Slam-latch for Farmersamm

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Samm,  I promised this to you a week or two ago, sorry it took so long.   I searched and searched, couldn't find any prefabbed ones.    You do still need to make an angled striker plate, anywhere you want this to work in.   You also have to play with, total length and angle of the striker bolt itself.  Many times, it's necessary to weld a bit of 1/4" rod, or keystock, on the far side of the hole, to insure the latch doesn't travel over and past the hole, when slamming against a mad bull or steer.   When welding the angle-iron housing together, make it a very loose, 1" ID .....   maybe 1/16" or so oversize.   Operate it by installing a tab, on the threads outside, either welding directly to the bolt threads, or welding to a nut, and jamming another nut against it.    Hinge a handle, that will catch the tab, and pull the bolt back.I have also seen something similar, built with pipe and round stock, problem is it tends to rotate constantly, and wear itself out. Attached Images
Reply:Joe;I see what you mean by using square stock for the pin.  It would be a mess to use round stock, because your bevel would never hit right if you slammed it.With the square stock the bevel will always be in the right position to hit the striker and guide itself in.I'm thinking this is the way to go on the sorting gate escape door (another dam thing that has to be built as part of the system).  I wasn't sure how to go about making the latch for that particular door other than some sort of manual pin arrangement.I'm thinking a lever on a pivot would be the perfect release mechanism for your design.  Sort of like on the scuttle door on grain truck bodies.  I can apply a lot of leverage to open the latch if a cow is collapsed against the door.Thanks, it's a simple easy design that can be mounted anywhere for any application.  You'll see it on the sorting chute, IF I LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO COMPLETE IT.  This thing is getting out of handI went ahead and copied the diagramHold on for the next post in this thread............."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Joe, I've been kicking this around, see what you think about itI'm used to cows kicking back against a gate as it closes, specially if the gate touches them anywhere on the lower leg.  It can knock even a heavy gate or door back into you.Also, I'm worried about a large number of animals moving against the gate as it swings towards them, and the possibility of losing my footing and being creamed by the gate as it swings back over me.For the main working gate on the tub I've been thinking about a self actuating safety latch system that will activate even if my hands aren't on the gate (myself being azz over elbows laying in the mud)I've seen some latches like this, and like them for the safety factor.The arm is spring loaded, and rides around the inside of the tub, and if the gate kicks back, or if you just advance the gate to the next "notch" it automatically prevents the gate from moving towards the operator.The notches are pieces of angle iron welded to the inside tub wall at intervals.I don't expect the 12ga tub wall to be able to adequately hold the angle iron under impact, and thought that I'd laminate a 12-18" wide additional piece of 12ga to the inside wall to serve as a good anchor/track for attaching the pieces of angle.  Be like an additional ribbon of steel on the inside wall.The angles would probably be bolted thru both pieces of laminate to take advantage of the full strength of the combined pieces, unless you think an adequate number of plug welds thru both pieces of laminate would be adequate to tie them together.  I'm pretty sure, although I've never done it, that the plug welds could be accomplished without drilling holes if you come up with adequate heat to fully penetrate the outside layer of sheet metal.Lemme know how you feel about it.  I think it's workable. RE: the drawing..........We at Uranus Inc. use nothing but the most advanced CAD software to generate working drawings Attached Images"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Originally Posted by farmersammRE: the drawing..........We at Uranus Inc. use nothing but the most advanced CAD software to generate working drawings
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWBar napkin? .
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Reply:Simplest thing is a ratchet-type gear .....   with a heavy lever, that will climb as you swing the gate, but lock in with any back pressure.   A kill-plant I used to do work for, had something similar.   Had a pretty neat hide-stripping machine, also, pulled a guy's head right off once.
Reply:I built a ratchet gate for a catch pen in Texas.  I traced the ratchet from a come-a-long and used on on the top hinge and the bottom hinge.  I then used a long round bar as the latch.  The really cool thing I came up with was a cable attached to the top and then to the bottom of the latch bar ran across the top and bottom of the gate to a lever used to release the latch.  The gate was 12 foot wide so this helped greatly.  When the lever wasn't pulled the ratched clicked as the gate shut and could not be opened until the lever was pulled again.  We use to corral cattle in and let the gate close behind them without fear of kickbacks.  One more thing, the gate was spring assisted to close on its own.  It use to be a team effort to pull the gate shut with a rope and ranch hand to drive the cattle in and shut and latch the gate.  Now it is a one man operation.  Open the gate, drive the cattle in, gate locks itself.  There still was a latch on opening end of the gate to secure the gate once closed.Last edited by Scott Young; 01-06-2010 at 10:21 PM.
Reply:Sam, I built some pens for a guy and built a chute like you drew. He had longhorns so a regular chute wouldn't work. The arm is spring loaded and the plate on the end had a piece of mud flap riveted onto it. It was expensive to build but he can work his cows by him self and it kina works like a squeese chute as well.I have pictures some where, I'll see if I can find them.
Reply:Samm, I like heavy gates, really heavy gates.   If it takes sinking a 12" H-beam, 5' down into a hole, that's what I do.Back when I was building corrals, I was buying rejected pre-cast concrete slabs, (sometimes getting it for free, just for the haul), dig a trench with a backhoe, set them in with a BIG forklift or loader.   Then concrete.   Chip a hole out, anyplace I wanted a latch-point.   Bolted a steel striker plate to that.  Typically these were 8' high after installation, plenty of room to install catwalks above the cattle, no reason for a guy to get down there, even behind the gate.   Put a pull-rope on the end of the gate, another pull-rope on the latch handle, with a guide.   You can pull the gate either way, without actually getting in there.   Big thing, Samm, try to design as much as possible so you DON'T have to get in, and if you do have to by chance, put plenty of foot-cutouts so if necessary you can climb out or over any solid-walls or solid gates.  "Escape holes".....I know, or know of, far too many dead and crippled cowboys, to try to design anything, that isn't as safe as possible, for the people involved.   I still remember the guy, working with an old Teco headgate/squeeze (the kind that has the lever, you push down on), it didn't quite latch, he was stepping over the bar when the cow jerked it's head, thru him twenty feet.    He lived, but somehow I don't think he can breed anymore ....      The guys that were there, said you could hear the screams 20 miles away ....
Reply:Hell Joe, it's a mess here.  Temps still too low to actually get out and work.Feel like an idiot just talking about what has to be done, instead of going out and doing it.I like heavy.  It works.And you guys that suggested a ratchet type of system, sounds ok, but I'm worried about leverage.  I'd rather have the controlling thingy at the far end of the gate instead of at the pivot.  Huge amount of leverage generated by a 12' gate if the stop is at the pivot.I'm limited bucks wise.  Been figuring on 6" used 1/4" wall pipe for the pivot.  Deep as I can get it with butresses/gussets down to the concrete pour.I figure my ace in the hole is the crowding, and a light at the end of the tunnel.  Put them in there, advance the gate, then open up the door to the working chutes.  They generally go out of any closed area to escape.  I'm not sure I actually have to push them with the gate, just restrict the confined area to keep them bunched.I may have gotten in over my head here"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:If I make it out to my uncles I need to take pictures for you.  His "tub" has railroad ties mounted in the ground, then he took a heavy laser skeleton, add a nice heavy gate and a heavy latch and it's good to go, worked great when we worked a pot of my dad's cattle there.  The latch sticks through laser cut outs.  All the same part cut out I would say every 4"s you'd be able to latch the gate, good to have if you got one riled up and charging the gate.
Reply:I love some of the CAD drawings I see in these threads! LOLCAD meaning CAn't Draw. LMAO, just kidding, as long as others get your point.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmersammI like heavy.  It works.And you guys that suggested a ratchet type of system, sounds ok, but I'm worried about leverage.  I'd rather have the controlling thingy at the far end of the gate instead of at the pivot.  Huge amount of leverage generated by a 12' gate if the stop is at the pivot.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmersamm  Been figuring on 6" used 1/4" wall pipe for the pivot.  Deep as I can get it with butresses/gussets down to the concrete pour.I figure my ace in the hole is the crowding, and a light at the end of the tunnel.  Put them in there, advance the gate, then open up the door to the working chutes.  They generally go out of any closed area to escape.  I'm not sure I actually have to push them with the gate, just restrict the confined area to keep them bunched.I may have gotten in over my head here
Reply:Originally Posted by jsfab BTW, how come everybody's making fun of my CAD drawings, anyway?????
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWI've seen guys walk in to the township inspectors office with drawings on 2x's for aproval.