BBII Gizmo 61 over Dividend 43

FINAL
Gizmo over Dividend
61 to 43
104 votes

very unfortunate. i remember having gizmo calves. much like jpj is today. low birthweight easy calvers poor performers

showman said:

very unfortunate. i remember having gizmo calves. much like jpj is today. low birthweight easy calvers poor performers

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yea, I've never been much of a Gizmo fan. I would say that Dividend is found in 2 to 3 times as many pedigree's as Gizmo. JMO

This one goes to Dividend hands down - in fact 20 years from now I wouldn't be sureprised to still see him showing up in a few pedigrees.  Easily the bull that, in his era, did more to change the cattle type AND people's opinions of Shorthorns.

First time I saw him was at Alden's as a mature bull and like Grant - I was amazed.  He had more muscle and natural width than any Shorthorn I'd ever seen.  People today might consider him a little hard, but back then he was lean and packed as full of red meat as any bull walking.  I know of top cattlemen in several breeds who thought he was the best bull they'd ever seen. 

Nothing against Gizmo - I use him and think he does a great job at what he does - but I never hear anyone say he was the best bull they'd ever seen.  While I think what he brings to the table is EXTREMELY valuable to the breed, I doubt he'll truly change the breed the way Dividend did.  And for those that don't think Dividend could produce moderate, practical cattle - I know of several sons that never got a lot of publicity that did a great job of siring moderate framed, high performing cattle and did it in true range country.

For me the difference is that Dividend truly changed the Shorthorn breed. 

We had a son of Old Dividend that Alden's brought up to Canada in 1982 as a calf. We purchased him at 5 yrs of age and we are again starting to AI a few to him every year. Ten years ago out top females in our herd were sired by him. Twenty or thirty years from now the name Dividend will still be one that is known. It is truly unfortunate that he was not recognized in the books as soon as he came over.

I think both Dividend and Gizmo have been assets to the breed. They were used in slightly different eras, but I think Dividend was the first bull to start to increase the breeds popularity again. I only had two daughters of Dividend, and if they were alive today, they would be headliners in my donor line-up.They were both very moderate, easy fleshing, and great uddered. Both bred extremely well for us. Like Hilltop, I think I will be going back and using some Dividend sons again, probably sooner rather than later. If anyone remembers the cow herd at Ar Su Lu about 20 years ago, it had probably more Dividend influence than most other herds around. I will only say, it was an amazing set of females. I think Gizmo has done a good job as well, however, I don't consider him in the same league as Dividend.

I think gizmo sires more moderate cattle. I like him.I'm through using great bulls. I just want to use one that works......not extreme.Dividend was horned. I think Dividend is way better than the bulls with big BWTS used today in the social circles. The thing about finding the great commercial cow is that you can't tell by looking at her that she is great. There are 10 year old cows out there that breed back every year,wean 600# calves, there steer babies grade choice, there daughters are the same and weigh under 100#s at birth, are protective not wild. I like either bull. If gizmo is homo polled he is twice as valuable there if the polled factor is important.jmo

Looks like most on here are way to young to remember what shorthorns were a few decades ago "Pre -Dividend" Because they were all but on the way out .
Maybe people are choosing baseed on the pictures.

That's funny mooch.  I have seen poeple over and over again base there semen purchases on a picture alone.  Both were very good bulls.  To place Gizmo over Dividend on a history of the breed greats is a sad thing to see.  Gizmo has and will continiue to do some good things, but Dividend is one of the ALL TIME greats. I AM one of the younger generation around this board.  I didn't see him anytime in my short twenty-some years.  I did grow up around the breed and no more than I paid attention as a youngster, I can still see what Dividend has done.