DIY beef gambrel ideas
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cdavis would that be heavy enough for hanging a beef?
knifemaker3 said in DIY beef gambrel ideas:
cdavis would that be heavy enough for hanging a beef?
If you are processing live cattle, the average live weight for a beef is 1200 lbs +/- 250 lbs.
If you are just breaking down a side of beef your lift system needs to be rated for 500 lbs.
Your supporting structure needs to be load rated for this + another 500 lbs for some safety factor.
Your average garage ceiling joists aren’t going to handle it without some serious reengineering. -
Just a basic beef gambrel can be purchased for about $50 plus shipping.
This style is made from about 5/8" dia. SS.
If you can do a little torch work and welding, you could make one from rebar or other iron round stock. Figure out what your time is worth. A store-bought one is not that expensive.
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Just going to use this for skinning. Already have a meat rail in the walk in cooler for hanging quartered beef, hogs, and deer. This is only for personal farm use. Will probably just use chains on the front end loader, but thought it would be nice to have a gambrel.
Couple short pieces of log chain and a couple eye hooks and I’m golden.
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knifemaker3 said in DIY beef gambrel ideas:
cdavis would that be heavy enough for hanging a beef?
If you are processing live cattle, the average live weight for a beef is 1200 lbs +/- 250 lbs.
If you are just breaking down a side of beef your lift system needs to be rated for 500 lbs.
Your supporting structure needs to be load rated for this + another 500 lbs for some safety factor.
Your average garage ceiling joists aren’t going to handle it without some serious reengineering.processhead yeah I would pillar that I beam on each side to the floor.
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twilliams nice looking system there. I never thought about hooking onto the pelvic bone. I use a regular gambrel but I did put in the electric winch and man I love it.

cdavis it’s nice to be able to cut the legs off at the joint to have some movability up an down when skinning and quartering. My bad back hates bending over doing stuff for extended amounts of time. Beautiful buck ya got there
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twilliams nice looking system there. I never thought about hooking onto the pelvic bone. I use a regular gambrel but I did put in the electric winch and man I love it.

cdavis I gotta ask, is there an advantage to not gutting in the field?
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twilliams Other than not exposing to dirt, I can’t think of one. We have shot a few that ended up running into a plowed field, luckily we new farmer and drove out to them and loaded in pickup but as soon as we got to some grass we gutted them. Also helps the cooling process begin.
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twilliams said in DIY beef gambrel ideas:
cdavis I gotta ask, is there an advantage to not gutting in the field?
We field dress from a hanging pole with a hand winch near our cabin. It’s nice to field dress there with a water hydrant and outside lighting to see what you are doing at night.
We use ice fishing sleds and 4-wheelers for moving dead deer around so no real lifting and weight is not an issue during transport.
The ice fishing sled also catches the guts, hides, bones and mess. Then it takes a ride back to a designated bone yard away from the cabin. It is all pretty user friendly and minimizes any lifting of stuff. -
twilliams said in DIY beef gambrel ideas:
cdavis I gotta ask, is there an advantage to not gutting in the field?
We field dress from a hanging pole with a hand winch near our cabin. It’s nice to field dress there with a water hydrant and outside lighting to see what you are doing at night.
We use ice fishing sleds and 4-wheelers for moving dead deer around so no real lifting and weight is not an issue during transport.
The ice fishing sled also catches the guts, hides, bones and mess. Then it takes a ride back to a designated bone yard away from the cabin. It is all pretty user friendly and minimizes any lifting of stuff.processhead That sounds like a nice set up, unfortunately we have to transport our deer in pickups to our processing and hanging locations. If the weather is cold they might be in the pickup all day.
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processhead That sounds like a nice set up, unfortunately we have to transport our deer in pickups to our processing and hanging locations. If the weather is cold they might be in the pickup all day.
bocephus said in DIY beef gambrel ideas:
processhead That sounds like a nice set up, unfortunately we have to transport our deer in pickups to our processing and hanging locations. If the weather is cold they might be in the pickup all day.
Yeah, in that situation it makes total sense to gut them where they drop.
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Hey all,
Needing ideas for a diy beef gambrel.I was thinking of a piece of I-beam with hooks welded on bottom and a hole on top.
What have you or do you currently used?
Pictures please
knifemaker3 for hanging my moose I use two small chain hoists so that when I cut down the back bone each half stays at the same level. Otherwise when any moose is removed the heavier side goes down. This is so handy I even use it for deer
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knifemaker3 for hanging my moose I use two small chain hoists so that when I cut down the back bone each half stays at the same level. Otherwise when any moose is removed the heavier side goes down. This is so handy I even use it for deer
Brianzipperdog123 that’s what I’m thinking too. Just a couple chains bolted to the front end loader with a couple hooks and done
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cdavis would that be heavy enough for hanging a beef?
knifemaker3 mine would not be good for a beef it’s only rated for 450lbs. But man it’s great for deer and hogs.
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bocephus I love my winch. Can’t go wrong they’re so cheap.
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cdavis said in DIY beef gambrel ideas:
bocephus I love my winch. Can’t go wrong they’re so cheap.
I have a $30 hand winch rigged up for hoisting deer under an awning behind my shop.
I will never own another block and tackle again. Spend more time untangling and cussing them than actual lifting. -
twilliams I say yes for me there is. Most of my deer are harvested within 4 miles of my house. I can usually tie onto them with the 4wheeler and have them hung within 30 minutes. If I don’t open that cavity until they are hung l figure I’m keeping alot of dirt and debris out of my meat. If I have to track one or If it is exceptionally warm then I gut it right away.
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Here is a picture of my winch in action this morning
man I love this thing. -
cdavis Very nice, I have the winch, someday I hope to have the shop.
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