Pearson Livestock Equipment Co. had its origins in 1962 when L. B. "Bud" Pearson built the first Selfcatch "automatic" head gate in his ranch shop south of Thedford, Nebraska. He was encouraged to manufacture and market the head gate by ABS and received his patent in 1964. Bud manufactured several thousand head gates at the ranch in the 4 years prior to building the new manufacturing facility at the east edge of Thedford in 1966. The business was then incorporated in 1971. The straight-sided squeeze chute, a totally new concept, along with a palpation cage and chute trailer were developed and added to the Pearson line in 1973. Pearson's received its patent on the chute in 1975. The business grew and in 1982 an adjustable alley was developed and marketed along with a working tub, which completed the full line of the cattle handling equipment.
Pearson's Inc. was purchased from Bud Pearson by Jack and Gail Johnston on October 1, 1990. Jack went to work for Pearson's Jan. 2, 1971 as a welder and worked up to assistant shop foreman, also helping Pearson with design and working in sales at the shows. Through the 80's Jack and Gail developed Johnston Distributing Inc., handling four states and setting up thirty three Dealers.
In 1991, the Company became a national distributor for Tru-Test Scales, which complements Pearson's own manufactured products. Scales have become an essential item in many cattle and bison operations along with veterinary practices. Pearson's designed a scale base to make the scale and Pearson chute truly portable. Pearson's is the exclusive distributor of 32-inch, heavy-duty, fully checked load bars made for Pearson's by Tru-Test.
In January of 1993, the working chute was upgraded by widening, lengthening, and making it taller to accommodate the wider, longer, and taller cattle. In December of 1995, the manual headgate and the NEW adjustable alley were introduced. The manual headgate was developed for our line of bison equipment, but has also joined our line of equipment for the cattle industry. The bison "crash gate" can also be used on cattle headgates when working longhorns and big bulls. The second piece of equipment was an all new adjustable alley where both sides come in evenly, thus keeping the stock centered with the working chute. This allows for a catwalk on both sides of the alley and gives a fourteen foot clear span working area on either side. The alley adjusts by means of a screw jack by which the inside width can be adjusted anywhere from 16" out to 30". The user can also mount a headgate on the front of the alley so that with the optional trailer it can be taken to the corn stalks or wheat pastures. The working tub was then redesigned and upgraded to meet the industry's demands.
Over the last twenty one years, a complete line
of bison handling equipment has been developed. Pearson's with the
expertise of Dr. Ken Throlson, New Rockford, ND, has become the leader in bison
handling equipment. We have designed in the ruggedness it takes to handle
bison with the simplicity the users have asked for. With the combination
of high quality, ruggedness, simplicity, and safety for both animal and
operator, along with volume manufacturing, Pearson's produces the best equipment
for the best price. Now we have added our hydraulic chute to the bison
line to complete the line.
The Pearson marketing system consists of independent distributors who in turn have their own dealer networks. Because the distributors have a working knowledge of their own trade areas they are better able to set up and service their own dealers. This system works well. Equipment can be shipped on the Company semis or by container to the distributors, then be redistributed by them to their own dealers, cutting down on freight. The Company has ten distributors in the United States with eight covering all of the area west of the Mississippi River and three east of Mississippi River.
Pearson's Inc. has been involved in exporting for twenty eight years. There are distributors in Canada, Mexico, Finland, China and one in Belgium who handles all of eastern Europe and the British Isles.
This year 2003, Pearson Livestock Equipment Co. is celebrating its FORTIETH anniversary of building quality livestock equipment for the livestock industry by upgrading our painting system. We are now up and running with our new (state of the art) baked on, acrylic powder coat system. We are also introducing OUR NEW HYDRAULIC WORKING CHUTE. Everything that our customers love about the innovative Pearson Chute (30 years old this year) now operates hydraulically. We have continued with our very successful straight side wall design which controls the animals while letting them stand in a comfortable stance. We have modified the Pearson Selfcatch Headgate, hydraulically, to become both the hydraulic headgate and tailgate. The clean design capitalizes on keeping all moving parts within the framework of the chute while allowing it to open to thirty inches top and bottom. This facilitates ease of entry and exit for the animal. This clean design makes the chute extremely safe for both the operator and animal.
The Hydraulic Chute can be purchased with or without side exit gates, palpation doors, brisket skid or a power supply. The power supply can either be ordered as a portable with an eight horse Honda engine or single phase 220 V motor.
For more information on any of our equipment or a distributorship or dealership, call (308)645-2231 or e-mail us at pearsonsinc@nebnet.net .
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