I have a 25+ year old Silver King squeeze chute that I still prefer to any of the 10 or so brands/kinds I have used over the years. I don't know where to get one any more. These are the features that I particularly like:
self catching head gate.... open the two gates inward, animal sees a way out, sticks its head thru but gate opening is narrower than shoulders which then push the gates shut, gate latch shuts automatically with very simple gravity latch
vertical rollers on the head gate that can be width adjusted for various animal sizes... very small calf to large bull... the rollers are parallel, full length top to bottom... this allows an animal to get down in the chute and NOT choke to death.
capability to handle 2500 lb bull... not all chutes are wide enough to do this.
tail gate lifts vertically... I have a series of pulleys so I can use a long rope and hold the gate up, get around behind the animal to pressure it down the chute and then drop the gate once it is in.
Squeeze has long handle allowing significant side closing pressure and immobility of the animal
sides of chute can be moved in at the bottom with tab catches for various widths.
bottom section of both sides of the chute can be lifted out for working on feet, bags, etc. These sides are solid boards so feet do not catch on them.
One side of chute can be swung open by pulling a latch.. then closed by pulling a rope. Very important to be able to open this latch when a fully grown animal has gone crazy in the chute and is down and can't get up, maybe on its side. I added a pulley to make closing this side gate easier.
floorboards of chute are replaceable... otherwise, everything is heavy duty metal
a chain on head gate handle to hold it in place and prevent it from being banged up and opening at bad time.
I added a chain and catch at the front of the chute... so head can be forced down to the ground... chain over neck and pulled down to prevent vertical head throwing.
I added catches to hold the rope of a pair of nose pliers to pull the head around to either side... for dehorning and complete control of animal's head.
Side bars on each side can be individually lowered allowing access from shoulders to rear. These bars allow stubborn animals to be levered forward into the head gate by successively blocking behind their rump and holding any forward motion gained.
I wish it had a palpation cage.... provides safety for rear operations as well as man gates allowing simple passage thru the chute into adjoining pen. I wasn't smart enough to get that feature when I got the chute... truly worth the extra money.
My opinion... it isn't the brand but rather the features and how it works that is important... Just because it is billed as a cattle chute and from a known brand doesn't mean it will be great to work with.
I've used chutes whose head gate opening mechanism is so not intuitive that I have to work out the mechanics in my head each time to make sure I'm opening the gate the right way. I've seen animals get down and there be no way to release them from the chute. I've seen animals get choked because of a narrow throat stop at the bottom of the head gate. I've seen animals so wide they couldn't be forced into the chute. I've seen situations where one bar gets knocked wrong and all the side bars drop at once... not a pretty sight when a wild animal escapes from a chute thru the sides!!
When working cattle, you have to think safety, safety, safety....
I recommend,strongly, that you assist someone with a chute work their cattle... do this for numerous different chutes... each experience will be educational regarding issues such as horns, branding, castrating, large animals, small animals, down animals, docile animals, spooky animals, sorting out side gate or head gate, forward/rear opening head gates, controlling the head, controlling kicking.....
There is no perfect chute.... but some are far better than others... and equally important, maybe more so, is the pen layout and sorting pens leading into the chute that leads to the squeeze chute.
With a cow/calf operation, you have the worst of all worlds... large bulls, tiny calves, working animals several times a year, first calf heifers, calving problems, injury/illnesses that come up in poor weather/dark, mad mommas when you have their calf in the squeeze, mastitis treatments, weak calves that need assistance learning how to nurse, orphaned calves you may try to get another cow to accept.
It's so much fun
And, the right chute will go a long way to assisting you in all these operations. Locate it out of the raw wind and sun and where you can keep supplies and tools and your life will be much easier. Given the right pen setup and chute, you can position an animal by your self and work on it.
Here is a prior thread discussing cattle raising....you may find it interesting
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/ag-tractors-machinery/87655-cattle-start-up-questions.html
Best wishes!
