Can I do cattle farm without a tractor?

[sirgknight]

That's just about the best "excuse" I've read in a long time for buying a tractor! You should have heard some of my excuses.......

 

[Mark4510]

I dont know much about cattle ranching on the east coast but out here its pretty simple if you dont overgraze. Water, fence, cattle and a good horse.

I agree with Richard on this one. If you keep the herd appropriatly sized for the feed capabilities of the land, I am not sure you need to buy one. If you are going to increase the cattle/feed ratio to the point where the land is overgrazed then a tractor is probably called for.

Welcome to TBN. These guys have a ton of great info and are very helpful.

 

[rockinmywaypa]

what does a person need to raise cattle? answer cattle, you don't need a tractor you don't need to own land, all you need is the smarts to work a few weeks in advance to todays problems. people rent land all the time, fields can be rented for days at a time just to clean up some leftovers or whatever. What would make your situation easier is having a tractor, but you don't need it. fence your land into as many paddocks as possible and buy any feed you need for when the grass doesn't grow. Use a chariot behind the truck to move a bale out to the livestock. Buy or build a good corral in the centre of all the paddocks. That's where you'll make it or break it by being able to treat said cattle when a need arises.

 

[riptides]

Welcome to TBN.
Yes you can do it, but the costs of NOT having a tractor may eat away at you.
Physically and monetary wise. You can always make more money, but your body just doesn't really recover at the same rate year after year.

You will find another friend in the process IF you get a tractor.

Time.

I firmly believe you can save it for other things with the right equipment.

Good luck on your choice.
-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[txdon]

Yes, you can do a cattle farm without a tractor.
But, (there's always a but) I don't know what you would worry about more, the cattle or the tractor sitting up there all week by themselves. Just get insurance on the tractor if theft is a concern. My biggest concern is the cattle getting out of the fence or the neighbors cattle breaking my fence.

It may take longer than you think to build those fences and ponds. It only took me 7 years (weekends), and two trips to the emergency room, to finish all my fences - without a tractor.

 

[tough451]

Yes you could raise cattle without a tractor as stated already on here it was done for years. If money is an issue all you need ia a good 35 to 45 hp utility tractor and it doesnt have to be new.
If I were you I could see needing a 3pt auger,a blade,and a brush hog, a you should be able to get all of this for 7000.00 at the most.
To answer your question no you dont need one but it would take out alot of back breaking labor.

 

[rlee6]

</font><font color="blueclass=small">( That's just about the best "excuse" I've read in a long time for buying a tractor! You should have heard some of my excuses....... )</font>

Excuses? Yes and no. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Yes, I wanted experienced people to tear down my best excuses for not buying a tractor.

No, because I am really not excited about tractor at all. Last week I bought my first pickup truck ever. I knew I would need 3/4 or 1 ton to haul cattle trailer. I went out with the intent of buying one of these. But when I saw 3/4 ton, it was too big for me. I've never driven a car with 5 liter engine! I quickly settled for 1/2 ton instead. I am going to pay someone to move cattle for me.

I am not fond of clunking machinery though I am a metallurgical engineer. But I like farming. Have always liked it. Bottom line is I want to do farming without heavy steels. But I am finding that's impossible.

Thank you folks. That's what I learned from you all: I need steels. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Poppa]

Of course you can raise cattle without a tractor. My Grandfather did it with a horse. Of course he also had three strapping young boys who according to my dad were used in lieu of a tractor. So have boys and forget about the tractor but be aware that according to dad, the longer the fence line, the shallower the fence post holes /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Mike

 

[MicroPilot]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( .....I knew I would need 3/4 or 1 ton to haul cattle trailer. I went out with the intent of buying one of these. But when I saw 3/4 ton, it was too big for me. I've never driven a car with 5 liter engine! I quickly settled for 1/2 ton instead. .... )</font>

Huh? A pickup truck is a pickup truck! It doesn't matter if it's load rating is 1/2, 3/4, or 1 ton they all drive the same.

Are you sure you know all thats involved with keeping livestock, and how much work is needed?

 

[Poppa]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Yes, I wanted experienced people to tear down my best excuses for not buying a tractor.)</font>

Well, you came to the appropriate place for that.


</font><font color="blue" class="small">( No, because I am really not excited about tractor at all. Last week I bought my first pickup truck ever. I knew I would need 3/4 or 1 ton to haul cattle trailer. I went out with the intent of buying one of these. But when I saw 3/4 ton, it was too big for me. I've never driven a car with 5 liter engine! I quickly settled for 1/2 ton instead. I am going to pay someone to move cattle for me. )</font>

On the one hand I will admit that pick-ups are also unnecessary for cattle ranching, just useful like a tractor. On the other hand, that whole statement has me shaking my head and asking the same thing as Micropilot.

"HUH?"

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I am not fond of clunking machinery though I am a metallurgical engineer. But I like farming. Have always liked it. Bottom line is I want to do farming without heavy steels. But I am finding that's impossible.

Thank you folks. That's what I learned from you all: I need steels. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )</font>

RLEE, you aren't by any chance related to Nomad are you?? your writing style is reminiscent of his.

Anyway, good luck in your endeavor

Mike

 

[cowboydoc]

Have you ever tryed farming? I don't mean to sound callous here but if you can't handle a 3/4 ton pickup I don't see how you are going to handle cattle. Working cattle is not for the faint of heart. You get crapped on, urinated on, run over, kicked, head butted, etc.

There also isn't very much money in cattle. I think if you hire all of this out that you are going to find that your profits are eaten up very quickly.

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Working cattle is not for the faint of heart. You get crapped on, urinated on, run over, kicked, head butted, etc. )</font>

My youngest brother volunteered to help me and a neighbor brand and vaccinate about 30 wild crossbred range cows and one big ornery bull, using a temporary corral made of the cattle panels, and one very worn out old squeeze chute one day. By the time that day was over, my brother said the only way he'd work cattle again would be with a 30-30 rifle. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[cowboydoc]

ROFL!!! Yep that is right Bird. We always get people that want to come out at branding time. We do everything from horseback and it's alot of handling cattle on the ground and watching out for mad momma's. Most people only do it once. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[RonR]

I once helped my B-I-L, outside of Castle Rock, CO when he went to "check his cattle", about 5 miles from his house.

I was dressed in jeans and brand new, light colored ski jacket (we were heading to the slopes the next day).

When we got there, I had to help him pull a calf. So step one for me was to remove my new, clean jacket and hang it in a nearby tree. That left me working in a t shirt in the 30* coolness, but I wan't going to mess up my new coat.

That was one of the nicer trips to check on his cows.........

Ron

 

[Bird]

Yep, Ron, that's another job that's not one of my favorites. I helped a neighbor with that three times, always after dark on a cold night, and naturally without the proper equipment. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif And on the last one, he said the cow had been down all day, so he was afraid neither she nor the calf would live if we didn't do something. Well, when we approached, she took off (all his cows were wild range cattle). If we stopped chasing her, she'd lie down, a time or two we even thought she might have finally died, but every time we approached, she'd be up and away again. Have you ever chased and roped a cow from the back of a pickup? So now we have a rope around her neck and she can't get away, so she decides to fight instead. We finally get her tied up short to the rear bumper of the pickup, and she laid down again and we can't get her up. So we get the chain on the calf's front feet and the two of us together aren't big enough to pull that calf. So he calls his wife to bring the other pickup (he had two at the time) and he hooks the chain to the rear bumper of the second truck and she pulls the calf that way. Now amazingly to me, the calf was just fine, but the cow was dead. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I think that last pull was strong enough it simply choked her and we didn't get the rope off quick enough. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif So he got to bottle feed a calf. Ain't cattle ranchin' fun? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[40Kchicks]

My uncle raises about 5 steers on 9 acres without a tractor. He has a hay barn that allows him to just toss small bales into a feeder. Of course he can’t move round bales. He also feeds some pellets every day. My point is that if the barn and property is set up right a tractor is not needed very often.

I currently have a small cow/calf operation. I live on the farm and can’t tell you how many times I have found and prevented problems with my cows that if I hadn’t been there to see the problem the cows or calves would have died. For instance one morning I heard a calf bawling. It had got tangled in some wire and made a tourniquet on its leg. The mama cow had her head in my face the whole time I was working on the calf. I’ve had to pull calves, and treat eyes, help cows with infected udders, and fix water problems. These problems would have been worse if they hadn’t been detected early.

On the plus side cows are usually easier than other livestock and with quality stock and an adequate barn they will probably be alright but it would be better if there was someone around to watch for problems.

Eric

 

[EastTexFrank]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> Ain't cattle ranchin' fun? </font> )</font>

After 20 years working on my wife's family farm, I can attest to that. Cows come in all shapes, sizes and temperaments. Some are pets, some are just born mean and some are pets, that for some reason, turn mean.

Our present herd is pretty easy but we had one that was so bad that I wouldn't get in the corral with them unless I was armed with a hot-shot and an aluminum baseball bat. It was self preservation. I was a lot younger (and stupider) then and a whole lot quicker but I was so glad when they got rid of those animals.

 

[Bird]

Yeah, Frank, for some reason, a bull was the only animal my dad would allow me to be afraid of, and I've always been quite cautious around them. One friend of mine was past 80 and still had a small herd a few years ago. He went to look at a bull he was considering buying, went in the pen with the bull, petted him, led him around, etc. Went back the next day and was attacked and nearly killed as soon as he entered the pen. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif If he hadn't had his son with him he probably would have been killed. And no one knows why.

I grew up with milk cows and since they're handled every day, usually very gentle. The other extreme was the neighbor that my brother and I helped. His cattle were never touched by human hands, except for branding, vaccinating, attaching ear tags, and/or dehorning.

Now everyone knows that the best way to work cattle is on horseback, like Cowboydoc, right? Well, we learned that's cattle that are accustomed to seeing a man on horseback. My rancher neighbor didn't have any horses; just pickups, tractors, and Kawasaki Mule. The cattle pretty much ignored those machines and people on foot; just wouldn't let anyone get closer than 20 or 30 feet. And then he hired a couple of experienced cowboys with their horses to move the herd from one pasture to another. I don't guess those cows had ever seen a horse, much less a man on a horse, and everyone got the surprise of their lives. When those guys rode in, the cows scattered like a covey of quail, ran through barbed wire fences, some swam across a creek, etc. That was one time I really regretted not having a video camera with me. It was a stampede the western movie folks would have loved and weeks before he finally got most of his cows back on his property.

 

[Egon]

A really good dog is a real help with livestock.

Just for interest does anyone know how the word cowpoke originated?

Egon

 

[Ozarker]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Just for interest does anyone know how the word cowpoke originated? )</font>

Do we really want to know? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif