Scales For Sale

About Livestock Scales

Livestock scales are important both for weighing animals up for sale and for health and growth checks on individual members of the herd. There are models and scale components for recording the weight of single or multiple cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, horses, poultry, and other animals.

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Rice Lake MAS-M Mobile Livestock Scale

Types Of Scales

Livestock scales come in mobile, portable, and stationary configurations. Some scales come with gates or pen siding, while others are simply platforms and digital indicators meant to be used in an existing alley or squeeze chute. The weighing apparatus of a scale may be electronic, using load cells based on strain gauge transducers, or mechanical such as a pipe lever weighing system.

A small animal veterinarian’s platform scale may be rated for a maximum of 300 pounds (136 kilograms), as an example. Scales for single farm animals may have a capacity of 5,000 lbs. (2,268 kg) or so, whereas a bigger scale for weighing several head of cattle at a time might be able to withstand 20,000 lbs. (9,072 kg) or more. The latter is more efficient at weighing a truckload of cattle or swine that are about to be sold. Note that livestock sales require a scale with a Legal for Trade certification.

Logging Results

A scale with a digital indicator may simply report the weight of the animal currently standing on the platform. More advanced indicators can remember each animal’s weight history based on identifying information such as their ear tag number or electronic ID (EID). This information may include notes about the animal and custom data fields entered by the user.

Some feature-rich digital indicators can generate reports on a batch or lot of cattle. Various models can output weight records through a ticket printer, a USB flash drive, or a connection to a computer, smartphone, or tablet. For example, Tru-Test offers scale indicators that can download weight data to a phone app and work with Bluetooth EID readers to properly identify each animal.

Find The Right Livestock Scale

Look for new and used livestock scales for sale under the Livestock Equipment category on Tractorhouse.com.