The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: jacob and Georgina on January 21, 2015, 08:30:11 pm
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I'm after some new lamb scales but are torn between Iae scales or bateman scales any thoughts??
http://m.countrywidefarmers.co.uk/h5/product?id=%2Fpws%2FProductDetails.ice%3Bjsessionid%3DD5C537188FD2329235302E1A46A741DA.CountrywideAS1?ProductID%3D11169 (http://m.countrywidefarmers.co.uk/h5/product?id=%2Fpws%2FProductDetails.ice%3Bjsessionid%3DD5C537188FD2329235302E1A46A741DA.CountrywideAS1?ProductID%3D11169)
Or
http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/iae-lamb-weigh-crate (http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/iae-lamb-weigh-crate)
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I would choose iae over Bateman any day although they will probably come with a higher price tag.
We've had Bateman internals for our new cattle sheds at work and I've got to say that we are disappointed with the quality of the welds etc.
Might be different on the weigh crates, but that's what I'd go for.
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We have the IAE one, but the full-size pig version. Never done pigs in them, but use it all the time for the sheep and the goats.
Only issue is that the wheels are quite small, we have to haul ours over uneven ground, and it is a job the OH has to do...
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We have new Bateman cattle pens and crush outside and are absolutely delighted with them; it was the build quality, robustness and very knowledgeable and practical sales person that led us to choose Batemans over IAE. We'd fitted IAE cubicles and internals in the cattle shed the year previously. No issues as such, but we didn't go IAE for the next installation. Go figure.
On my previous farm I chose the Richie lamb weigh crate over the IAE or Bateman and was delighted with it. I had asked them make a small mod, to stop the gates either end opening without the operator explicitly moving the lever. They made no extra charge for this mod.
The crate was excellent quality, everything moved smoothly, and it was easy to trundle about, too. Can't fault it.
We were going to buy another lamb weigh crate here on BH's farm, but ended up with an integrated unit from Cox-Agri. Prior to going that way, we had concluded that we would go Bateman again; the one it's replacing still works but now has some missing ironwork in the gates and the scales are idiosyncratic :-J. Those scales are decades old so owe us nothing. The make? Bateman.
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IAE's are very good
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I'll admit to being a fan of IAE too but I always wait until there's an offer. Round here Bateman is cheaper.
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Here's what we do....
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Round here Iae seem to only be £30 more which if it is the superior manufacturer I don't mind paying extra but if they are pretty much the same I will go for the bateman! I may wait till the county shows to see if I can get a better deal what do you think!!
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IAE had really good discounts at the Great Yorkshire Show last year. I spent a fortune :innocent:
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We only have a few sheep, so for the lambs I use a bucket like small farmer, and for the sheep I just use the bathroom scales (200kg max) with a big piece of ply. hole cut in it over the display, haul the sheep on with me get the kids to read the display and deduct my weight.
The only problem I have is when it's a particularly big sheep I sometimes go over the limit! I then have to swap places with the kids (or maybe go on a diet).
Scales were £20, ply was knocking about. sounds like good value to me