Rawhide Introduces An Innovative Windbreak Solution

Rawhide Introduces An Innovative Windbreak Solution

Article and photos courtesy of Rawhide Portable Corral

For 22 years Rawhide Portable Corral has become a leader in corral design and manufacturing. But founder John McDonald’s innovativeness hasn’t stopped with corrals – he has made a name for himself, his family and his company throughout the agricultural industry for his continuous goal to enhance the original design of his portable corral, while creating accessories and other products that make a producer’s job that much easier.

From his original portable hydraulic corral on wheels to the expansive Rancho Deluxe Corral, McDonald listens to the needs of the industry to refine what it means to properly and safely handle and corral livestock. He understands that not only do proper handling and loading facilities ensure the efficient movement and handling of livestock, but they also can enhance the safety of both operators and animals alike, reducing likelihood of stress and physical injury. That’s one of the things McDonald is most proud of because he has made a big impact with his portable corral design – changing the industry and helping people along the way.

Now, using the same ingenuity as the Rawhide Portable Corral design, McDonald has developed a patent pending portable, foldable, windbreak on wheels that one person can set up.

“The portable windbreak will include a hydraulically raised loafing shed roof on both sides of the main frame and will utilize the same patented torsion axle suspension that we recently added to our portable corrals,” McDonald says.

The torsion axle suspension system design that McDonald is referring to was recently added to the original corral design to meet the needs of consumers who are pulling the portable corrals at highway speeds on roadways, and then along uneven terrain in fields. To offset the potential damage of jarring and bouncing, which can be hard on the corral’s frame, McDonald developed a torsion axle suspension, as well as brakes, to improve safety and the corral’s durability. This same torsion axle suspension is present in the company’s new portable windbreak product.

So what was the instigator behind developing this new product? Like the portable corrals, throughout the years McDonald has listened to feedback and ideas from industry experts – specifically producers who use his products first-hand. So too, McDonald has heard from industry professionals about the need for a state-of-the-art portable, foldable windbreak system that is easy to set up and use.

“I have been asked for years by customers if we could sheet the panels to provide some protection from the wind for their cattle,” McDonald says. “Having cattle of our own, we know the benefits of providing protection for cattle.” Indeed, the health and safety of the cattle as well as the livestock handlers, is paramount for McDonald as he sits down and designs his product solutions.

In designing the new portable windbreak system, McDonald was striving to develop a solution that would protect animals from extreme weather conditions, including providing a system that would result in less cold stress and less heat stress on livestock.

“Efficiency is also key with this system,” McDonald says. “With our portable windbreak, ranchers and farmers will no longer be required to use tractors and trailers to haul our windbreak, unlike the freestanding windbreaks currently on the market. With our windbreak, they can haul it down the road at highway speeds, as they can with our corrals. The hydraulics will raise and lower the windbreak, as well as the roof on the loafing shed. Our pinning system will then allow the windbreak to easily unfold and fold into the needed configuration.”

Embracing a unified vision for all of Rawhide’s products working as cohesive units, as warranted by a producer’s needs, McDonald has also designed the windbreaks to work in conjunction with Rawhide’s portable corral systems.

“It is designed so you can pin your portable corral to it,” McDonald says. “Using our flexible pinning system, they can be used together. Options on the windbreak also will include small calving pens on each side of the main frame and a head gate.”

 

McDonald and the entire Rawhide team are excited about the potential innovativeness that the new portable windbreak system brings to the industry. Quite simply, they have never seen one like this before.

 

“We expect this will be another revolutionary product for the livestock industry, similar to when we first developed the Rawhide Portable Corral,” McDonald says.

And while McDonald has listened to producers’ ideas and visions for a unique portable windbreak system, he and his employees have been working on the patent pending process for the new windbreak product and have kept the product idea “close to home” and under wraps until now. In addition, McDonald has worked diligently through the challenges that emerged throughout the research and development process to create the ideal windbreak solution that producers have been searching for.

“Our goal was to get it exactly like we wanted it before introducing it to the industry,” McDonald says. “We have shared it with a few of our dealers early on and they are very excited about it and the potential impact it will have on the industry.”

From small farms to expansive ranches, Rawhide’s new portable windbreak system is appropriate for all size producers. It truly is for anyone wanting to protect their cattle from extreme weather conditions, including wind, sun, rain and snow, which can happen anywhere, at any time of the year.

Looking back on his previous innovations, his newest windbreak product design, as well as imagining what’s to come, McDonald is excited for the future. “I am always coming up with new ideas and enjoy finding ways to help fellow livestock producers.”