Wrong weights

zetor 4911

Brought cattle to the mart this week and had a bad experience. Had the cattle weighed before going and they were 540Kg. Allowing for a loss in the mart of about 25Kgs the cattle should be coming into the ring at about 515Kgs. I was surprised when 485Kgs came up on the screen. I did not sell and 2 hours later I went back to collect them and when I got home I weighed them again and they were 30Kgs heavier than in the mart I then got a neighbours scale and reweighed them and this confirmed that my scale was correct. Any one else have similiar experience?

bob charles

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Brought cattle to the mart this week and had a bad experience. Had the cattle weighed before going and they were 540Kg. Allowing for a loss in the mart of about 25Kgs the cattle should be coming into the ring at about 515Kgs. I was surprised when 485Kgs came up on the screen. I did not sell and 2 hours later I went back to collect them and when I got home I weighed them again and they were 30Kgs heavier than in the mart I then got a neighbours scale and reweighed them and this confirmed that my scale was correct. Any one else have similiar experience?

how many cattle were in the group. Someone could have counted the wrong number of animals in the group and divded it wrong. ie 10 cattle x 540 = 5400, 11 cattle entered by mistake 5400/11= 490. Have seen it happen a few times. No two scales are ever the same

zetor 4911

Sorry I did not make it clear, they were entered in singles and I used average weights above for simplicity.

bbam

How recently was your own scales calibrated??
Stick on a couple bags of fert amd see how it weighs them. At least you'd have an idea that yours is good.

Lastin

55 kgs is to much to be out, did you speak to the mart manager?

pakalasa

Are marts bound by law to have their scales calibrated at regular intervals?

MickeyShtyles

Heard last year from a Teagasc adviser in college that all scales are to calibrated at regular intervals during the year. Be it a mart, grain store, co-op. the lot!

1chippy

I brought a cow out 2 weeks back that weighed 680 kg. she got thrown up because she only had one tag. anyways, ibrought her back yesterday and she weighed 50kg more as in 730kg. I thought maybe it was empty versus full weight annd stress, etc. but i couldnt really equate the weight difference fully. 20-30kg yes but not 50. she was brought in bought times the night before and fed hay so i dont think it could be that. if anything she was standing for 4-5 hrs longer in the mart.

bob charles

I think marts can say that the weight isnt given a 100% accurate and should only be taken as a guide. Most seasoned buyers dont buy by the weight anyway

zetor 4911

Rang the manager the evening of the sale and he told me that the weights and measures people were coming the following morning (maybe others complained also). Rang him the following day and surprise surprise he said they checked the scale and it was correct.

Sharpshooter82

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Rang the manager the evening of the sale and he told me that the weights and measures people were coming the following morning (maybe others complained also). Rang him the following day and surprise surprise he said they checked the scale and it was correct.

yeah im sure he would have told ya if they were off

adne

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Brought cattle to the mart this week and had a bad experience. Had the cattle weighed before going and they were 540Kg. Allowing for a loss in the mart of about 25Kgs the cattle should be coming into the ring at about 515Kgs. I was surprised when 485Kgs came up on the screen. I did not sell and 2 hours later I went back to collect them and when I got home I weighed them again and they were 30Kgs heavier than in the mart I then got a neighbours scale and reweighed them and this confirmed that my scale was correct. Any one else have similiar experience?

Was at a mart yesterday and noticed scales reading minus 25 when empty.

adne

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Rang the manager the evening of the sale and he told me that the weights and measures people were coming the following morning (maybe others complained also). Rang him the following day and surprise surprise he said they checked the scale and it was correct.

What mart was it

bbam

adne wrote: »

Was at a mart yesterday and noticed scales reading minus 25 when empty.

In fairness that doesn't mean it's reading wrong. It may have need to be adjusted down to compensate for wear in the mechanism.
There is no way of knowing unless a reference weight is added.

Milton09

bbam wrote: »

In fairness that doesn't mean it's reading wrong. It may have need to be adjusted down to compensate for wear in the mechanism.
There is no way of knowing unless a reference weight is added.

Surely it does mean its wrong, 25kg has to go on before it reads 0, so your 325kg animal will only read 300kg ????

pakalasa

I'm almost certain they have a facility to set the 'Zero' point. That allows them to reset to 0.0, if cowsh1te builds up on the scales. Maybe they just didn't reset it after cleaning it the last time.

bbam

I've seen commercial scales calibrated a few times.
Older mechanical scales rarely weigh 100% at all weights. Typically it's adjusted to be most accurate at the most frequently used weights.

The company who did the calibration would arrive with a set of weights in a van that were added with the fork truck in stages.

The digital scales could be done perfectly. The old mechanical scales was a bit more black magic. It was set that the range from 500-750gk was most accurate. Closer to 0 it was poor. Truth is we all just used the digital scales, but the ISO certification meant that the old scales needed to be calibrated too.

My advice is to take the mart scales as a guide to animal weights.

Kovu

pakalasa wrote: »

Are marts bound by law to have their scales calibrated at regular intervals?

Yes

bbam wrote: »

In fairness that doesn't mean it's reading wrong. It may have need to be adjusted down to compensate for wear in the mechanism.
There is no way of knowing unless a reference weight is added.

This is true, sh*t does build up on the scales and it has to be calibrated each sale (if they're up for doing things right)
Manager used to just get me to jump on the scales before each sale and see if it weighed correct:eek:

bob charles

Kovu Murr wrote: »

Manager used to just get me to jump on the scales before each sale and see if it weighed correct:eek:

best not go there :D:D

Sharpshooter82

bob charles wrote: »

best not go there :D:D

theres easier ways to commit suicide :D

Kovu

bob charles wrote: »

best not go there :D:D

I honestly don't know if it did really test it, sure two suck calves would be heavier than me!

Sharpshooter82

Kovu Murr wrote: »

I honestly don't know if it did really test it, sure two suck calves would be heavier than me!

Ahem :P

bob charles

Kovu Murr wrote: »

I honestly don't know if it did really test it, sure two suck calves would be heavier than me!

would that be two Jeserys or two Charolais?

Kovu

bob charles wrote: »

would that be two Jeserys or two Charolais?

I'm trying to think how much each weighs now. There's a fun game. Guess peoples weight in calves.:eek:

Figerty

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Rang the manager the evening of the sale and he told me that the weights and measures people were coming the following morning (maybe others complained also). Rang him the following day and surprise surprise he said they checked the scale and it was correct.

Ask him to see the service record and that you have concerns. See what he says them. If it's legit then he will be very forthcoming and ready show you.