A Gate Opener Kit, Drive over Gates or Cattle Grid – Which One Do You Want?

Do you know how many gates the average farmer has to open and close each day? Actually, the number will depend on the size of the farm, but it is a lot. If you’re working in pairs the job isn’t so arduous as one drives, the other opens and closes as you go. If you’re by yourself, it becomes time consuming and painfully annoying.

Farming isn’t a job you take on if you don’t like weather, but really, there is little in the world that is less fun that having to get soaked just so you can open a gate – and there is never just one to open! This is why someone clever invented various types of automatic opening gates, however few farmers are going to go out and replace all their gates – no matter what the general public may think, farmers just aren’t that rich. There can also be problems with some of the truly automated options that use sensors to open as your truck approaches.

However, if you look at bumpndrive.com or a similar site, you will get a great number of ideas on how you can automate one of a farmers most irritating jobs, and do it pretty cheaply too. There are a number of different ways that you can get an automatic opening system, but they are not all created equal, and some work better in different conditions, or with different livestock than others.

Bump Arm Gates

There is a reason that this style of automatic gate is the more popular options. Although there are certainly variations, the basic idea of this style uses a system where you drive your vehicle slowly up to a gateway, “bump” an arm on the gate, which allows the gate to unlatch and swing open. You drive your truck through and it closes happily behind you, re-latching so that livestock can’t get through. Better versions allow you to change the timing on how long it will stay open.

The trick with this bump n drive automatic opener is to ensure that you install it properly. Good products will offer videos that will show you how to use the gate, and how to install the DIY versions of the product. Before you buy one, have a look through the video to make sure that you have the tools you need, and the expertise. Installing them lopsided seems to be one of the most common reasons for people complaining that they are hard to use.

One of the biggest advantages to this type of automatic system is the price – for what you get it’s pretty cheap. The other advantage is that it requires no effort on your part, no need to balance yourself out of the truck window and pull a level or press a button.

Drive Over Gates

There seem to be two basic varieties of gates that you drive over. One involves driving up onto a pad, which lifts the gate up, you drive over the pad on the other side, which triggers the release of the gate back down. The other option seems to be literally just drive straight over the gate, which will lie down as you start to drive over it, and bounce back up once the weight is off it.

Both options seem pretty easy to use, although there is certainly some concern around the idea of driving straight over a gate – and whether or not a cow or annoyed bull could do the same. In theory the pipe gate is supposed to act like cattle stop once it’s lying down meaning the cattle won’t walk over it. With the systems that use hydraulics or pad systems there doesn’t seem to be a DIY option, as you need to have a gate that will be suitable to lift up rather than swing out. Which of course means that this is going to be a pretty price option comparatively.

Although one advantage it will have over a bump and drive system is that it doesn’t matter if you have bull bars, so may be an option for gates that you’d like to keep closed, but which are accessible for the public to drive through.

Cattle Grids

You could of course get rid of gates completely and install cattle grids to keep your cattle where you want them. This is a relatively inexpensive, albeit time-intensive method if you have access to steel and your own welding equipment – although they can also be made out of concrete or even just painted lines. https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/gardens/deer-oh-deer-how-to-keep-bambi-out-of-your-garden-1.3944235

A cattle guard can be installed at any place you need to be able to access while still keeping livestock in place. It is most ideal for areas where you are getting a lot of traffic (comparatively), which would mean the wear and tear on any opening mechanism would make it prohibitive to keep having to repair or replace. This is also a great option if you are only running cattle, and have areas where you find gates are regularly left open (which is more common if campers or hikers use your farm as a shortcut).

The downside to cattle grids is that the really are only useful for cattle. Sheep have been known to jump over them (or roll over them in some instances), deer and horses will also usually just jump over them. Although you may be able to contain deer if you make them longer and use round rather than flat bars.