Crush Headgate

Triaxle

Well-Known Member
Just after people's opinions on the best type and make of head gate. Semi automatic job seems to be pretty basic nowadays. Many very learned people on here to guide me. The good,bad and the ugly please, all opinions much appreciated.
 
best semi auto i have seen is nugent.

morris is a good gate but dont think i have ever seen an auto one, all manuel catch, but best gate by all accounts.
 
http://www.morrislivestockequipment.co.uk/2.html

Not sure if they make just a head gate, but if they do.... look no further!

Have the vary width clipping crush here, with a digital weigher, fantastic bit of kit, well built and their easy to deal with, can make alterations to suit you.

so have i!!:thumbup2:
loverly crush to use
love the fact it has the handle both ends so you can walk the animal in and lock it with out getting in front of the beast
 
http://www.morrislivestockequipment.co.uk/2.html

Not sure if they make just a head gate, but if they do.... look no further!

Have the vary width clipping crush here, with a digital weigher, fantastic bit of kit, well built and their easy to deal with, can make alterations to suit you.

I have no experience of the morris stuff but I would definitely look into it, I like the idea of the curved gate at the front, you can put the animal in, jam them forward and then close the head gate. I always have trouble getting animals into the head gate and something similar to that idea is near the top of the shopping list
 
have had standard, semi auto and fully auto here.
in fairness, they were all a balls, but if i had to pick one, the semi id be about the best of them.
the fully auto is a balls of a job.

now, as said, the best of the best, is the morris imo.

they dont come in a auto type, there is no need tbh.
the only catch with it is that you have to stand at the gate to catch an animal, so they get cute.
normally if i have a cow that dosent want to go forward, ill open the safety gate, and open the crush gate, when she makes the dash, i can catch her then, works 98% of the time.
however, there is provision on them to attach a pipe to bring the closing bar further back so you could work it behind the animal.
i have most of the parts here to put a sprocket on it, ill mount a pipe to the roof truss on bearings and run it back to the next truss with another bearing, ill run a sprocket and chain setup from one to the other, it just means its out of the way really.
i might make the handle adjustable up the lth of it so it can be moved up and down it to suit.
some day ill get round to finishing it.

_wsb_185x279_Morris+Yoke.jpg
 
so have i!!:thumbup2:
loverly crush to use
love the fact it has the handle both ends so you can walk the animal in and lock it with out getting in front of the beast

have had standard, semi auto and fully auto here.
in fairness, they were all a balls, but if i had to pick one, the semi id be about the best of them.
the fully auto is a balls of a job.

now, as said, the best of the best, is the morris imo.

they dont come in a auto type, there is no need tbh.
the only catch with it is that you have to stand at the gate to catch an animal, so they get cute.
normally if i have a cow that dosent want to go forward, ill open the safety gate, and open the crush gate, when she makes the dash, i can catch her then, works 98% of the time.
however, there is provision on them to attach a pipe to bring the closing bar further back so you could work it behind the animal.

i have most of the parts here to put a sprocket on it, ill mount a pipe to the roof truss on bearings and run it back to the next truss with another bearing, ill run a sprocket and chain setup from one to the other, it just means its out of the way really.
i might make the handle adjustable up the lth of it so it can be moved up and down it to suit.
some day ill get round to finishing it.

_wsb_185x279_Morris+Yoke.jpg
:cool:
 
We've the nugent universal one here the last year or 2 and find it a great gate. The way it adjusts is very handy as you can do it between animals whereas the previous with pins and sliding boxes, which was a case of set it and hope for the best it was close enough for all.

http://www.nugentengineering.com/products/universal-head-locking-gate/

Personally I don't like the idea of the ones you have to close on the animal yourself, just seems like a pain of a job to me, with the auto you run them up and 90% of the time first lad will be caught and ready. Also seems that their slow to adjust, most seem to involve winding a turnbuckle setup to adjust the width.
 
have had standard, semi auto and fully auto here.
in fairness, they were all a balls, but if i had to pick one, the semi id be about the best of them.
the fully auto is a balls of a job.

now, as said, the best of the best, is the morris imo.

they dont come in a auto type, there is no need tbh.
the only catch with it is that you have to stand at the gate to catch an animal, so they get cute.
normally if i have a cow that dosent want to go forward, ill open the safety gate, and open the crush gate, when she makes the dash, i can catch her then, works 98% of the time.
however, there is provision on them to attach a pipe to bring the closing bar further back so you could work it behind the animal.
i have most of the parts here to put a sprocket on it, ill mount a pipe to the roof truss on bearings and run it back to the next truss with another bearing, ill run a sprocket and chain setup from one to the other, it just means its out of the way really.
i might make the handle adjustable up the lth of it so it can be moved up and down it to suit.
some day ill get round to finishing it.

_wsb_185x279_Morris+Yoke.jpg
You would`nt have a few more pic`s of the gate you have . Have looked at morris website and pics are limited . Need to get a new gate for the dairy chute in work as the stock bull took a dislike to the current one .
 
We've the nugent universal one here the last year or 2 and find it a great gate. The way it adjusts is very handy as you can do it between animals whereas the previous with pins and sliding boxes, which was a case of set it and hope for the best it was close enough for all.

http://www.nugentengineering.com/products/universal-head-locking-gate/

Personally I don't like the idea of the ones you have to close on the animal yourself, just seems like a pain of a job to me, with the auto you run them up and 90% of the time first lad will be caught and ready. Also seems that their slow to adjust, most seem to involve winding a turnbuckle setup to adjust the width.
when i had the semi gate they all got cute to it, would stand with their nose on it, but wouldnt go through.
at least with this one i can do it myself.
as for adjusting the handle, jesus i find that wild handy, quick and easy from the bull to the cow to the calf.

the only reason there isnt a lot more morris gates about is the fact of the price, when most get that bit, they buckle.
iirc mine was 1k.

i have nugents previous model gate to the one in your link, im not being smart or anything, but its lying up against the wall at the side of the shed since 2009.
 
when i had the semi gate they all got cute to it, would stand with their nose on it, but wouldnt go through.
at least with this one i can do it myself.
as for adjusting the handle, jesus i find that wild handy, quick and easy from the bull to the cow to the calf.

the only reason there isnt a lot more morris gates about is the fact of the price, when most get that bit, they buckle.
iirc mine was 1k.

i have nugents previous model gate to the one in your link, im not being smart or anything, but its lying up against the wall at the side of the shed since 2009.
i hate those self slamming gates with a passion
fecking aweful things to use,hated the 1 here for years
love the morris ,so much easier on the beast and me
 
when i had the semi gate they all got cute to it, would stand with their nose on it, but wouldnt go through.
at least with this one i can do it myself.
as for adjusting the handle, jesus i find that wild handy, quick and easy from the bull to the cow to the calf.

the only reason there isnt a lot more morris gates about is the fact of the price, when most get that bit, they buckle.
iirc mine was 1k.

i have nugents previous model gate to the one in your link, im not being smart or anything, but its lying up against the wall at the side of the shed since 2009.


Don't know I won't be going away from the semi auto to be honest, and f me 1k seems a bloody pile of money for the Morris which seems a fairly simple gate to be honest... But then none of them are cheap....

The 2nd crush here now has the old semi auto, Albeit a bit modified now, still works very well and would still be on the main crush only the one on 2nd crush was banjaxed so we got the new one in main crush and moved the other down.
 
Spotted this the other day, this thread answers the question as to what make....this man replaced a nugent fully auto with the morris but fitted by a local man here who also does headscoops, whole lot fitted was under 1 k. Can be operated up to one 8ft back from head gate....
 

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oddball engineering in tyrone make a morris copy for about £350 i think.
its not dear if its that price.
by the time youd have the steel bought, made and galvanised, it basically wouldnt be worth your while making one.
 
Don't know I won't be going away from the semi auto to be honest, and f me 1k seems a bloody pile of money for the Morris which seems a fairly simple gate to be honest... But then none of them are cheap....

The 2nd crush here now has the old semi auto, Albeit a bit modified now, still works very well and would still be on the main crush only the one on 2nd crush was banjaxed so we got the new one in main crush and moved the other down.

I'm going to agree with you on the semi auto there. That is what we have, it sounds like your old one with the sliding tubes. It really depends on what you want it to do and the stock that you have.

I have seen similar to what Tinman mentions there and no matter how hard you pull up the tail, prod with a stick they won't go through. That is the beauty of the automatic.

I will say here that our headgate would only be used for about 1 in 10 cattle. When injecting, easier to do a line of cattle. When dosing, pack them in tight with heads up and it is as good as a graduate with scoop. As I said though it could be just our stock so don't go on my opinions!

Does anybody have a Titan (think that is the name) gate, they would make the Morris seem like pocket money.

Would anybody else agree with me that the location is more important? Ours is attached to a wall on one side in a shed and that is, another reason I'm not a fan of using it......
 
I'm going to agree with you on the semi auto there. That is what we have, it sounds like your old one with the sliding tubes. It really depends on what you want it to do and the stock that you have.

I have seen similar to what Tinman mentions there and no matter how hard you pull up the tail, prod with a stick they won't go through. That is the beauty of the automatic.

I will say here that our headgate would only be used for about 1 in 10 cattle. When injecting, easier to do a line of cattle. When dosing, pack them in tight with heads up and it is as good as a graduate with scoop. As I said though it could be just our stock so don't go on my opinions!

Does anybody have a Titan (think that is the name) gate, they would make the Morris seem like pocket money.

Would anybody else agree with me that the location is more important? Ours is attached to a wall on one side in a shed and that is, another reason I'm not a fan of using it......
what, the morris gate, that they wouldnt go through?
if so, the man working it didnt know how to work it is all was wrong with it.

to be honest, thats what we were at when we had a semi cursh, and an auto one.
now, im not saying its the best because ive bought one, but in fairness, if it was crap id say it was.
 
With a autolocking gate it covers the race by about a half
the times we fought to get animals in there,especiallyif the last time they went in they hit it hard and probably hurt themselfs

The morris type yolk sits back flush and you can slam it down in the blink of an eye if needs be
 
what, the morris gate, that they wouldnt go through?
if so, the man working it didnt know how to work it is all was wrong with it.

to be honest, thats what we were at when we had a semi cursh, and an auto one.
now, im not saying its the best because ive bought one, but in fairness, if it was crap id say it was.

Oh no, I recognise the Morris for what it is.

I can see what you are saying with the semi auto that it can be difficult to get some into especially as headcase indicates that they could have a bad memory of it.
 
so have i!!:thumbup2:
loverly crush to use
love the fact it has the handle both ends so you can walk the animal in and lock it with out getting in front of the beast

After a few near misses involving mine and fathers head's using both handles, we now only use the rear one!! Which tbh is far easier than the front one anyway as you need to be behind an animal for it to go forward! Would like to make something to release the yolk from the front though, will get round to it some day.
One useful thing is you can send cattle through in a line and catch one if you need.

But as said above, it can be closed very quickly. Have herd of the auto yokes failing with jumpy animals, and of one beast breaking its neck from hitting it to hard! But could have been a bad setup. Also they don't work so well with horns, problem for us!

All in all it's whatever suits each setup.
 
After a few near misses involving mine and fathers head's using both handles, we now only use the rear one!! Which tbh is far easier than the front one anyway as you need to be behind an animal for it to go forward! Would like to make something to release the yolk from the front though, will get round to it some day.
One useful thing is you can send cattle through in a line and catch one if you need.

But as said above, it can be closed very quickly. Have herd of the auto yokes failing with jumpy animals, and of one beast breaking its neck from hitting it to hard! But could have been a bad setup. Also they don't work so well with horns, problem for us!

All in all it's whatever suits each setup.

Morris type seems to be the best for coping with horns, got 2 different auto gates here,this http://foxbros.ie/full-automatic-cattle-crush.html and this http://www.odonovaneng.ie/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Crush-Equipment-Head-Gate-with-dimensions.JPG ,even with handy horns the gate gets closed by the horns before the head is through,
 
I only heard of this company today , and looking at their website they do some range of handling gear , Condron Engineering in Louth , anyone heard of them.
 
I only heard of this company today , and looking at their website they do some range of handling gear , Condron Engineering in Louth , anyone heard of them.

Condon Engineering in Louth you mean ;)

Do a lot of barriers.
 
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