Walking your cows on the road..

AntrimGlens

I suppose this is mostly relevant to the dairy men, but just wondering do many of ye walk your cows on the public roads to and from milking. we have neighbours on our road and they're the only ones left in dairying and milking about 150 cows but the problem is that from when the cows are turned out to rehoused they walk them to fields as far as 3/4 of a mile away on the road. They own the land on both sides of the road but haven't put in any tracks to walk the cows on, instead walking them on the road and entering the gate from the road frontage. You can imagine the sh1te thats left on the road for the first 150 metres from the parlour or field that they come from and they never have anyone in front of the cows so you never know when youre likely to meet them and of course theres about a dozen with severe lameness that take forever to reach the field. I know when we used to milk we always grazed closest to the parlour but these boys don't seem to mind walking their cows for that distance... anyway it just means that i have to take a five mile detour in the morning just to avoid meeting them as i don't know what field theyre likely to be grazing and youd be a brave man to drive past or through their cows

whelan1

when i was starting off, i had 40 cows and had to bring them on the road, only a short distance, hated every day, there was one "fella" that would race through the cows and send them everywhere, so i lost it one morning, let a few fooks out of me, he rang my father and insisted i apologise for giving out to him:( i did apologise but i also let him know that motorists are under law suppoosed to stop for people with cattle, we always had at least 1 person on the road with the cows... might be no harm to let your man know and it might speed him up a bit

Conmaicne Mara

I think, legally, you need two people on a public road while driving animals, on in front, one behind.

Big Davey

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

I think, legally, you need two people on a public road while driving animals, on in front, one behind.

I would rather be in front :-)

Viewtodiefor

Big Davey wrote: »

I would rather be in front :-)

+ 1 on that score! Plenty round here walking cows on the road, no other option really for them. That's country life

moon_man

AntrimGlens wrote: »

I suppose this is mostly relevant to the dairy men, but just wondering do many of ye walk your cows on the public roads to and from milking. we have neighbours on our road and they're the only ones left in dairying and milking about 150 cows but the problem is that from when the cows are turned out to rehoused they walk them to fields as far as 3/4 of a mile away on the road. They own the land on both sides of the road but haven't put in any tracks to walk the cows on, instead walking them on the road and entering the gate from the road frontage. You can imagine the sh1te thats left on the road for the first 150 metres from the parlour or field that they come from and they never have anyone in front of the cows so you never know when youre likely to meet them and of course theres about a dozen with severe lameness that take forever to reach the field. I know when we used to milk we always grazed closest to the parlour but these boys don't seem to mind walking their cows for that distance... anyway it just means that i have to take a five mile detour in the morning just to avoid meeting them as i don't know what field theyre likely to be grazing and youd be a brave man to drive past or through their cows

if at all avoidable , cows should not be walked on public roads nowadays

most dairy farmers i know have made every effort to get them off the road , their are a lot happier aswell as motorists in general

Viewtodiefor

moon_man wrote: »

if at all avoidable , cows should not be walked on public roads nowadays

most dairy farmers i know have made every effort to get them off the road , their are a lot happier aswell as motorists in general

Yeah I agree trouble is there are still many fragmented farms in ireland and the only way they can get cows to these fields is by public road. That's the way is has to be for some.

3 the square

i have to cross d road twice a day during grazing season a real pain my late father used to say ul never have a car on d road till u pull the hatch on d gate i put in an underpass two years ago works very very well didnt cost the earth either should have did it years ago pity me old pops isnt around to enjoy it.

delaval

3 the square wrote: »

i have to cross d road twice a day during grazing season a real pain my late father used to say ul never have a car on d road till u pull the hatch on d gate i put in an underpass two years ago works very very well didnt cost the earth either should have did it years ago pity me old pops isnt around to enjoy it.

I have a similar problem. What kind of money was involved and who di your job for you?

pakalasa

Article in the Journal a while back on underpasses. Croom Concrete, in Limerick did the work.
http://www.croomconcrete.ie/agriculture/cattle-underpasses

Viewtodiefor

pakalasa wrote: »

Article in the Journal a while back on underpasses. Croom Concrete, in Limerick did the work.
http://www.croomconcrete.ie/agriculture/cattle-underpasses

Funny Croom concrete do good bit work/sales away from their local area but very little local to them

pakalasa

Well, I never heard anything bad about them and I'm not far from them.

whelan1

would you have to get premission to do an underpass under a public road?

3 the square

cost about 25 k but about 10k of it went on rock breaking had limestone at a foot put in 10x6 culverts (only 6 ft cos need to take rain water to water course ) got the culverts from banagher got local contractor to do the work had 2 rock breackers and track machine to clean away broken stone we went 20 hours a day at it no engineers or the like in fairness the council were sound about left me close the road from friday at 3 once it was opened for the school run on monday morn we had it opened sunday at 5pm no charge to close the road put had to cough up 1600 to move the watermains temporary came back when we were finished to put it down permantly had few locals getting tick about road been closed didnt take much notice NO PLANING PERMISSION WAS REQUIRED EITHER .... been looking for a small tractor to bring the cows for milking preferably with a cab that could travel down the underpass any idea ???????

mikemac1

I'd love to see a few pics of this underpass you built

yellow50HX

3 the square wrote: »

cost about 25 k but about 10k of it went on rock breaking had limestone at a foot put in 10x6 culverts (only 6 ft cos need to take rain water to water course ) got the culverts from banagher got local contractor to do the work had 2 rock breackers and track machine to clean away broken stone we went 20 hours a day at it no engineers or the like in fairness the council were sound about left me close the road from friday at 3 once it was opened for the school run on monday morn we had it opened sunday at 5pm no charge to close the road put had to cough up 1600 to move the watermains temporary came back when we were finished to put it down permantly had few locals getting tick about road been closed didnt take much notice NO PLANING PERMISSION WAS REQUIRED EITHER .... been looking for a small tractor to bring the cows for milking preferably with a cab that could travel down the underpass any idea ???????

Dexta or MF135 loads of them for sale now that were bought as restoration projects but you can buy them for a lot less then the new parts cost. Dexta is a great yoke. dad had one for years he used it for spraying and cleaning out the yard and light work around the place

yellow50HX

AntrimGlens wrote: »

I suppose this is mostly relevant to the dairy men, but just wondering do many of ye walk your cows on the public roads to and from milking. we have neighbours on our road and they're the only ones left in dairying and milking about 150 cows but the problem is that from when the cows are turned out to rehoused they walk them to fields as far as 3/4 of a mile away on the road. They own the land on both sides of the road but haven't put in any tracks to walk the cows on, instead walking them on the road and entering the gate from the road frontage. You can imagine the sh1te thats left on the road for the first 150 metres from the parlour or field that they come from and they never have anyone in front of the cows so you never know when youre likely to meet them and of course theres about a dozen with severe lameness that take forever to reach the field. I know when we used to milk we always grazed closest to the parlour but these boys don't seem to mind walking their cows for that distance... anyway it just means that i have to take a five mile detour in the morning just to avoid meeting them as i don't know what field theyre likely to be grazing and youd be a brave man to drive past or through their cows

it depnds also on where the fields cross each other. There may not be suitable gaps to cross the roads further up. Also if the milking is around the same time every day then maybe you can go earlier or later. neighbour near here used to have to move this cows about 1/4 mile along the road for milking, there was another farm in between. he wanted to reduce this in half by putting a gap at the end of one side and at the start of the other, but the co-co shot him down with planning permission saying that the new gaps would be too close to the bends on the road. After a car hit his eldery father who used walk in front of the cows when moving them he re applied (his da recovered but it was a slow progress), but was turned down again. so was on the brink of selling the cows when the farmer who owned the farm in between approached him and offered the used of his land. there was a track through part of the farm and they went halves extending it to reach both sides. Hard to beat good neighbours

yellow50HX

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

I think, legally, you need two people on a public road while driving animals, on in front, one behind.

yeah think you need at least two. we occasionally move cattle about 300 meters along the road between the yard and some fields by the road and we usually drag out the mother and sisters to do it. would always have soemone in front in case a car comes round the corner.

whelan1

years ago, my brother was standing on the road, he was about ten, the cattle came down the road and he ran away screaming"i'm too young to die" we still laugh about it now... wasnt funny at the time as the cattle headed down for the main road

kevthegaff

the road is alot handier on their feet, and its free:D

3 the square

can a 135 be got with a cab few inchs under 6ft????????????????

3 the square

can a 135 be got with a cab few inchs under 6ft???????????????? i wouldnt thimk so could be wrong

Conmaicne Mara

yellow50HX wrote: »

yeah think you need at least two. we occasionally move cattle about 300 meters along the road between the yard and some fields by the road and we usually drag out the mother and sisters to do it. would always have soemone in front in case a car comes round the corner.

Was told by a solicitor a few years ago that was the position.

yellow50HX

3 the square wrote: »

can a 135 be got with a cab few inchs under 6ft???????????????? i wouldnt thimk so could be wrong

not sure but they wouldnt be too far off. you could get an old car or a small jeep too. plenty of jap import 4wd toyotas and suburus cars

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/tractors/4742536
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/tractors/4558380
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4741736

Viewtodiefor

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Was told by a solicitor a few years ago that was the position.

Can't beat a baling twine at the crossroads loosely tied just in case someone doesn't stop!!!

3 the square

buying any of them two tractors id spend more time walking for the cows ....tractor would be handyest with pto and left arms for powerwashing yard clean few handy jobs nothing major otherwise id chance a quad underpass sometimes could have maybe 20 inches of water after a flood takes a bit for it to drop pipe to water course is nearly running leavel only 5inches in 120 meters dont think d quad wood do in that water cows dont take any notice of 20" of water water wood run quicker when water course is free of weed etc

yellow50HX

3 the square wrote: »

buying any of them two tractors id spend more time walking for the cows ....tractor would be handyest with pto and left arms for powerwashing yard clean few handy jobs nothing major otherwise id chance a quad underpass sometimes could have maybe 20 inches of water after a flood takes a bit for it to drop pipe to water course is nearly running leavel only 5inches in 120 meters dont think d quad wood do in that water cows dont take any notice of 20" of water water wood run quicker when water course is free of weed etc

buddy of mine has an old land rover with a soft top and an old land cruiser. used thema fair bit on the farm as the back of his place is hilly enough, farm is long and narrow

3 the square

yellow50HX wrote: »

buddy of mine has an old land rover with a soft top and an old land cruiser. used thema fair bit on the farm as the back of his place is hilly enough, farm is long and narrow

had an old jeep for last 20 years was over 6ft ment cows going via underpass me going via road which wasnt ideal jeep had to be scraped old age , cost enough to tax test insure it to buy another for that purpose

yellow50HX

3 the square wrote: »

had an old jeep for last 20 years was over 6ft ment cows going via underpass me going via road which wasnt ideal jeep had to be scraped old age , cost enough to tax test insure it to buy another for that purpose

was at the shop earlier today and was parked between a vitara and pajero jr, both are under 6ft. if they are only used on the farm there is no need to test or tax them. not sure about the pajeros but the vitara have a low range

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4590660

3 the square

yellow50HX wrote: »

was at the shop earlier today and was parked between a vitara and pajero jr, both are under 6ft. if they are only used on the farm there is no need to test or tax them. not sure about the pajeros but the vitara have a low range

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4590660

ths for that but has the vitara a pto or d jr left arms?????:rolleyes: think in it has to be tractor realy.

zetecescort

Doubt you'll get a tractor under 6ft. 34 or 36 in rear wheels with at least 6 inch sidewalls top and bottom means around 4ft to top of rear wheels. Just leaves 2ft for a cab. Exhaust would be another problem although that could be cut down I guess

yellow50HX

3 the square wrote: »

ths for that but has the vitara a pto or d jr left arms?????:rolleyes: think in it has to be tractor realy.

i doubt it, looks like you'll have to get a small tractor with no cab to be able to fit through. That said you could always get a small petrol generator and an electric power washer and throw them into the back for power washing. either that or get out and walk, it cheaper and better for ya. ha ha ha