“Hump” Raises Wheel Line Over Sheep
 ✖  |
David Sturman and his family raise sheep on their 44-acre farm near St. Ignatius, Mont. He practices intensive rotational grazing on pastures irrigated with wheel lines. One of the biggest challenges is moving the sheep to the next grazing strip when they have to go under the wheel line because it isn’t high enough for them to pass under. He finally solved this problem by creating a “hump” for the wheel line to raise it up.
To make the hump, he took a half section of a spare wheel and bolted it on the outside of a wheel, so it acts like a cam to let the wheel lift. This gives the wheel about a 9-inch rise so the sheep can fit under comfortably. It takes about 3 or 4 minutes to put the hump onto a wheel, and the sheep can go under it to get into the next paddock, and then it only takes 3 or 4 minutes to take it off again.
This simple method raises the wheel line enough for sheep to go under at that spot. David hasn’t built one that cattle could go under but feels the same principle would work, with a bigger size “hump” for more head height.
“We have a 5-foot wheel line,” David says. “The taller ewes are very reluctant to go underneath it, but with this 9 1/2-in. rise, they go under it with no problem.”
Click here to download page story appeared in.
Click here to read entire issue
“Hump” Raises Wheel Line Over Sheep IRRIGATION Acessories David Sturman and his family raise sheep on their 44-acre farm near St Ignatius Mont He practices intensive rotational grazing on pastures irrigated with wheel lines One of the biggest challenges is moving the sheep to the next grazing strip when they have to go under the wheel line because it isn’t high enough for them to pass under He finally solved this problem by creating a “hump” for the wheel line to raise it up To make the hump he took a half section of a spare wheel and bolted it on the outside of a wheel so it acts like a cam to let the wheel lift This gives the wheel about a 9-inch rise so the sheep can fit under comfortably It takes about 3 or 4 minutes to put the hump onto a wheel and the sheep can go under it to get into the next paddock and then it only takes 3 or 4 minutes to take it off again This simple method raises the wheel line enough for sheep to go under at that spot David hasn’t built one that cattle could go under but feels the same principle would work with a bigger size “hump” for more head height “We have a 5-foot wheel line ” David says “The taller ewes are very reluctant to go underneath it but with this 9 1/2-in rise they go under it with no problem ”
To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click
here to register with your account number.
