Solway lambing pens

eire23

Anyone in here using the solway lambing pens? They look a good job and easy washed after use. When they are all penned up in a row can you open any front that you want when you are only using one divider to separate each pen? The videos online never show that for some reason.

tractorporn

eire23 wrote: »

Anyone in here using the solway lambing pens? They look a good job and easy washed after use. When they are all penned up in a row can you open any front that you want when you are only using one divider to separate each pen? The videos online never show that for some reason.

Have them here for the last 8 years or so. We set them up along a wall here. I think the answer to your question is yes. The way they work is the first pen uses 4 sides and each pen you make up after that only needs 3 sides. The middle divider between each pen has two lugs which you hang the fronts off. If you want the fronts to open to the left you hang each front on the right hand lugs first and then the left hand side of the next pen goes onto the same lug to lock it in place and visa versa if you want it to open the opposite way. I hope I've explained that in a way that makes sense.

eire23

tractorporn wrote: »

Have them here for the last 8 years or so. We set them up along a wall here. I think the answer to your question is yes. The way they work is the first pen uses 4 sides and each pen you make up after that only needs 3 sides. The middle divider between each pen has two lugs which you hang the fronts off. If you want the fronts to open to the left you hang each front on the right hand lugs first and then the left hand side of the next pen goes onto the same lug to lock it in place and visa versa if you want it to open the opposite way. I hope I've explained that in a way that makes sense.

Good stuff, they sound a great job. What do you use to feed hay in? Are they a little thin for hanging those hay racks off that will do two pens?

tractorporn

eire23 wrote: »

Good stuff, they sound a great job. What do you use to feed hay in? Are they a little thin for hanging those hay racks off that will do two pens?

I have some of the hay racks, I think they were from Buffalo steel in Wicklow. The dividers are well fit to carry the racks the only modifications we had to do was we cut out one link out of the racks as they were sitting a bit high up as the pens are higher than normal gate penning.

wrangler

tractorporn wrote: »

Have them here for the last 8 years or so. We set them up along a wall here. I think the answer to your question is yes. The way they work is the first pen uses 4 sides and each pen you make up after that only needs 3 sides. The middle divider between each pen has two lugs which you hang the fronts off. If you want the fronts to open to the left you hang each front on the right hand lugs first and then the left hand side of the next pen goes onto the same lug to lock it in place and visa versa if you want it to open the opposite way. I hope I've explained that in a way that makes sense.

even if they overlap the wrong way its not difficult to open, you just open the one that's in teh way a bit first and then the one you want, if the ewes went in and out in rotation it'd be no problem but it's not awkward.
I bought for hygiene reasons, they're divided from the next sheep completely and spraying them with disinfectant works well,
At the end you just power wash them and stack them

tractorporn

wrangler wrote: »

even if they overlap the wrong way its not difficult to open, you just open the one that's in teh way a bit first and then the one you want, if the ewes went in and out in rotation it'd be no problem but it's not awkward.
I bought for hygiene reasons, they're divided from the next sheep completely and spraying them with disinfectant works well,
At the end you just power wash them and stack them

Hygiene and drafts were the reasons they were got here. It could be blowing a gale and the lambs would be fine.
I think they work out a good bit cheaper if you can stack them back to back as you only need one back for two pens. I never had enough space to set it up that way here.

I have an adaptor front for one pen as well which works great. You can get roofs for them too I think for lambing outside.

wrangler

tractorporn wrote: »

Hygiene and drafts were the reasons they were got here. It could be blowing a gale and the lambs would be fine.
I think they work out a good bit cheaper if you can stack them back to back as you only need one back for two pens. I never had enough space to set it up that way here.

I have an adaptor front for one pen as well which works great. You can get roofs for them too I think for lambing outside.

They're expensive though
I had to put them in a line too,
For the adopter front I put an anchor bolt in a few places in the wall behind the pens and tied the row back to it, before that I came out a few mornings and the whole line of pens were pushed out into the feeding passage.

tractorporn

wrangler wrote: »

They're expensive though
I had to put them in a line too,
For the adopter front I put an anchor bolt in a few places in the wall behind the pens and tied the row back to it, before that I came out a few mornings and the whole line of pens were pushed out into the feeding passage.

The adoption front I got has a floor plate which you attach to the front to stop the ewe pushing forward. An anchor bolt would be a good job too.

wrangler

tractorporn wrote: »

The adoption front I got has a floor plate which you attach to the front to stop the ewe pushing forward. An anchor bolt would be a good job too.

I never saw that before, great idea, probably could do something similar here

tractorporn

wrangler wrote: »

I never saw that before, great idea, probably could do something similar here

took a pic of it there tonight. I kinda made a balls of it as both the floor plate and the front are facing the wrong way. But you can see the slits in the bottom of the front for the two lugs of the plate to push through and secure. You'd be able to knock something similar up with a bit of stockbord

tractorporn

eire23 wrote: »

Good stuff, they sound a great job. What do you use to feed hay in? Are they a little thin for hanging those hay racks off that will do two pens?

Here's my set up I break them up into groups of 3 I've gotten extra sides as we've gone along

wrangler

tractorporn wrote: »

took a pic of it there tonight. I kinda made a balls of it as both the floor plate and the front are facing the wrong way. But you can see the slits in the bottom of the front for the two lugs of the plate to push through and secure. You'd be able to knock something similar up with a bit of stockbord

Great job
Where did you get your solways, was it in ireland,
We were only charged €40 for bringing them from Scotland, at the time for 16 pens, we bought 32 pens over two years, sold sixteen when we retired, went off donedeal in about 12 hrs

tractorporn

wrangler wrote: »

Great job
Where did you get your solways, was it in ireland,
We were only charged €40 for bringing them from Scotland, at the time for 16 pens, we bought 32 pens over two years, sold sixteen when we retired, went off donedeal in about 12 hrs

I got ours in FRS in Boyle. I got lucky with the adopter Solway put it on a pallet of other stuff heading over to the head office in Roscrea. Just had to pay the delivery from Roscrea. I've gotten extra sides off the lads in Boyle but it was just stockboard that they cut out themselves. It was cheaper but the proper made ones are worth the few quid more