Tractor Drawn Cattle Box

Martyn

Member
Location
South west
We are now finnishing our own cattle and our numbers are always growing, have been moving cattle with iforwilliam box and truck and basically just to small now.

What brands of trailer should I be looking at , would like the option to load 8-12 fat cattle but not to big a trailer that it's awful in Cornish farm lanes.

Are these units with bale trailers as running gear worth look at, easy to remove and safely secure box?
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
Popcorn time

I'd say have a look at M4 trailers to start

All road going truck bodies are 8ft 2in wide unless it's really ancient so you'd be at full width if you bought a secondhand box and put on a bale trailer

You could ask Eddie Staines for a price and with a Plowman's box on top

Whatever you do , do get the proprietary standing legs to lift off and I'd choose smooth planking sides without sheep mid point vents to keep it clean unless you're ever considering sheep.

Plenty of secondhand boxes through Peter Monkhouse or Jon Burgess but I'd always spend some time / bit of money on proper internal slam gates to keep you safe and make the job easier

Avoid anything with steel chequerplate floor
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
If widths an issue I'd look at graham edwards 20ft box. Not a demount but 7ft wide. Look a tidy rig.
I like GE stuff. I've always been put off by the ramp angle. Certainly narrow and not expensive and as others have said, once you've a box how many really take the box off to use the bale trailer front line
 

Martyn

Member
Location
South west
Thankyou I will look into the firm's/brands mentioned above. Are Hudson's worth looking at? Dealer not to far away? Would rather pay the extra and could easily have 25 years life in front of it here.
 

sidjon

Member
Location
EXMOOR
Thankyou I will look into the firm's/brands mentioned above. Are Hudson's worth looking at? Dealer not to far away? Would rather pay the extra and could easily have 25 years life in front of it here.
Borrowed a mate's Hudson during the winter, a couple of times, now will probably purchase one ( was looking for second hand but hens teeth comes to mind)
 

Suffolksucklers

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Suffolk
Stewart trailers. A demountable box sounds like a great idea but no one ever takes the box off in reality!
Take ours off every year between June and August. Easy job as we had factory weld in too lengths of channel across the box so you don't have to worry about putting tines through the roof. Had factory make a four foot extension to slide in as well for bales. In our situation a dedicated livestock box would be a lot of money tied up.
 

Suffolksucklers

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Suffolk
I’ve a Stewart demountable 25’. Very pleased to have it. It comes off from about now for silage and straw and back on in the autumn. Quite easy to take off and on with the telehandler with fork extensions. We spec’d it with a lower hinge point for the tailgate to reduce the tailgate angle and have put the trailer on lower profile tyres for the same reason
Chap near us had Stewart put channel all the way through his for lifting off so extensions aren't needed and you don't have to worry about going through the roof. When we bought ours we had them do the same. Don't have to have as much room to get the tines in and out as well depending on where you are taking it off
 

Optimus

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North of Perth
Our Stewart's not bad, box is 20 years old on its second trailer.26ft gets 10 big fat in cattle just nice, 12 if there smaller.set of extensions to lift it off.which is rare as we shift cattle an sheep all the time with it.got the second trailer galvanised which is much better than just painted.
 
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sidjon

Member
Location
EXMOOR
Halse do Marshall and Portequip.
Chippenham Farm Sales do MLM and others. Some in their yard the other day.
Wouldn't touch a painted floor one, neighbour has a marshall one and the floor needs replacing and not 10 years old and would be for sheep only, think cattle would have gone through the floor already.
 

Truenorth

Member
Mixed Farmer
Stay well away for Marshall

We borrowed a Marshall from a friend that he boasted about when he bought it.
It's badly balanced, back door is heavy, gates very heavy, horrible to reverse. Also worsed of all cattle would not go in it. Hardest day we have had using a box.
 

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