Cattle Guards to Keep Livestock Safe — A Buyer's Guide

While it's impossible to prevent every accident involving cars and animals, cattle guards can make the roadway much safer. They prevent collisions that can cause significant damage to automobiles and injure or kill people.

Cattle guards also reduce ranchers' and farmers' time spent chasing strays and opening and closing gates.

1. Know Your Needs

The first step in researching cattle guards for sale is knowing your needs. Cattle guards keep livestock from crossing roadways, preventing vehicle collisions and keeping the animals safe. They also help prevent livestock from straying into areas where they could get lost and injured.

Traditionally, cattle guards are installed with a concrete foundation that transfers the weight of heavy vehicles to the ground. Some customers prefer to bury railroad ties in the ground instead of pouring concrete for a more economical and less permanent installation option.

While painting lines in alternating dark and light colors to resemble cattle grids may seem like a cheap solution, this method is not as effective. Additionally, this method doesn't work as well with animals that have paws rather than hooves, such as coyotes, dogs, and cats. These animals can maneuver vacant spaces between the bars. In these cases, a boxed cattle guard is a better choice.

2. Know Your Budget

Many ranchers struggle to find a cattle guard that fits their budget. Depending on the size and configuration, a single cattle guard can cost over $7000. This is particularly true for those who live in rural areas and need a way to prevent animal collisions on their property without sacrificing access to vehicles or equipment.

They are popular at construction sites as equipment wash racks or rumble strips to help keep vehicles clean before entering public roadways and can be used for non-traditional installations that don't warrant a permanent installation, like on a dirt road, in a field, or on the job site. They are also a great option for remote locations such as cell phone towers or pumping stations that don't see much traffic.

3. Consider the Size

Investing in a cattle guard will make it more likely that your animals stay on your property and don't wander onto roadways where they can be killed. It will also keep motorists safe by eliminating the possibility of them colliding with an animal and causing significant damage to their automobile.

If you don't have the budget to purchase a full-sized cattle guard, there are smaller versions that can be used for smaller crossings. They are often utilized along ranch roads that are heavily traveled by four-wheelers and other light vehicles, and they can be purchased for much less than a larger model would cost.

4. Conclusion

Cattle guards help farmers and ranchers keep their animals safe by preventing them from crossing into areas where they're not supposed to be. They also protect animals from predators such as wild hogs. Hogs tend to be skittish around unfamiliar terrain, which is why cattle guards make great barriers to prevent them from entering private property.

They're also a good alternative to traditional gates, which can be difficult to open and shut. Plus, they don't require constant maintenance like latches and hinges.