Simplest Milking Stanchion Ever

This is the milking stanchion I use. It’s two steel T-posts, some pine 2×4s, and a handful of bolts. It holds the cow by the neck while I milk her, and it opens with one hand to let her in or out. The drawing below walks through the build step by step. Press Play or tap a step number, and at the end use the button to open and close the gate.

Materials

• 2 steel T-posts, 8′
• Pine 2×4s, cut to fit:
  • 2 lintel boards, about 3’–3½’ each
  • 1 stationary post, about 7′ (including the angle-cut end that goes in the ground)
  • 1 free post, about 5½’ (long enough to stick up about 6″ above the lintels as a handle)
  • 2 bottom boards, about 14″ each
• 2 shims or spacer blocks for the free-post side
• 3 U-bolts sized for your T-posts (2 for the first lintel, 1 for the second)
• 2 pivot bolts, about 6″, with 4 large fender washers and 4 nuts (two per bolt)
• 1 clamp bolt with washers and nut, long enough to pass through both lintels plus the gap
• 1 locking bolt for the top of the free post, long enough to rest across both lintel boards
• Exterior wood screws, about 3″, for fastening the lintels to the stationary post

Build plan

1. Set the T-posts. Drive two 8′ T-posts about 2½’ apart, roughly 2′ into the ground.
2. Hang the first lintel board. Run a 2×4 across the tops of the T-posts like the lintel over a door. Fasten it near the top of each T-post with one U-bolt (regular bolts also work). On the free-post side, put a shim between the board and the T-post.
3. Set the stationary post. Cut an acute angle off the bottom of a 2×4. Drive that end into the ground right against the inside of one T-post, so the top runs up where the two lintel boards will sandwich it. Screw the top to the first lintel board.
4. Add the bottom boards. Cut two 2×4s about 14″ long and drill a hole about 1″ in from each end. Drill the stationary post about 1′ off the ground. Bolt one bottom board on each side of the post with a large washer on each side. Leave the nut loose so it can pivot, and lock it with a second nut.
5. Add the free post. Bolt a second 2×4 between the other ends of the bottom boards, loose and double-nutted like the first. It does not touch the ground. Its top hangs free, leaning toward the opposite T-post.
6. Hang the second lintel board. U-bolt it to the free-post-side T-post, with a shim between board and T-post, and screw it to the stationary post. The shims widen the gap on that side so the free post swings without binding.
7. Add the clamp bolt. Run a bolt through both lintel boards at the outer end, past the stationary-post T-post. Tightening it squeezes the boards and holds the stationary post firm against its T-post.
8. Cut the notch and add the locking bolt. Cut a 1″×1″ notch in the top edge of both lintel boards where the free post stands upright. Put a bolt through the top end of the free post. When the bolt drops into the notches, the post is locked closed.

Using it

• To open: grab the top of the free post, lift the bolt out of the notch, and swing the post toward its T-post.
• To close: once her head is through, swing the free post back against her neck and drop the bolt into the notch.
• The loose pivot bolts let the bottom boards tip up slightly when you lift the free post. That’s what lets the bolt clear the notch.

Notes

• Lengths are approximate. Cut the posts to fit your T-post height and your cow.
• Place the notch so the closed gap fits your cow’s neck snugly but not tight. Around 8″ is a starting point.