Cattle Grids
Cattle grids let vehicles pass through a boundary while cattle, sheep, deer and goats stay within it. They replace gated vehicle access on farms, estates and other agricultural sites that need a drive-through entrance, so drivers no longer stop to open and close a gate. HERMEQ supplies a fully galvanised cattle grid in 10, 20, 30 and 40 tonne capacities, so the rating can be matched to the traffic using the track. Each grid is manufactured in the UK with in-house steel processing, held in permanent UK stock and sold online, with next day and nationwide delivery.
What cattle grids are used for
A grid takes the gate out of a vehicle route, so traffic drives straight across a boundary while the stock behind it stays in. On a working farm, grids go where a track leaves the yard or passes between grazing fields, and they are crossed many times a day by tractors, quads, pickups and staff vehicles.
On estates and long private drives, a grid keeps grazing stock and park deer off the drive and out of the gardens. On roads into unfenced common or moorland, grids keep sheep and cattle on the grazing and off neighbouring farmland and villages.
Cattle grid weight capacity from 10 to 40 tonnes
The rating to choose is set by the heaviest vehicle that will ever cross the grid, which on most accesses is an occasional delivery and not the traffic seen every day.
Cars, vans and light farm traffic
A grid on a domestic driveway, a holiday let entrance or a field gateway used only by cars, pickups, vans and quads sits at the lower end of the range. Before settling on it, look at what else uses the drive over a year: a heating oil delivery, a skip lorry or a removal van each outweighs the daily traffic, and the grid has to carry them as well.
Tractors, trailers and loaded telehandlers
Tracks between fields carry tractors with loaded trailers, telehandlers moving bales and feed, and slurry tankers at spreading time, which puts them in the middle of the range. The loaded weight is the one that counts, so a tractor coming back from the field with a full trailer of grain or silage sets the rating, and the same machine running empty does not.
Lorries, tankers and timber wagons
Yard entrances and estate roads that take milk tankers, feed and fertiliser lorries, fuel deliveries, livestock transporters or timber wagons need the top of the range. A heavier rating carries every lighter vehicle that follows it, so an access that sees even one of these visits a year is rated for that visit. The galvanised cattle grid in the HERMEQ range goes up to 40 tonnes for this traffic.
Cattle grid design and installation
Most of the work of fitting a grid happens before it arrives, and three checks settle whether it will hold stock from the day it goes in.
Sizing the grid to the track
Measure the usable width of the track or gateway, including any verge that wheels run onto when vehicles turn in, and compare it with the dimensions on the product page before ordering. Wide machinery and long vehicles swinging into the entrance need the grid to cover the full running width, and the approach on each side should finish level with the top of the grid so traffic crosses without a step.
The pit, base and drainage
The grid sits over a pit with a firm, level base and solid side walls, normally formed in concrete, so that the load from each vehicle passes down into sound ground. The pit needs a drain or soakaway so that rainwater does not stand in it, and a small escape ramp in one corner lets hedgehogs and other small animals that fall in climb back out.
Fencing and a side gate
Stock will walk round a grid that is left open at the ends, so fencing or wing walls have to run tight into both sides with no gap at the corners, and agricultural fencing closes the boundary up to the grid. A gate alongside lets you drive stock through when they need to move, and gives horses, riders, walkers and dogs a way past that does not cross the bars. Farm gates from the same range fit this side opening.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is a cattle grate the same as a cattle grid?
Yes. Cattle grate is another name for the same thing, alongside cattle guard and stock grid, and a grid laid to hold deer is often called a deer grid. In each case it is a set of steel bars laid over a pit across a vehicle access.
How does a cattle grid stop livestock crossing?
Cattle, sheep and other hoofed animals will not step onto bars laid over an open pit, because the gaps between the bars give them no safe footing. Vehicle tyres span those gaps, so traffic crosses without slowing while stock stays on its own side.
Which animals will a cattle grid contain?
The HERMEQ cattle grid is made to contain cattle, sheep, deer and goats. That suits mixed grazing, where one entrance has to hold back more than one kind of stock, as well as deer parks and estates.
Does a galvanised cattle grid need maintenance?
The grid is fully galvanised, so the steel is protected against corrosion and does not need painting. The upkeep that matters is the pit: silt, leaves, mud and drifted snow that build up beneath the bars give animals a footing across. Clearing the pit as part of routine yard work, particularly through autumn and winter, keeps the grid doing its job.
Do you need permission for a cattle grid on a public road?
Yes. A grid on a public highway needs the consent of the highway authority, usually the local council, which sets conditions for the installation and the signs on the approach. On a private track or drive the decision rests with the landowner.