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Building a cattle guard, plans, ideas?

5K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  ezybike 
#1 ·
I’ve got four trail access points I need to protect from wild horses, I tried setting timbers on the ground spaced like a cattleguard, but the horses step through them, so I need a ramp styled guard.

I can use wood, but. when I priced hardware for a 4x4 guard, the hardware alone was going to run $50 each! Plus wood will break down fast and it’s heavy for hand carrying to the trail

I’m thinking angle iron and or rebar, I worry about the rebar holding up and the angle iron ain’t cheap. 1/2” rebar is readily accessible, but it’s not all that robust, 3/4” would be better but it’s real heavy and harder to find.

The guards will be 36” wide and 4-5’ deep, elevated 18-24”, spacing of crossbars 8” or so.

The guard is only for bike access, hikers can go around.
 
#8 ·
Yeah, I can weld, carpenter by trade, mostly looking at cost vs time, I was out working on the trails today , got to thinking about using just rebar, bending it at the “top”, then welding cross processes for the “ladder”.

Hardest part is transportation, a 3/4” rebar stick is 20’ long, so I gotta cut it before loading in my van …. but a stick is $20 and it’ll build ~?one guard
 
#9 ·
The green guard above has 17 cross members.
17*3 ft horizontals+6*4 ft sides=75 feet. not including any vertical supports and foundation stuff.
So that's at least four 20' rebar sticks + burn in rod.
You could go full metal workers and just tie the rebar together with the little metal twisties. That'll probably last a couple seasons at least.
Tack weld too and you're up to a long while.
Rustoleum spray it post welding and it'll outlast all of us.
 
#10 · (Edited)
5/8” rebar, #14 x 20’, $260 materials, $30 cutter bender rental, next it’s break out the MIG and get busy.

I’m going add a couple more cross pieces, #10-12 per barrier, each barrier has ~ 12” rise, 12” flat at the middle, 40” wide, 60” across.

If the horses cross these, it’s gonna get ugly 😡 Road surface Asphalt Automotive tire Floor Wood
 
#12 ·
That’s not a bad idea, but you’d need to prevent separation, so the wood would need wood cross bracing or the rebar would pull out of the holes.

I’m gonna start welding today, the real test will be when I start hitting these things at speed, I’ll weld them to last, but will they bend?
 
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