"I built it for my own use. I needed a convenient way to work cattle on the range by myself since help is hard to find and expensive," says Warren Halyung, a Canadian rancher who drew big crowds at the Farm Progress Show in Regina, Saskatchewan, recently when he exhibited his new cattle-catching squeeze chute for the first time.

His mobile chute mounts on the front right side of a pickup and lets you chase cattle in the field and catch them in a hydraulically-operated headlock. Then you can pull over to do whatever work is necessary before moving on to the next animal.

"Takes just seconds to catch even the wildest animal and once you've got it, works as well as any commercial squeeze chute," says Halyung.

The cattle catcher bolts to the bumper and the pickup box. Once mounted (takes 20 min. to mount and dismount) it can be left in place since it folds up against the cab for transport (sticks out just 4 in. from the side mirror of pickup) and folds out quickly to working position. Whether in working position or folded up, the chute doesn't interfere with the passenger side door. You can get in and out of it normally.

The chute is open at the front. To catch an animal, you drive up behind them. Once the chute surrounds the animal, you activate the hydraulic headgate lock -- powered by a single small hydraulic cylinder.

"It takes me as little as 12 sec. to catch a cow on the run. Lets one person work cattle, saving on the need for expensive hired help. It's great during calving" says Halyung, who just built the unit last spring and is looking for a manufacturer.