Stanchion Design

People ask us for a stanchion design. This is a simple head gate made of scrap two-by-fours; we've attached it to the post and diagonal in this pole barn to make a temporary milking parlor. The stock panel is actually about 12" from the stanchion, plenty of room for the cow's head; if we were offering hay, we could just drop it on the ground between the head gate and the stock panel. Note the 2'x4' side bar on the left that keeps the cow from pivoting away from the milker. Construction took a teenager less than an hour.