What to buy?

[CopperBeech]

If you kept sheep and were expanding, and someone was going to give you a grant for £2000-£3000 what would you get, as a really handy piece of equipment?

If you currently operated with minimal equipment mostly on rented land (both long and short term) i.e Truck, Quad, Trailer, Dog, Crook, Galvanized simple race (race,hurdles, guillotine gate, parting gate) old weigher.

 

[David.]

20 or 25 aluminium hurdles, use ours all the time and should have got them soon as we got sheep. Even without the race component, you can still throw a ring around a bunch of ewes and small lambs to catch the lambs for treatment.

 

[S J H]

Surely more sheep if your expanding

It really depends on how many sheep you've already got?

 

[David.]

He did say equipment.

 

[MRT]

Truck, trailer and dog

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Truck, trailer and dog

I took that's the minimal equipment the op already has.

Depends on circumstances - if your ground is spread out, I'd go for an alloy type handling system with drop in weigh tray like @TimW. S/h if budget is too tight. If more or less in a ring fence I'd go for a combi clamp.
Personal choice anyways.

 

[David.]

For 2-3k?

 

[neilo]

For 2-3k?

I'm guessing the £2-3k is only 40% of the total spend required, and recently announced to make Welsh holdings more efficient.

Like the idea of a stack of alloy hurdles, and also a flat trailer that you can drop down to carry them all on, along with the galv race. An electronic conversion for the old weigher, assuming the crate is still serviceable, would be quite high up my list too.

 

[S J H]

He did say equipment.

My bad

It would still depend on how many you've got, and where else you can use the equipment. If you've got cattle then I'd have thought you'd want something dual purpose. Or like neil says, a flat trailer then it can always be used elsewhere.

 

[David.]

Then in that case, I'd look at the Glendale/Tony Binns trailer handler without the galv hurdles. I'd still buy the 20/25 alloy hurdles of your choice, and I'd put an ally chequer plate section on the trailer race floor with a set of @Allied Weighing weigh-bars under it.

 

[MRT]

I took that's the minimal equipment the op already has.

Ooooooooooooooooo yeeaaaaahhh. Whoops.

 

[Hillfarmer18]

How many sheep do you have?

 

[Hillfarmer18]

Depending on how many sheep you have I would buy some sort of portable handling system

 

[CopperBeech]

Neil hit the nail on the head. Thanks for the suggestions. Think electronic conversion for old weigh crate, flat bed trailer, more good sheeted alloy hurdles, and few other bits and bobs to improve handling system. Also thinking of quad mounted fencing set up.