What to avoid - and why...

When buying cattle yards and other stock yards

  • Narrow yard entrance gates.
  • Lack of manways.
  • Lack of cross-over gates.
  • Hidden extra costs Re: ground pins etc.
  • Exaggerated claims with regard to holding/working capacities.
    (some capacities claimed must relate to either drought stricken weaners or goats).
  • Gates that hinge on the outside perimeter of the yards.
Gates hinged on the outside of the yard results in poor stock flow and unnecessary walking for the operator.
Bent gate frame. Our center joining lug prevents this from happening.
Bad corners in yards which have to be blocked off, caused in part by the gate hinging the wrong way (because gate will only swing 90 degrees)
Slam catch bin does not roll back. Also easily opened by a tail bone, horn or nose due to no protective plate.
Bruise or cut points as stock pass. Under pressure this gate frame will bend and render the slam catch useless. Also gate can fly straight past the keeper.
This gate only opens around 100 degrees both ways.
This is as far as the gate will open. This results in gates broken off their hinges due to the massive fulcrum effect if a beast hits or backs into a gate.
Cattle will not load easily up the ramp due to the V shaped force.
A common hinging and latching system. The double acting hinge which allows the gate to swing 360 degrees can suck back and leave a big gap between the post and the gate.
A drop bolt catch can be a rib catcher and is slow to latch.
Note the gap between the panels or gates (is easy to break a leg if the leg comes down between panels). And these pins will rattle.

Comparing apples with apples?

Both these yards have 32 panels and 12 gates. Which yard is the better value?
Yard B superimposed on Yard A exactly to scale.

YARD B. Total yard area is ONLY 180 square meters (work 65 head hold 128 head).
But other suppliers may call this a 130 to 150 head yard.

YARD B superimposed on an NSS YARD A (To Scale), The National Stockyard Systems yard is 45% bigger !!!!

NSS Gates are wider. All gates under 3.3M have the Fail Safe Slam Catch NSS Gates fold back 180 degrees and 100 degrees through. Most imported gates only 90 degrees each way and that is why some other suppliers hinge gates at the wrong end.

NSS pound gates all face the same way for efficient drafting.

NSS has a patented bolt together joining system.

NSS pricing includes all required ground pins. (Check if ground pins are included with other suppliers).

There are no manways in the imported yard.

YARD B uses 1.8M panels in the working race so race is shorter.

High Tensile Australian Steel is stronger than Imported Steel

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