360° Manual Crowding Yard with Pneumatic Entry Gate:

Our 360° manual crowding yard with pneumatic entry gate offers you the advantage of a full 360° but with the affordability of a manual operation. The pneumatic entry gate allows you to have a steady, yet continuous flow of cattle in the crowding yard with the least amount of effort and reduced labour requirements. The manually operated inner gate means that you have control over the speed of which you index your animals into the laneway.

The 360° aspect comes from the rotation of the gate hinging on the centre pole. The gate has been manufactured to operate with two gates within the crowd, on a full rotation. A full rotation starts when cattle entry the crow from the access gate and fill more than 3/4 of the crowd. After the cattle are settled and feeding into the curved lane the rotating gate behind them can be pushed forward behind the cattle as they feed into the curved lane. The gate has been manufractured with incremental no back stops, which means if a animal in the crowd pushes back on the gate it will only go back until it catches on one of the stoppers. Which means the operator behind the gate is kept safe from the gate being push backwards, a incident which in most instances would cause serious inquiry.

The a stationary panel is attached between the centre pool and the off side of the curved lane provides a barriar for how far the cattle go around the crowd. It has been positioned at this angle to help the flow of cattle going into a curved lane and give direction for cattle to move into the lane. Once all cattle in the crowd have moved into the curved lane the rotating gate will complete a full rotation, then be manually swung back to it’s original opern position for the next group of cattle to come through.

The pneumatic entry gate, which can be operate by a remote. This addition adds to operator convenience as there would not be the need to open and shut the gate from within the yard, which also increases the operator safety as the operator is not putting themselves at risk when latch a gate behind cattle.

Overview of Crowding Yards:

Our legendary crowding yards (or more commonly known as "tubs" or "forces") have developed to be the pivotal point of your livestock processing centre. Contrary to popular belief, the crowding yard does not "force" the animals but rather uses animal psychology to persuade cattle to line up in single file inside a narrow laneway. With the correct training and use, this will be one of the most valuable pieces of equipment in your yards.

Crowding yards have been, and still are, often mistakenly known as "forcing pens". This is an ignorance that is carried over from a time when people risked their lives trying to close heavy gates on ill-designed triangular pens called "forces". The idea back then was to force cattle towards the narrow end of the triangular pen in an attempt to drive them into a single lane, usually with the aid of a "jigger".

With over 35 years of continual improvement backed by our research and observations in different situations, our crowding yards have developed to solve the traditional challenge of how to increase productivity whilst maintaining your safety and the welfare of your animals.

The ergonomic design of our crowding yards has utilised the natural behaviour of cattle whilst incorporating these elements - safety and efficiency - to create an ideal working centre.

Our research proves that the cost of production is the most crucial element to measure in the effectiveness and efficiency of your operation. This factor is often overlooked when deciding on a new crowd as people wrongly think that price is the only consideration.

Crowding yard operation and catwalks:

At Thompson Longhorn we believe the crowding yard is best operated from a catwalk on the outside of the yard. This is not because we believe that cattle should not be habituated with people, our reasons are safety related. The “crowd pen”, be it a tub or pen, is a confining area just like a single raceway or alley. A skilled stockman will not step on foot into any pen where they cannot move to be in the correct position in relation to the animals. In any useful crowding system that is impossible to do, with the exception of a ‘Bud box’ in which the operator moves amongst the animals to persuade them to exit. The ‘correct position’ is never in the middle of the group and rarely directly behind them. Good stock handlers have always moved animals with relative ease and efficiency, just like they do today, but it was rare to find one of these people who could articulate the methods, skills and animal behaviour that they used. In the changed culture of today we have eradicated the term “forcing pen” and the best stockmen do not use “jiggers”. This is a great step forward for both aspiring stock handlers and the stock that we handle. It has always been impossible to force grown animals to do anything. It is a good idea for anyone to understand how a crowding yard works but it is more important to understand that cattle will walk through a good one if you follow a simple procedure. This means that in a short training session you can train a novice to feed cattle into a crowding yard and through to a single race. This is not to say there are no stock handling skills to be applied when using even the best designed equipment, there are. But these skills are so easy to understand and apply that even someone whom you would never dream of letting into a pen full of cattle can be trained if necessary. They will be safe and do a reasonable job even on their first day.

Standard Features:

·         16.2m² (180°), 23.3m² (270°), 28.7m² (360°) controlled animal space

·         Optimised radius of 3.0 metres.

·         Nearside or offside operation.

·         Easy and safe to operate from catwalk.

·         Rubber buffers are used to reduce operational noise.

·         Quality Australian steel; heavy duty construction:

o   Posts: 75x75x4 SHS

o   Rails: 50x50x3 SHS

·         Durable 2mm galvanised sheeting 1200mm high.

·         Hot-dip galvanised adjustable footing 65x65x5 SHS which allows on-site levelling for quick and easy installation.

·         Non-ratchet, friction braking system ensures quiet operation and reduces stress on livestock

·         Heavy duty greasable urethane bushed gate hinges or large slew bearings keep gates level and prevent excessive pneumatic cylinder seal wear.

·         Catwalk and safety guardrail included:

o   Galvanised expanded mesh catwalk and step treads,

o   2 sets of steps per crowd,

o   Compliant with AS1657-2013.