Sheep/lamb weighing setups

[Downton_shep]

I did have but it was the first thing to go when I was trying to sort out the issues. The other thing I found , which of course should have been obvious, is to zero the weigh head with the clamp in the closed position as when open it changes the weight by about 10kg can't quite work out why but definitely the case. I reasonably happy weighing ewes (70 kg) . Standing in the middle of the foot plate and recording the weight as soon red light on seems to give consistent results

Surely it shouldn’t make a difference if it’s in the open or closed position? Was thinking about sorting weigh cells for ours but feeling a little put off now.

 

[neilo]

Surely it shouldn’t make a difference if it’s in the open or closed position? Was thinking about sorting weigh cells for ours but feeling a little put off now.

I was in your position this time last year, so asked the question on here. No, they all said, always bang on accuracy..... Now they say.

 

[Al R]

I was in your position this time last year, so asked the question on here. No, they all said, always bang on accuracy..... Now they say.

And how do you find your combi clamp @neilo

 

[neilo]

And how do you find your combi clamp @neilo

I’m not 100% confident in the weights tbh, but the shearing machine is hanging off the arm to one end and it needs a good clear out underneath....
IF I can get consistent weights through it, it is the best way to draft lat lambs IME.
, with all tagging, marking, etc fall done in the same operation as weighting & drafting.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

I was in your position this time last year, so asked the question on here. No, they all said, always bang on accuracy..... Now they say.

Excuse me Mr O but I've been questioning the accuracy of mine on here, and probably to you as well for the last 3 years or more. I did qualify it by saying I had a gallagher weigh head though.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

I’m not 100% confident in the weights tbh, but the shearing machine is hanging off the arm to one end and it needs a good clear out underneath....
IF I can get consistent weights through it, it is the best way to draft lat lambs IME.
, with all tagging, marking, etc fall done in the same operation as weighting & drafting.

Agree with all that

 

[yellowbelly]

I’m not 100% confident in the weights tbh, but the shearing machine is hanging off the arm to one end and it needs a good clear out underneath....

Ours has a machine arm on and I'm happy it weighs the same every time..............

I always weigh that 4 stone weight (yellow line) before I start and, as you can see, it always weighs the same - no gain or loss. I concede that you have to stand in the same place but you pretty much have to in order to press the 'weigh' button.
The only difference I can see with ours, that maybe makes a difference to other peoples, is that the whole lot is mounted on a very solidly built, 4" steel channel, transport frame which definitely stops it flexing/moving on the weigh bars and certainly negates the effect of an uneven surface that it is standing on.

 

[neilo]

Ours has a machine arm on and I'm happy it weighs the same every time..............
View attachment 592106

I always weigh that 4 stone weight (yellow line) before I start and, as you can see, it always weighs the same - no gain or loss. I concede that you have to stand in the same place but you pretty much have to in order to press the 'weigh' button.
The only difference I can see with ours, that maybe makes a difference to other peoples, is that the whole lot is mounted on a very solidly built, 4" steel channel, transport frame which definitely stops it flexing/moving on the weigh bars and certainly negates the effect of an uneven surface that it is standing on.

I thought an uneven surface might be an issue, as it is with my old digital crate, so I saved up for a couple of years to buy the extortionately priced Ritchie frame to mount the bars on. I bolted the bars to that and drilled a hole through the centre of the weigh bars (being careful to avoid any cables) and through the horizontals on the CombiClamp. I dropped a couple of bolts down through those holes, just to stop it sliding sideways and keep it in the same place and the whole lot is sitting on a flat concrete floor. I'm usually stood in about the same place when it reads anyway, so I don't think that's an issue.

When I turn the indicator on, I often get an 'unstable zero' message, but it re-zeros fine afterwards when I press the zero button again.

I really must get round to clearing out underneath, and make a bar to hang the shearing machine off an overhead rafter instead. It's on the list, and has been for a while....

 

[Al R]

The frame came with our load bars and weigh head eziweigh 5. The whole lot is sitting on squares of 6x1" timber under the corners to take out movement on the concrete.
We zero and then put a 56lb weight on to check that it's 25kg, it usually is but after 10 lambs the 56lb weight can weigh 20kg

The next step for me is getting a fabricator in to put a bar across the back to bolt onto the weigh cells to stop foreword/backward movement of the frame.


@neilo weve got 2 hurdles in a L formation, with an ancient guillotine tied to the hurdle, the hook hangs the shearer off it, here's also an old twin calf milk bucket on the hurdle with all appropriate spray cans that are needed and this also holds the tags/taggers when we're tagging.

 

[neilo]

@neilo weve got 2 hurdles in a L formation, with an ancient guillotine tied to the hurdle, the hook hangs the shearer off it, here's also an old twin calf milk bucket on the hurdle with all appropriate spray cans that are needed and this also holds the tags/taggers when we're tagging.

After 12 months of saying it would be cheaper to build the backframe myself, but never getting round to it, I went and bought one. To be fair, it does hold everything in the right place, once I'd added a removable shelf and a couple of 'hang on' holders. The shearing machine arm works well too, unless it's effecting the weighing accuracy. My CombiClamp is only ever used in one place in a shed, so easy enough to just bolt up an overhead bar to fit the shearing machine onto.

 

[hally]

Funnily enough we had a demo of the scotsqueeze last week and the weights were all over the place when checked against our very accurate pharmweigh and they pointed out you had to zero it when shut and not open. After that it seemed fine

 

[Downton_shep]

All these comments are really putting me off!
How accurate is yours @exmoor dave ?

 

[exmoor dave]

All these comments are really putting me off!
How accurate is yours @exmoor dave ?

No problems here!
Doesn't seem to matter where in the clamp the sheep is stood.
Just got to make sure the sheep do have all legs in the clamp.

Really the only thing that throws it is if one sheep exits & the next enters before the 1st has got all legs off the clamp, in that scenario the weight doesn't reset and the weight of the first animal is applied to the 2nd.

Not really a problem in manual mode because you'll see its done it &press re-weigh.
But in auto draft it would be a problem.
It's just a case of getting the sensors positioned right depending how the sheep are running.
I.e if the sheep are keen you need to slide the sensors to a position so the back door doesn't open too quick for the next sheep.

 

[romneymarsh]

I think there is a problem of consistency with weights on the combi if you don't let the weight go back to zero and stand in the same place everytime until weight is stabilized and then record. My ewes charge through which can be an issue. I have an XR3000 weigh head .

All said and done it's still right up there with the best bit of kit I have. Sheep work is hard but without the combi clamp working life for me would be far more testing and difficult. Most days it's just me and the Kelpie!

 

[romneymarsh]

Now I'm really vexed as to what is the correct weight.

Difference between combi clamp open and closed is 5 Kg but weight is recorded with clamp shut and sheep secured so logically zero when clamp shut . So after zeroing check weigh with known weight , bang on !.

Weigh batch of lambs, record , analysis through software shows they have put on around 6 kg in 10 days , which is unrealistic, when last time they were weighed through weigh crate with same weigh head . So if anyone can help me out and tell me what they really weigh carry on

 

[scholland]

Now I'm really vexed as to what is the correct weight.

Difference between combi clamp open and closed is 5 Kg but weight is recorded with clamp shut and sheep secured so logically zero when clamp shut . So after zeroing check weigh with known weight , bang on !.

Weigh batch of lambs, record , analysis through software shows they have put on around 6 kg in 10 days , which is unrealistic, when last time they were weighed through weigh crate with same weigh head . So if anyone can help me out and tell me what they really weigh carry on

Did you weigh them the same way last time ie zeroed with the clamp closed?

 

[romneymarsh]

Last time they were through a prattley weigh crate with same weigh head again zero 'd with a check weight . Lambs were possibly weighing a tad light at that session as they were rather loose and needed drenching . They have perked up markedly since. The only way to really check this out is to yard them again today and run them through the weigh crate chute and see what that says .

 

[romneymarsh]

Think I may have solved , wool and sh!t under the footplate moving beams at the entry end which meant than when closed a small proportion of the 'weight' was taken by the ground rather than the load bars .

Note for all it doesn't take a lot and should be checked before any weighing operations .

Now I have constant check weight with panel both open and shut . Confidence restored but lambs now weigh 4kg lighter