot harder.
I have used them all and I very much prefer the manual Blue Mule; alas, they must have went out of business as I cannot find a website for them; give me a thirty-year-old second-hand Blue Mule over anything else brand-new.
Here are Priefert's offerings.
And, from the gate capitol of the world, eight miles up the road, Tarter's selection.
Home Place on Green River
2022_Spring Festival and Plow Day
Taylor County - Kentucky
Saturday_30-April-2022
Here is a closer view of the bird's nest; maybe some of you bird people can identify what type of bird it belongs to.
I cropped in on this sign.
We saw kids going every-which-way, carrying Mason Jars full of cream, shaking them and making butter.
Both of my grannies have many times set me to the task of shaking a quart of butter; it takes a good three hours of constant shaking to get the cream to turn to butter; best to just buy a tub of Blue Bonnet and be done with it.
