Rancher Sheep Gripper/Weigher

[Woolless]

Evening all,

I have been endlessly mulling over my options for buying a sheep digital/EID scale. In an ideal world, I would get a combi clamp with weighing capacity. However, getting it with the full bells and whistles =££££. Mobility also an issue and just seems a bit excessive having that plus mobile yard with my set up.

So has anyone used the Gripper as an EID scale? I believe that it just sits inside the race, or can be raised up with a bit of extra kit. Would it be up to restraining ewes for bolusing etc.? Ballpark price?

Any opinions or advice would be great.

Thanks, Woolless.

 

[Woolless]

@Nithsdale Farmer

 

[Nithsdale]

Iv looked at the Rancher Gripper quite a few times (built just along the A75 from me in Castle Douglas). Same reasons as you for weighing, tagging, dagging fat lambs and possibly bolusing ewes.

It will (is supposed to) sit inside an existing shedding race... either flat on the floor, or with a raised platform and ramp, with rear gate for cutting/dagging. Looking at one in the flesh, itl catch lambs easily... I'm not 100% on ewes, especially once shorn. I couldn't make up my mind how long it would last though

You can get them with or without weights... I imagine it would be easy to fix it up to read eID too.

Not very sure on a price, any time iv seen Rancher at shows etc iv never been able to catch anyone free to talk to them.

Photo lifted from their Facebook page.

 

[Nithsdale]

Not sure I posted that pic twice... was supposed to be this one, again from Facebook

 

[spin cycle]

be good for worming/vacc lambs to?....price is key though

 

[Nithsdale]

be good for worming/vacc lambs to?....price is key though

Something is nagging at me saying its £700... but not sure if that's just the Gripper, or includes the weighbars.

 

[spin cycle]

Something is nagging at me saying its £700... but not sure if that's just the Gripper, or includes the weighbars.

be a bargain if weighbars were included.....i should think that would be for the gripper...it'd be about the same as a modulamb dagging crate IIRC...1/3 price of a combi clamp which i couldn't justify

 

[Woolless]

I did wonder whether they would be able to catch a ewe, particularly a well shed Easycare! £700 including weigh bars wouldn't be too deadly. Thinking about it, I would only really need ewes restrained two or three times per year. Managed to bolus them in the race last year without too much discomfort!

 

[Woolless]

Doesn't look like there's may Gripper users on here! Any similar devices about?

 

[spin cycle]

I did wonder whether they would be able to catch a ewe, particularly a well shed Easycare! £700 including weigh bars wouldn't be too deadly. Thinking about it, I would only really need ewes restrained two or three times per year. Managed to bolus them in the race last year without too much discomfort!

don't really handle shedders that much....crowd them up for annual worm and hept...it's lambs that are the work

 

[Woolless]

don't really handle shedders that much....crowd them up for annual worm and hept...it's lambs that are the work

Would be useful to have them restrained for Heptavac, post-weaning bag and teeth check, plus bolusing.

 

[exmoor dave]

Something is nagging at me saying its £700... but not sure if that's just the Gripper, or includes the weighbars.

Can't imagine that includes load bars and weigh head.
They are both best part of £600...... each!

 

[Nithsdale]

Can't imagine that includes load bars and weigh head.
They are both best part of £600...... each!

Depends where you look. Steer away from the big names, load bars can be had for £250, for a pair!! (That was ones for cattle crush, I'd imagine sheep ones could be abit cheaper).

 

[exmoor dave]

Depends where you look. Steer away from the big names, load bars can be had for £250, for a pair!! (That was ones for cattle crush, I'd imagine sheep ones could be abit cheaper).

Yes and no,

I've had cheap load bars and weigh head, nothing wrong with them. Still use for weighing stuff like bales.

On te-pari bars and weigh head now and the difference is very noticeable,
Little things like speed to zero then actually read the weigh, then re-zero quicken enough not to confuse things like the old ebay jobby did.
Accuracy seems much better, in that you don't get the odd weird weight, or zeros resetting randomly to the naked bar zero- this happened alot, my crate at the time weighted 5kg, always zero'd at start of job, if you didn't watch the zero like a hawk and it reset its self weights were out by 5kg...... no joke when the kill sheet comes back.
No problem with cattle cause weighing is a slower job so easy to watch the zero but with sheep it was a PITA.
Also the tru test, te-pari etc weigh heads record the data for you which a generic ebay set of bars and head don't.

The big things for me though were bluetooth enabled (to record on to my stock recorder and phone)
And the integrated EID reader in the weigh-head (still need the antenna panal) to link weights and numbers.
I really can't over estimate how useful a instant read out of DLWG since last weighing is.

 

[jankat]

We bought a gripper a month ago. first job was checking bags & teeth and tarring the newly weaned ewes, great piece of kit, if you get the platform the are at a great height.
Next we dagged all the dirty lambs.
Then yesterday we put all the early lambing ewes through and dozed, drenched and gave abortion vaccine, also changed any missing tags.
haven't got the weigher yet as 3/4 of this years lambs away, but will get it for next year.
Looked at a combi clamp, but couldn't justify the price, also moving it around, the gripper comes off the platform easily and could be lifted onto/into a trailer.

 

[hubbahubba]

I was after the same thing. Like a weigh create that I can clamp them in. Don't like the idea of the rope clamp idea as think it would loose grip as some point. Would rather it with a gate at the front also. Ordered a iae scanweigh create and tru test reader etc. Still no use for dagging, dosing etc though.

 

[DB67]

We have one, it's okay but if your weighing hundred of lambs it can start to get tiring on the hands constantly pulling the rope tight, and once the rope loses grip it can ping open and off the lamb goes. It fits in our mobile system though, but it didn't fit in our old prattley.

 

[Nithsdale]

We have one, it's okay but if your weighing hundred of lambs it can start to get tiring on the hands constantly pulling the rope tight, and once the rope loses grip it can ping open and off the lamb goes. It fits in our mobile system though, but it didn't fit in our old prattley.

Rope is cheap to replace... did wonder about it doing that though. How long does it last before starting to slip?

You could fit a chain instead to do same job - but that would add noise

 

[DB67]

Rope is cheap to replace... did wonder about it doing that though. How long does it last before starting to slip?

You could fit a chain instead to do same job - but that would add noise

Ours started getting ropey (ha) last year, we have had it 4 years so had a good few thousand lambs through it.

 

[Nithsdale]

Just to bump this...

Was in my local supplies store this morning, one of my brothers friends was in too. We were talking away, he said he bought a Gripper a few months back.

Verdict is very good - he weighs all lambs through it, trimmed/dressed his ewe lambs in it for sale and dosed/bolused all his ewes through it so far.

He says it catches ewes easily (blackies and pure Lleyns), even recently shorn.

I said I was considering one, his reply - get it bought!