We’ve pasture raised some pigs this year, and built a pig tractor in the spring. The initial post about it is here. I get pretty regular hits on this post, and I said I’d give an update, so here it is. We’ve had this pen in use for 6 1/2 months- since just after Easter. At some point I may try to get some figures posted of what our costs, feed use, and yields were, but that’s a different topic. Here’s then and now pics.
The pen has held up fairly well. The pigs scratch themselves on the wire, so it looks like this now. Other than that (and being dirty) it looks like it did when we started in the spring. We’ll use it again next year. I might make it with the hog panels instead of a roll of wire if I were going to do it again.
We’ve replaced the tarp once, but we use secondhand tarps, and we’re in a windy location. Once the tarp is in reach, the pigs will tear at it. Except for early spring, we’ve just had the tarp over the top for rain cover and shade. We’ve kept two pigs at a time in the tractor. The first pig reached 250 pounds, the second 200. The last pig we have in it now is probably around 100 pounds right now. None of them have ever tried to lift up the pen or sneak underneath, even with a gap at ground level from an old wallowing hole.
We never did get the wheels put on, so it’s been a lift and move operation the whole time, and I do it by myself. I move it sideways and it takes going back and forth to opposite ends a couple times, but it’s not too terrible. Only on the muddy, rainy days. I have almost always moved it every day, except when the pigs were very small, and now that I’ve only got one smaller pig and there’s not much vegetation growing. Not moving it now lets me keep some hay in it for the pig to keep warm on the colder nights we’re having. We’ll keep this last pig as long as it seems feasible with the weather.
The yard where we’ve pastured the pigs is not perfectly smooth anymore. It’s mildly bumpy except for a few places where we had rainy days that everything gets muddy or super hot ones and the pigs made wallows for themselves. They do usually root up most of the area, but it’s rooted fairly evenly. They will graze the area first and then root for goodies- worms I think. They like the tops of weeds particularly well, but leave most of the grass rhizomes and roots. I tried a few times to rake it flat again, but you have to do it right away. If it rains, it’s much more difficult. We made a lot of passes over the same area and found that vegetation grew back pretty well, except during a dry spell and now that it’s fall things aren’t growing much anymore.
There is no opening to get in and out of (myself or the pigs). I’ve always climbed over the side if I needed to get in the pen. To get the pigs out, we put a divider in to keep the smaller pig on one end and shot the pig we were processing, then lifted the pen up over the dead pig. Be aware a smaller pig can jump fairly high, so that divider needs to be full height. If you’re going to haul the pig live, you’ll have to modify a bit. We had thought of undoing the wire and putting the pig into a crate or temporary cage, but didn’t need to.
Hello,
My name is Bill and I live in Northwest Lower Michigan and was raised on a small farm way back in the 1950s. One of my daughters and her husband have on a small “gentleman’s farm” and we have raised a few pigs there for our own use. I have followed your posts over the years and this year we will be building one or two pig tractors. We will be building them out of 2” square tube with 3/16” thick wall since they plan on using them for several years and since I have spent much of my adult life as a mechanic and have a great deal of metal fabrication experience. Right now the plan is building them 8’ X 16” and using 50” X 16’ cattle/pig wire panels for the sides but we are considering bumping the size up to 11.5’ wide since the door to the shop we will be building then in is 12’ wide. If we go with 8’ size we will plan on three pigs each and if we go with the 11.5 size four in each one Our hope is get one done by spring and get the feeder pigs then and have the second one done in a couple of months to split them up. We will be mounting wheels and tires on the back corners and using levers to lift and lower that end and the tractor bucket to slightly raise the front end when moving them. The cost of building them will be about $475 each for the 8’ and $650 for the 11.5’ but spreading that cost over several years will make it a reasonable cost. Any suggestions would be appreciated
Bill- ours is just a small homestead. Last year was the final year for our current pig tractor. It needs replacement/major overhauls. Our problem has been with the corners. I’ve still never gotten wheels under it, and shifting the 2 ends to move it has really destroyed the corner connections over time. The tarp we just replace with another used/cast off section of tarp every year. For more permanency, I hope to maybe someday put a bit of tin over part of it.
Your plan sounds fine. Here’s my input:
1) Two pigs is really all that our tractor was suitable for at 9×16. You could fit more pigs per pen, they won’t get nearly so much off of the pasture unless you’re moving it twice a day (or more) and/or have a substantial pasture area to work with. Certainly 3-4 could fit when they’re little, but they’d need the additional space within a couple of months if it’s moving once a day.
2) Using tube metal, it’s going to be considerably heavier (and mine’s not very light to start with). Fine if you’re moving with machinery, tough if you’re a stay-at-home mom moving it yourself every morning. As a benefit, it would be much more durable and long lasting- that’s a good thing as I look out at mine that’s in need of major repair or replacement after 3 years.
You’ll certainly want wheels under it- I would say under both ends for the weight you’re talking about if it’s ever moved by hand instead of machine. You’ll also want to consider either a second set of wheels for the opposite direction, or having them be a wheel that can pivot or something- or just plan to have to drag it hard the opposite direction if/when needed.
I like the lever on the wheels to lift- that was my intention, but it never got done for this tractor. The pigs will push it around if the wheels are always under it. They can work the pen around some without wheels once they’re big (if they want to).
3) 50″ high will keep the pigs from hopping out over the top. I’ve had a couple pigs now that have been able to get up and over mine at 3′ high. They weren’t trying to escape, just anxious for me to get there with the feed bucket. I ended up running a strand of barbed wire around the top to keep them from jumping up. But it will make it harder to get in and out if you don’t have a gate or a built in step or something. Are you building in containers along the edge somewhere for feed and water? Mine are often flipped over and/or smashed in the mud or filled with dirt, so I have to get in and out of the pen at times (if I couldn’t reach with a rake or wasn’t moving it because it was evening).
Definitely, go with the cattle panel over the rolled wire. Our wire is considerably worn in places, and broken in places. Partly because the pigs love to rub and scratch on it, and partially because the stressed corners continued to deteriorate the wire at the corners. I’ve thought some of including some sort of a scratching post in a future design.
Ours was scrap lumber, left over fasteners, and second hand tarps, so all we had to purchase was the wire. So our cost was considerably less, but definitely not as long lasting. Additional corner bracing might have increased durability, but the wheels and cattle paneling would have dramatically improved the design for longevity built from wood.
Not sure how this compares in price (probably similar, and in the end might not be as durable). Perhaps 4 tube gates, maybe mesh or wire filled connected at the corners would be a similar concept. I’ve seen mention of that being used as a tractor before. I believe the challenge was if pigs would lift it and escape, though- so staking it down might be necessary.
Have they worked out some of their pastured/heritage pig issues in Michigan yet? I’d followed it a little back at the beginning, but haven’t checked up on it lately…