Stupid question

[MommaSasquatch]

You're all gonna laugh at me, but I have a pretty dumb question. How does one get cattle panels home from the store? I've got a full size van, but no pickup. Can I tie them down on the roof? Will they be OK up there? do they need extra support? I'm having a hard time visualizing them in relation to the size of the van. It's about 5 miles to TSC, part of it on a busy highway.

[Ross]

Last ones I moved were 16 feet long and fit on my trailer fine. If I wanted to tie them to the roof (I have a van too) I think I'd put 2 or 3, 16 foot 2x6's down first for support. Strap them down well!

[littlebitfarm]

Buy your buddy with a pickup truck a 12 pack of beer and let him deliver them!! They flex a lot and will scratch up your van.

Kathie

[Bearfootfarm]

Roll them up and tie them. If you roll them tight enough you may be able to get them inside. But it would be better to borrow a truck or trailer

[kesoaps]

Roll them up? Cattle/stock panels around here can't be rolled...

[NWMO]

Put one end in your pickup near the cab, and simply walk the other end up, making an arch in the back of your pickup. Mine road just fine home....now dropping the tailgate was another story!!

[Bearfootfarm]

Originally Posted by kesoaps

Roll them up? Cattle/stock panels around here can't be rolled...

LOL Maybe we are talking about different things then. The ones Im referring to are made of welded wire about 1/4 inch thick. They are stiff but they can be rolled , just not very tightly. Or were you talking about "corral" panels made of tubing?

[kesoaps]

I've got some very light panels that I purchased at Home Depot...I suppose with some effort they could be rolled (a lot of effort.) Stock panels look pretty much the same, but are heavier and not easily bent. Different than corral panels, though. Funny how different regions have different names or products!

[kirsten]

No, they can't be rolled, not even hog panels can. Cut them in two like we did. The store will probably do it for you if you ask nicely. Or buy some large cutters to go with them like we did. At 8 feet, they will tie just fine to the top of your van. Everyone else I know of did the same as us, sat down in the parking lot and cut them in two. It is not a dumb question when you really don't need them cut but then you give up and cut them.

[Freeholder]

Cutting them is fine, if you are going to use them for fencing, and have a post every eight feet. But if you are using them for a hoop house type thing, as I did for my buck shelter, you need the full length! Thankfully, we have a steel supply house in town that delivers for free, even out here, twelve miles from town. They don't sell the combo panels, which I use for fencing the goats, but the ones they sell work fine for hoop house construction, and you can't beat having someone deliver them for free! (They wait until they have another load coming out this way, though, so it's not so bad for them -- and it's usually the same day I buy them, so it works out fine for me.)

The big batch I bought for fencing, I just paid the $25 delivery charge from the feed store, rather than try to haul them on top of my mini-van, or Grandma's little station wagon.

Kathleen

[MommaSasquatch]

Thanks. Yeah we're planning on a hoop house, plus some more for movable pens as needed. I figure if they're a hassle to get home I may as well get as many as I think I'll ever need all at once. Steel place, huh? My mom's SO has a steel and fab shop, I never thought to ask him if he had something of that type. They have the vehicles that could haul them too, but I don't want to get into asking favors. Buying something and having it delivered is another matter. But $25 isn't bad for delivery if it's for a bunch of them. I wonder if TSC delivers?