Building you own grooming chute?

has anyone built their own grooming chute? if yes what did you use and how did u do it? any pictures? how much did you spend on supplies? thank you

i do not plan on buying a chute. i also do not have the things i would need to weld one.  can i use steel pipes and thread them together, you know the kind you can turn into place like a skrew? would that work?

unless you can somehow get the material SUPER cheap Sullivans  steel chute is the best deal...

I agree with sjcattleco. I originally planned on building one myself but after seeing steel prices, I ended up buying a steel cadillac chute from sullivan's.

I have built them in my ag class when I taught high school ag. It is not hard, and there are a ton of designs out there. I measured a friend of mine's that I liked, took tons of pictures, brought it back to the classroom, and set my advanced ag kids to work. We designed it on paper first, then built it. Cost me about $150 in supplies, but I had a bunch of scrap I was able to use to make them.
If I were you, I would talk with your local ag teacher. I always had kids that needed a welding project but did not have the money to make something of their own. This gave them a project to do and kept people in the community happy.
;D

If you have welding skills it would be a lot cheaper to build your own chute. I built a half-chute for under 200 bucks.

any pictures of these?

Here's on my son in law and I built but like everyone says, if you have to buy the steel you really don't save anything. I had over $400 in materials in this and about 6 or 7 man hours.

but if i had access to scrap metal or could get a deal on some steal would you recomend building?

If you are a proficient welder then I'd say go ahead and do it.

ok does anyone else have any pictures of chutes they or someone they know have used?

I'll give you an honest opinion from another youth exhibitor, You don't need a grooming chute i've shown cattle for 8 years and have yet to own a chute just simply tie them up and fit and clip them there it takes a little effort but in the end you can groom and show cattle Without a chute

really? you havnt had any problems not useing a chute?  would you mind telling me either here or in a pm how that goes? like what you do at a show so i can see how it is different? thanks so much

kyfarmgirl I'm not saying that what your saying is wrong and that it cant be done but walk around the Naile or Denver and count how many people are fitting with their cattle in the "stalls". I have seen so many homemade chutes that are quirky and not solidly built just to save some money. And the homemade ones that are built right cost just about as much if not the same price for a sullivans steel chute. I will def go to bat for sullivans here because they have a quality product and have been in the business for a long time. There chutes are meant to last and there meant to get the job done and keep the cattle comfortable. You might not think its worth it now but trust me not only will you thank yourself down the road for getting a good quality chute but your "fitters" or "fitting crew" will thank you even more. I can't tell you how many times at county fairs or state shows I've gone to that I've seen first hand myself or other guys fitting in a rinky dink homemade chute get hurt from calves flipping chutes or have problems because the bars are locked one way or don't set in right to get to a leg or clip a shoulder out.

Not too many groomers can get their calf show ready without a chute.  So, count on needing one.  If you can't buy new, the second best would be used.  I believe with your circumstances, (no scrap metal or welding tools) you would cost yourself a bunch of money.

The best investment we ever made was buying an aluminum chute 10 years ago.  You will have it forever and you can load it yourself. (from a girl's point of view)  Our 10 year old daughter can roll it in where it is needed and she is a tiny little thing.  Shop around and see if you can find a used one.  They are out there.

Not to step on any ones toes but I've shown at NAILE and American Royal and have never used a chute I understand that they are a nice convenience but I'm just saying you can fit cattle without them

No problem kyfarmgirl you are one that fits in there stalls and thats fine, Just saying that about 95% of the people around you use chutes because its more convenient and not as stressful> Just think if you have a string of 8-10 head and you have four fitters trying to fit legs and need to take a step back to look at the leg from a different angle or having a calf kick the crap out of you from behind while your fitting the other calf.

I agree with what Purple Reign says. Another thing to think about with not using a chute is typically you will have that one calf that likes to move all over when tied up in the beds. If you don't have them in a chute, it can be a pain in the hind end to keep them calm enough to do anything. Also, it is cheaper (especially looking at current steel prices) and smarter in the long run to get a Sullivans Chute. If you have help to move it, the steel chute is as tough as you get and is very handy. Makes everyones job a little easier.

very easy to do with angle iron and some square tubing. It should only cost about 100 bucks. As far as being a good welder that is not really a big deal ive had kids build some pretty good ones with terrible welds that are still holding up ten years later.

It just depends what your times worth. Its a pretty good experience for a kid to learn some welding.  Its a pretty simple project, but lets face it simple isnt always the easiest.

I use an aluminum half chute i dont need the huge, heavy back breaker. Of course i dont really need one at all, as my cattle arent crazy.

Blow drying the the chute is bush league.

If you can buy all the steel to build one for $100, send me the name of the place you get your steel, I need to be buying from them because my guy is really ripping me off.