Drafting gate

[Freisan10]

Any one recommend a drafting gate, for a 40 point rotary

 

[Keep On]

Saber here. Very good

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Not ATL

 

[Bramble]

Not ATL

Why not? My one seems to work alright at the moment

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Why not? My one seems to work alright at the moment

Mine never worked from day 1 and they never sorted it. It would catch at least 90% but unless it catches 99.9% it's a waste of time.

There's quite a few of us on here with abandoned ATL gates.

 

[Freisan10]

Saber here. Very good

Which one is the saber

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Which one is the saber

It's marketed by LIC.

If you are fitting any VSDs then you'll need to make sure that your electrician uses the correct sort of breaker on them otherwise the RFID tag reader will struggle with interference.

 

[Suckndiesel]

Have a gea one here, it would be 90% on a good day. Are there any makes that are truly 99.9% accurate?

 

[Sparkymark]

Another vote for Saber here, highly accurate.

 

[Keep On]

For the rotary its got to be free flowing, too much stop/ start and you’ll back up on the bridge. Positioning of gate from the bridge is key, saber guys very helpful.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Have a gea one here, it would be 90% on a good day. Are there any makes that are truly 99.9% accurate?

The type you swing by hand? If using it to draft cows for AI then anything missing 1% is a complete waste of time.

Drafting gates are a brilliant idea and I hear good reports of the sabre one but like many brilliant ideas they were marketed before they had the technology to back up the idea.

 

[frederick]

Atl gate here got all 20 feet cows this morning out of 240.

Monday it got 85 cows for pre mating matching and 1 extra.

Stand and watch it cows go slightly faster and all goes to pot. Maybe jerseys heading to grass are too fast. Ours are slightly slowed by foot trim crush in front so draft cows to left rest of cows to right but nothing can run straight on.

 

[Rossymons]

As above, the make is irrelevant but making it in the right place is key.

We work with Delaval, Westfalia, Fullwood, Dairymaster and manual ones without any problems but they're all set up well. Usually a sensible distance away from the parlour. They all have air operated texas gates to stop them walking back out so the only way is forward once the gate has opened.

 

[vantage]

As above, the make is irrelevant but making it in the right place is key.

We work with Delaval, Westfalia, Fullwood, Dairymaster and manual ones without any problems but they're all set up well. Usually a sensible distance away from the parlour. They all have air operated texas gates to stop them walking back out so the only way is forward once the gate has opened.

Yes , siting is important. I have a Delaval one, 16 years vintage, catches 99.9%, only problem can be if you have a slow cow followed by a sharp one, front gate opens for dopey, before saloon gates shut, sharpey is up her arse and the gate can reset as it’s read sharpey before dopey has been drafted. Only happens very, very occasionally.
I’d be surprised that the texas gates are air operated ; ours are vacuum, from a small stand alone pump ; as compressed air can be too powerful.

 

[Suckndiesel]

The type you swing by hand? If using it to draft cows for AI then anything missing 1% is a complete waste of time.

Drafting gates are a brilliant idea and I hear good reports of the sabre one but like many brilliant ideas they were marketed before they had the technology to back up the idea.

No I suppose it’s actually westfalia as it’s in 15 years. Never been anywhere near 100%, all the measurements are correct and space for 2 sides of the parlour for cows before the gate. Not only does it miss cows but some of the cows that it does split know how to push back out of the vacuum operated gates and get away. What are these non return gates exactly, any pictures?

 

[Freisan10]

Got told today that Saber are no longer selling in the uk as they are closing, is there another good gate?

 

[Bramble]

No I suppose it’s actually westfalia as it’s in 15 years. Never been anywhere near 100%, all the measurements are correct and space for 2 sides of the parlour for cows before the gate. Not only does it miss cows but some of the cows that it does split know how to push back out of the vacuum operated gates and get away. What are these non return gates exactly, any pictures?

Had a similar problem with our ATL gate when we first used it, some cows would push it back open. Compressed air operated, working within the recommended pressures. The rams could be speeded up/slowed down but they weren’t strong enough to stop a cow pushing back through it. I ended up fitting an air operated latch so its not possible to push the gate open, the ram for the latch is piped into the same circuit as the main gate ram so the latch lifts as the main ram pressurizes.

I‘ve found the gate very accurate, misses the odd cow either a very fast one or one that stops as the gate opens and then the next one behind pushes underneath and the antennae reads the second cow so the gate closes (I think there’s only one cow in the herd that has learnt this trick). I find the ident system is excellent, almost 100%. I was very meticulous when installing the gate antennae and ident system to make sure there was no electrical interference, and the antennae is well shielded as well. I think ours would catch 97-98% (maybe better) of the ones we want but it has taken a bit of ’tuning’ and improving. Have found ATL to be very helpful. It’s on a herringbone parlour

The most annoying thing is the gate stays open until another cow is identified. If the last cow through it is drafted the gate stay open (unless manually overridden). All the cows can then walk back to the parlour, so have to be chased out again back into their sorting pen