A question to anyone who has carried livestock. Does the weight shift about as the animals move about? Just always puzzled me that what if you have heavier pigs on one side of the lorry or do they get loaded as to their size? I have seen the rear ramp down on livestock carriers and just seen the animals walking up it onto the carrier. Obviously they don’t put themselves away but how much room for maneuver is there?
Yes they move about and the weight shifts about. The biggest issue is the stock is trying to stand up and throwing them around doesn’t help that.
It’s a very different style of driving best described as taking one of your children, tying their shoelaces together and standing them in the middle of a flat bed. And them still being there at your destination!
(Opinions will obviously vary depending on children)!
The one thing you will struggle to do is find much faster than a livestock wagon in a straight line! 
UKtramp:
A question to anyone who has carried livestock. Does the weight shift about as the animals move about? Just always puzzled me that what if you have heavier pigs on one side of the lorry or do they get loaded as to their size? I have seen the rear ramp down on livestock carriers and just seen the animals walking up it onto the carrier. Obviously they don’t put themselves away but how much room for maneuver is there?
Don’t forget to turn the chiller on !!!
robthedog:
UKtramp:
A question to anyone who has carried livestock. Does the weight shift about as the animals move about? Just always puzzled me that what if you have heavier pigs on one side of the lorry or do they get loaded as to their size? I have seen the rear ramp down on livestock carriers and just seen the animals walking up it onto the carrier. Obviously they don’t put themselves away but how much room for maneuver is there?Don’t forget to turn the chiller on !!!
Surely only in the summer time though? Otherwise wouldn’t the pigs start to condense?
From what I remember from my days of milking cows / handling stock … cattle normally stay standing … pen them in fairly tight in groups … sheep I think are the same ( never had much to do with them). Pigs I think prefer to be able to lie-down … so need more space. You need to drive steady … no harsh braking / cornering … think of it as having a mug of tea (half drunk) on the dash-board … and you’re driving so you don’t spill it
robthedog:
UKtramp:
A question to anyone who has carried livestock. Does the weight shift about as the animals move about? Just always puzzled me that what if you have heavier pigs on one side of the lorry or do they get loaded as to their size? I have seen the rear ramp down on livestock carriers and just seen the animals walking up it onto the carrier. Obviously they don’t put themselves away but how much room for maneuver is there?Don’t forget to turn the chiller on !!!
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if i remember correctly,they run breathing bovine beef on the hoof at +4 or thereabouts.
if only there was a professor of fridges with some practical experience to enlighten us…oh!!
dieseldog999:
robthedog:
UKtramp:
A question to anyone who has carried livestock. Does the weight shift about as the animals move about? Just always puzzled me that what if you have heavier pigs on one side of the lorry or do they get loaded as to their size? I have seen the rear ramp down on livestock carriers and just seen the animals walking up it onto the carrier. Obviously they don’t put themselves away but how much room for maneuver is there?Don’t forget to turn the chiller on !!!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
if i remember correctly,they run breathing bovine beef on the hoof at +4 or thereabouts.if only there was a professor of fridges with some practical experience to enlighten us…oh!!
I heard that you just need to do a manual defrost and it’s all good, right?
R420:
dieseldog999:
robthedog:
UKtramp:
A question to anyone who has carried livestock. Does the weight shift about as the animals move about? Just always puzzled me that what if you have heavier pigs on one side of the lorry or do they get loaded as to their size? I have seen the rear ramp down on livestock carriers and just seen the animals walking up it onto the carrier. Obviously they don’t put themselves away but how much room for maneuver is there?Don’t forget to turn the chiller on !!!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
if i remember correctly,they run breathing bovine beef on the hoof at +4 or thereabouts.if only there was a professor of fridges with some practical experience to enlighten us…oh!!
I heard that you just need to do a manual defrost and it’s all good, right?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
if its cows,theyre more adaptable when your temps are a bit vague,but if its gogo girls,then the temps have to be spot on and if its too cold,they need to be wrapped in blankets.
doing a couple of manual defrosts whilst loading them up the ramp usually does the trick.
aoart from that,then its easypeasy unless you are driving incorrectly and unprofessionaly,so if there also was someone with phd1s of overqualified driving standards to join thetemperature advice,then we would have all bases covered.
if its sheep however,then you just sling them in ,making sure the good looking ones are at the back for easy access,then hope nobody ever asks you if you made a ewe turn.
All of the above plus Cattle will stand ok as long as they have been hungered and don’t have a belly full of grass. yes you can feel them move around, fat cattle going for kill will weigh half a ton or more. Depends on the density of how they are loaded but if they want to move around they will.
Pigs will usually just settle into a heap, some will fight amongst themselves, some can get excited, have a heart attack and die, difficult to get insurance for pigs in transit.
Sheep are usually pretty docile in transit but if they have been out in the rain and the fleece is soaked they will be difficult to load and will not pack tight.
Perhaps this RTITB manual from the seventies will help
Tyneside
