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West Central Wisconsin | The load bars in our alley scale are giving me trouble again. If I have to tear them out again they are getting replaced. Currently the scale is right behind the working chute. What are guys using for scale systems? Load bars, alley scale pad, chute load bars? I feel extremely crippled not being able get a weight on cattle as they are going through our chute. I am not a great judge on Holstein cattle weight. We also plan to use this to weigh out cattle as they go into the pot on the way out. |
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north west arkansas | Mine has load bars under my chute. Central city scales is where all mine have came from. |
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Lisbon, OH | There are a lot of different options out there, and not a one size fits all for everyone. Just depends on what you want out of the system, and what you have to build on to already existing. Alleyway is more portable, under chute has less error due to animals laying on a panel or gate. Both have their drawbacks. But I agree, you have to have a weight on them, guessing is a money loser. Sent you an email, let me know if I can help you lay anything out. |
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NS Canada | My experience has mostly been with gallagher. Just picked up a new set myself a couple weeks back - the super heavy duty ones. They are stout, weigh near 180 lbs between the 2 of them. |
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North Central Texas | Quit looking at cattle scales and find some used industrial or axle scales. They will be metal and you can build whatever on them. The load cells won't be junk either. |
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North Dakota | I hope you have better luck with Gallagher than I do. We are getting pretty good taking our chute on and off and I'm getting real sick of it |
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NS Canada | What problems are you having? I've always got along well with gallagher. Used to sell it a number of years ago also. |
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Lisbon, OH | I would like to know the issues with Gallagher. I've sold close to 300 sets over the past 5 or 6 years, and while not 100% trouble free, I'd say pretty low issues, and gallagher will take care of anything under warranty. The biggest issue that I have seen is how they are taken care of, and that will lead to problems down the road. |
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Driftless SW Wisconsin | Tru-test Cattle scales are different than other industrial scales. Many reasons. Tru-test is a cattle scale company. I've had chute and alley Trutest scales and indicators as recommended by For-Most and not had one problem. All scales need to be installed correctly.
Edited by Jim 1/17/2018 19:57
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North Dakota | We have had to replace both load cells already. Now they are more than a couple years old and the new ones look like they are built better. It seems to never weigh right. You can stand on each corner and get different weights. Stand on the front reads one weight then #50 more on the back. The last time we replaced a load cell things worked pretty good. Then we were weighing cows this fall and a cow walked out of the chute as if she was readying the scale head and some how caught the cable with her nose. Cable slipped down her neck till she thought she was roped, then headed for the back door. Needless to say the scale head just about beat her out the door before the cable tore in 2. Ordered new load cell and now it seems all over the board. This chute is set up inside and we clean it often. I've probably had it 15 years and gave never been happy with it as far as accuracy goes. |
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North Central Texas | So industrial, grain truck scales are less reliable than "cattle" scales? Ours are certified to load out pots for end point sales. Are yours? |
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Driftless SW Wisconsin | The discussion here is about alley and chute scales for weighing individual animals. Truck scales are a different matter altogether. |
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Tn. Ky. Va Tri State Area | oakridge - 1/17/2018 15:39
The load bars in our alley scale are giving me trouble again. If I have to tear them out again they are getting replaced. Currently the scale is right behind the working chute. What are guys using for scale systems? Load bars, alley scale pad, chute load bars? I feel extremely crippled not being able get a weight on cattle as they are going through our chute. I am not a great judge on Holstein cattle weight. We also plan to use this to weigh out cattle as they go into the pot on the way out. Get a set of beam scales they always work or anyone can fix them if they understand anything at about them. Weigh 1 or 10.
Edited by Farmx3 1/17/2018 20:46
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northwest tennessee | How should the scales and load bars be taken care of? |
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North Central Texas | I don't want chute scales or alley scales. You put wear on them every time you use the chute. I also want cattle on stable ground from the time they are crowded till they leave the chute. It's the crappiest place (literally) to put them too. Scales on their own run stay cleaner and last a lot longer. |
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Lisbon, OH | Keeping them clean is one of the most important things to keeping these scales alive. I have seen scales over 10 years old that looked like new because the owner washed them every time they used them. And I also saw a 4 year old set that was completely ruined. The owner of those never cleaned them. The actual load cells on Gallagher scales are made of aluminum, and the manure and urine just corroded them so bad the only fix was a new set. Keeping the manure from piling up is key. You don't have to do it every day, but when we ran cattle over ours nearly every day, we cleaned them out about once a week. You can hose them out with water, you just don't want to use a pressure washer. We have seen quite a few failures on load cells over the past couple of years on scales that looked like new. It seemed like the common thing between all of them was the owners pressure washed them. Gallagher found out that the epoxy that sealed the cables to the cells would sometimes leak if high pressure was applied to it.
The other important thing is to protect the cables on the loadbars. They cannot be spliced or repaired, so the only fix is to replace them, or shorten them if the damage is at the scale head end. They must be matched, and repairing loadbar cables is EXPENSIVE. I have had numerous customers have cows chew the cables, run through them, step on them, set their chutes down on them, etc, etc. I hate giving an estimate on cable repairs, because most of the damages are preventable.
We have a set of rental scales here where I work that probably gets moved and abused more than any set out there, and it is about 14 years old. I have only sent it in for repair once for a replacement battery.
Sorry for the long post. Just some of my observations about scale issues. The worst part about scales is that they always seem to work, except when you need them. If they are handled and maintained, they are usually pretty trouble free. |
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Lisbon, OH | Very good point. My only issue would be that I want a weight on that animal every time it goes through the chute. If I'm doctoring, I want to know how much meds to give, and if I'm just checking one sickness, I want to know if he gained or lost weight. Kind of a catch 22. |
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northwest tennessee | Thanks, I have a set of Tru Test but don't have them in yet. I am going to try to run the cable in sch 40 pipe or something to keep them covered and I keep the chute clean so maybe I wont have much trouble. Any other thoughts on how to protect the cables? This chute is where cattle can get to it. |
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Lisbon, OH | I have had guys run the cables through pipe, and that works really well. Probably have to use at least 2" pipe to get the connectors through. Just make sure the cables are unhooked from the indicator when you are done if they are exposed, and tuck them under the platform or chute where cattle can't get to them. |
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Livestock scales
