The other day I ran into the term "stock gap" used to describe what I would call a "cattle guard". Wikipedia identifies "stock gap" as a usage in the southeastern US and I'm wondering where it is commonly used. Are cattle guards called stock gaps in your area and, if so, where in the US is that?
Never heard the term, Kent. We have 'cattle guards' and 'stock gates'. Like you've surmised, it's apparently a local or antiquated term. Kinda like "overpass" and "viaduct".
Like Paden, never heard that term.
Stock Gap
A break between prices on a chart that occurs when the price of a stock makes a sharp move up or down with no trading occurring in between. Gaps can be created by factors such as regular buying or selling pressure, earnings announcements, a change in an analyst's outlook or any other type of news release.
I don't have a picture, but where I grew up in northern Nebraska you would occasionally see two fences from adjacent landowners running parallel and spaced about 4'-6' apart with a gap between them in case one of the bulls tried to get to the cows next door the gap would stop him. To me this was known as the "stock gap".
> I don't have a picture, but where I grew up in northern Nebraska you would occasionally see two fences from adjacent landowners running parallel and spaced about 4'-6' apart with a gap between them in case one of the bulls tried to get to the cows next door the gap would stop him. To me this was known as the "stock gap".
Googling "stock gap" and "fence" turns up several cases from the early 20th century in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It also turned up this amusing article:
Widening the Stock Gap with Painted Stripes
In gravity surveys, that's called a "tare."
Around here, a stock gap would be a wire gap put up where a gate won't swing, like between 2 trees or on an uneven spot. 3-4 cedar sticks with 4-5 strands of barbwire loosely steepled (or stapled, depending where you are from) to them, stick at one end wired to whatever is there, loose enough to be able to pull it closed by hand with the stick on the other end set in a wire loop at the bottom and another one at the top.
That is called a Portuguese gate around here.
We call them Portagee gates, you probably do too. I've run across some that are so tight it takes two men to open or close them. Or maybe it was just me:-(
Don
Yes that is what they are called.
I too have see some very well constructed wire gates.
I ran across this one last month and had to take a picture so I can duplicate for myself.
You could easily shut this gate due to the leverage and once tensioned, you could play the banjo on every strand. I have never seen a wire gate constructed this carefully. There were dozens of them on this dude ranch.
Only change I would make is to weld a nub on the post to keep cattle from rubbing the ring upwards.
I have always thought those were a "cattle alley-way" and that their purpose was to facilitate frequent movement of cattle.
> I have always thought those were a "cattle alley-way" and that their purpose was to facilitate frequent movement of cattle.
In Central Texas, that would be a "cattle lane" if it has gates on the ends and connects different pastures.
Kent in outback OZ you occasionally see a fence gap for the road. Where a long fence line is stopped either side of the road. The station owners then constructs short gap fences around 10/20m at right angles to each end strainer that allows the gap. Making effectively a T where vertical line represents main fence line and the horizontal the gap fence.
The theory is that cattle or sheep walking down the fence line come to the gap fence, turn around at right angles following gap fence then continue walking away from the division fence and not taking a sharp turn onto road and through gap...
RADU
No stock gaps around here
By any of the above definitions.
We have cattle guards, sometimes referred to as autogates. Of course, we have wire gates in many places. But, no such thing as a stock gap.
Richard, here is what a cattle guard (aka "stock gap") looks like. My wiki-informants tell me this is called a "stock grid" in Australia.
That's a pretty good idea. I may copy that in the future.
We call those cattle guards too.
In Virginia we used the same terminology as eddycreek--"wire gap"--for the closure he describes. I never heard the term "stock gap" in the farming country I grew up in.
Cheers,
Henry