Aluminium/steel sheep hurdles recommendations

[glasshouse]

I ordrrd some new fowrass at highland show yhat havent appeared , so Bought some nice light poldenvales today for £30 each.

 

[Nithsdale]

Jobs getting nuts.

Mate of mine priced a standard Rappa up at Royal Welsh. Went to order last week as he's had a grant approved. Sure he said it had gone up £1100 since. Didn't place the order.

Is there grants on them in England again?

I'm pretty sure the prices on the Alligator yards have only gone up about £1000-£1500 since I bought my one in January 2019, which I didn't think was too bad compared to some other things


Bought an Alligator 5' gate in frame at an auction last week for £90... they're listed as £350 new

 

[Tomo23]

Is there grants on them in England again?

I'm pretty sure the prices on the Alligator yards have only gone up about £1000-£1500 since I bought my one in January 2019, which I didn't think was too bad compared to some other things


Bought an Alligator 5' gate in frame at an auction last week for £90... they're listed as £350 new

Part of this run of grants I think he applied for.

 

[Rural Lass]

I ordrrd some new fowrass at highland show yhat havent appeared , so Bought some nice light poldenvales today for £30 each.

has anyone taken delivery of a Fowrass water bowser, criteria as per the last small grant scheme? I'm worrying as ordered in July but now being blanked and only a month left to be grant eligible. I wouldn't have entertained buying one when an IBC has always done the job but was seduced by the grant. Their faceache page is advertising for staff and selling their wares but no one apparently able to answer or use a phone! James of Fowrass who was on this forum hasn't been active since 2021. How has anyone else found them to deal with? any phone numbers other than the advertised one known?

 

[Anymulewilldo]

I’ve bought a few bits from them usually because they’re much cheaper than the competitors. But service, lead in time and contact is shocking. Not overly impressed with the product finish either but you get what you pay for.

had to make alterations to some bits to make them fit for use, rang him to let him know I thought his design needed tweaking, he didn’t sound very bothered and new ones now still have the same faults. Myself and 2 others I know have experienced the same issues with the same kit.

 

[Tomo23]

I’ve bought a few bits from them usually because they’re much cheaper than the competitors. But service, lead in time and contact is shocking. Not overly impressed with the product finish either but you get what you pay for.

had to make alterations to some bits to make them fit for use, rang him to let him know I thought his design needed tweaking, he didn’t sound very bothered and new ones now still have the same faults. Myself and 2 others I know have experienced the same issues with the same kit.

Seconded

 

[ed g]

Am waiting on the water bowser as well - apparently ready for collection a month ago but not arrived yet although delivery already paid for. Not answering the phone or responding to answer machine messages. Am sure it will arrive - their sheep handling trailer did in time for the last grant.

 

[Nithsdale]

I'm sortof waiting on an order I placed in 2020


I say sortof... I sent a text (after a phonecall) listing everything I wanted. He replied confirming my order... I've heard nothing since I am not looking/waiting for the items to arrive, I bought elsewhere

 

[Tomo23]

I've 100% seen a video on the rappa ones somewhere that shows them in the oven. I was going to get the ones I made done. But never got round to it. They are T6 but I forget which one.

There are 3 different grades of T6, I thought they were just different in terms of machinability etc.

View attachment 1140742

Just bringing this back up to prove I'm not going nuts. Just stumbled across it while doing some R+D into improving my own yard. Turns out it was a Prattley video. 55 seconds in. Baked for about 5 hours at 180 degrees.

 

[Hill Ground]

Just bringing this back up to prove I'm not going nuts. Just stumbled across it while doing some R+D into improving my own yard. Turns out it was a Prattley video. 55 seconds in. Baked for about 5 hours at 180 degrees.

How come when my ewes go over my gates like that chap standing on them I always loose a lug on a hurdle somewhere!!

 

[Welderloon]

Aluminium & its alloys start degrading as soon as they exit the mill, the heat treatment actually accelerates degradation, hence after about 3>5 years your alloy mobile systems start falling to bits, welds break, joining lugs tear, by 8 years its fecked but they pass this off as 'regular use'
The extruded shape gives the strength, the heat treatment removes the warping caused by the welding process & spreads the tension throughout the hurdle giving it the 'spring' the rest is just gimmicky marketing twaddle.

 

[sheepdogtrail]

Jobs getting nuts.

Mate of mine priced a standard Rappa up at Royal Welsh. Went to order last week as he's had a grant approved. Sure he said it had gone up £1100 since. Didn't place the order.

Manufacturers always raise the price when a grant is involved.

 

[Tomo23]

Aluminium & its alloys start degrading as soon as they exit the mill, the heat treatment actually accelerates degradation, hence after about 3>5 years your alloy mobile systems start falling to bits, welds break, joining lugs tear, by 8 years its fecked but they pass this off as 'regular use'
The extruded shape gives the strength, the heat treatment removes the warping caused by the welding process & spreads the tension throughout the hurdle giving it the 'spring' the rest is just gimmicky marketing twaddle.

Thats the bit I was refering to earlier in the thread.

 

[Tomo23]

Manufacturers always raise the price when a grant is involved.

Don't get me started. Has any farmer genuinely had use out of any of the grants? or just the suppliers/manufacturers.

At work he's looking at more concrete sleeper cow tracks. When we put the first lot in 12 years ago or so think he paid around £4 a piece. Few years later and add a grant on and a mate of mine paid £14 a piece the other week,

 

[Welderloon]

Thats the bit I was refering to earlier in the thread.

All the alloy yard manufacturers have their own little engineering quirks, some are better at marketing than others, as long as they are made from alloy they'll always be too expensive for what they are, the only convenience is the light weight, everything else is just sales patter.
A Te-pari system would be a fraction of the price if it was galvanised steel but where is the glamour in marketing that............they would also last longer if galvanised steel but how does that pay them in the long run?.
I'm not complaining, I charge extra for Aluminium welding repair work, the fact most of that work is knackered alloy sheep hurdles merely highlights my point, the dream was already sold long before they arrive at me.

 

[Tomo23]

All the alloy yard manufacturers have their own little engineering quirks, some are better at marketing than others, as long as they are made from alloy they'll always be too expensive for what they are, the only convenience is the light weight, everything else is just sales patter.
A Te-pari system would be a fraction of the price if it was galvanised steel but where is the glamour in marketing that............they would also last longer if galvanised steel but how does that pay them in the long run?.
I'm not complaining, I charge extra for Aluminium welding repair work, the fact most of that work is knackered alloy sheep hurdles merely highlights my point, the dream was already sold long before they arrive at me.

I'm stuck between upgrading my yard with some Rappa bits or starting again making something along the lines of MW Engineering steel handling system. Trouble with the steel ones is weight and probably a need for braked hubs.

 

[sheepdogtrail]

I'm stuck between upgrading my yard with some Rappa bits or starting again making something along the lines of MW Engineering steel handling system. Trouble with the steel ones is weight and probably a need for braked hubs.

Certainty there are pros and cons of each material. But I believe that with sheep. wood and stokboard are hard to beat for it's weight to strength ratio. At least as you are prototyping your ultimate solution.

Aluminum hurdles for corralling and forcing into a wooden race adding stokboard to the sides of the wooden hurdles as you get closer to the pinch point of the race. Race can be all steel or wood. Put a mobile sheep handler on the end and you have a portable yard.

 

[S J H]

I'm stuck between upgrading my yard with some Rappa bits or starting again making something along the lines of MW Engineering steel handling system. Trouble with the steel ones is weight and probably a need for braked hubs.

You could probably buy an old plant trailer as a base, our hurdles and combi clamp are set on one.

 

[Tomo23]

You could probably buy an old plant trailer as a base, our hurdles and combi clamp are set on one.

Certainly one of the options. Trouble then becomes quad won't pull it. Can't win. Find a happy medium to what best suits your own situation I think.

 

[Welderloon]

I'm stuck between upgrading my yard with some Rappa bits or starting again making something along the lines of MW Engineering steel handling system. Trouble with the steel ones is weight and probably a need for braked hubs.

There is a vast array of sheep enterprises locally, the big number lowland sheeper's & ranching tack men all drag huge prattley/rappa/portayard etc etc systems around along with quad bikes on trailers, a selection of pick ups & multiple barking dogs.
The hill places & large estates have strategically placed dedicated permanent fixed pens & 1x basic small mobile system moved from location to location incorporated into these fixed pens which to me always seems most sensible & probably most cost effective method................but again all depends on the system of sheep keeping.