DIY Livestock Scale Kit for Goats, Hogs, Cattle Chutes & 4-H
- pete8781
- Aug 13
- 7 min read
Updated: 31 minutes ago
A livestock kit is four (or so) load cells, a junction box, a cable, and an indicator with animal hold. You build the platform — wood for 4-H and goats, steel if a cow is going to hit it. That is the product. It is not legal for trade, and it is not a Rice Lake chute scale.
All Scales USA is in Cypress, TX. We sell the electronics and the cells. You (or your welder) supply the box, the chute, and the common sense to keep the animal on the platform.
Primary CTA: Start with the live All Scales kit and the LP7515 indicator:
Livestock / floor / platform indicator kit — SKU CV-A5IX-N384, $208. Complete kit except the platform. Original listing copy on this URL: sealed load cells, orange cable, MS-520 readout, lock-on animal weight, 150% safe overload. Live H1 on the site is currently a bad rewrite (“N384 Replacement Part”). Order from this URL anyway, or call and we will confirm what ships.
LP7515 indicator (OP-902 compatible) — $129. Live spec: animal weighing and hold, up to four 350 Ω load cells, 14 to 104 °F.
Call (832) 766-5410. Also: (281) 656-2666 · (832) 290-3120. Email pete@allscales.com.
What this kit is — and is not
Is: A process scale for your animals. Weigh a goat before a show. Track hog feed conversion. See what a steer weighed in the chute. 4-H kids can learn on it. Animal-hold / lock-on is there so a moving animal does not paint a new number every second.
Is not:
Legal for trade. You cannot sell livestock by this weight as a commercial weighment.
A Rice Lake farm system (no RLS, no Weigh Center, no NTEP livestock CC from this kit).
An MSI or S-type crane kit. Do not hang an animal from an S-cell and call it a livestock scale.
A complete chute. You still need a platform, sides, and a way to keep the animal from stepping off the cells.
If you need a legal livestock scale for a sale barn, say that. We will not dress this kit up as one.
Live All Scales parts (what we actually found)
Kit and indicator
Livestock / floor / platform kit — $208, SKU CV-A5IX-N384. Original copy: kit except platform, sealed cells, orange cable, MS-520, lock-on, goats/pigs/cattle. Cell count and lb rating are not printed on the All Scales listing — call before you assume 5,000 lb cells or a 10k platform. Open livestock kit
LP7515 / OP-902 indicator — Animal weighing, hold, zero, tare, accumulation, checkweighing. Up to four 350 Ω cells. Display up to 3,000e. 14–104 °F. $129. Open LP7515
15' OP-902 / LP7515 cable — $69. Open 15' LP7515 cable
15' OP-902 cable (4-pin / bare) — Original copy: small 4-pin round to bare wires. $59. Open OP-902 cable
Shear-beam load cells (platform / chute — not S-type crane cells)
A livestock platform uses shear beam cells under the corners, not an S-type in a hoist. Live All Scales shear beams we found:
GX-1-1k alloy shear beam — 1,000 lb, listing indicates NTEP cell configuration, $72.99. Open GX-1-1k
GX-1-SH-1k SS washdown shear beam — 1,000 lb, stainless, listing indicates NTEP cell configuration, $129. Open GX-1-SH-1k
GX-1-SH-4k SS washdown shear beam — 4,000 lb, stainless, listing indicates NTEP cell configuration, $121. Open GX-1-SH-4k
NTEP on a cell ≠ legal-for-trade livestock scale. Four NTEP shear beams under a homemade wood box, wired to an LP7515, is still a process scale. Original GX-1 listing copy (1k SS) also printed 3.00 mV/V, 120% FS safe overload, and 350 Ω output. Safe overload is not a working rating.
We did not find a live allscalesusa.com 5,000 lb shear-beam product page. Do not assume we stock a 5k cell because a sister-site kit uses one.
MS-720 / MS720 — do not confuse this with a livestock indicator
Those are hanging/tension kits. They are the wrong geometry for a goat platform or a squeeze chute. If you typed “MYSCALE MS-720” looking for a livestock readout, you want LP7515 / OP-902 (and the livestock kit above), not MS720-15k.
Animal hold (why the indicator matters)
A cow does not stand like a sack of feed. You need a hold / lock-on / animal-weighing mode.
The LP7515 live page lists animal weighing and hold.
The livestock kit’s original copy lists an MS-520 readout with lock-on so the display grabs the animal’s weight.
Use that mode. Do not average by eye. If the number will not settle, the platform is rocking, a foot is off the scale, or a gate is carrying load around the cells — fix the chute, do not crank the indicator.
We already publish LP7515 hold, wiring, and calibration guides on the All Scales blog. Use those for pinout and cal. This page is the farm build, not a second wiring manual.
Wood vs steel platform
The kit does not include the platform. That is on purpose.
Wood (4-H, goats, sheep, small hogs). Cheaper. You can build a box this weekend. Keep it dry. Do not let the deck flex — flex looks like weight. Use a stiff frame, cells at the corners, and a deck that does not sponge. Wood is a bad cattle chute. A 1,200 lb animal hitting a plywood lid will teach you that once.
Steel (cattle chute, heavy hogs, outdoor). Weld or bolt a frame that can take a slam. Mount shear beams so the chute weight sits on the cells, and the alley / gates do not. If a gate post is buried in the same concrete as a cell foot, part of the animal’s weight bypasses the scale and your number is a lie.
Either material:
Four corners, four cells, junction box for corner trim.
Level. Animal scales that rock are toys.
Keep manure and water out of the cell cables. Sealed cells help; they are not a license to bury the summing board in the mud.
The animal has to be all the way on. A hoof on the dirt is a short weight.
We will not publish a cut list or a weld procedure as if it were a Rice Lake drawing. If you want us to look at a photo of the chute before you drill, email pete@allscales.com.
Sizing without inventing a capacity
The All Scales livestock kit page does not print a platform capacity. We will not invent 5,000 lb or 10,000 lb for that SKU.
Rules of thumb we will stand behind:
Size for animal + chute/platform dead load + shock. A cow that hits the headgate is not her scale weight.
LP7515 is specified to four 350 Ω cells. That matches a four-corner platform. Do not wire eight cells into it and hope.
1,000 lb shear beams are a goat / sheep / 4-H conversation, not a cattle chute. Four 1k cells are not a 4,000 lb cow scale in the real world once you subtract dead load and shock.
4,000 lb SS shear beams are the heavier live cell we found on this site. Call us with the animal and the chute weight before you order four of them.
Goats and 4-H: smaller deck, sides they cannot leap, hold mode on. Hogs: they will try to destroy anything wood and anything sharp. Cattle chute: steel, isolation from the alley, and a kit that can take the slam — call before you mix the $208 kit with a 1,500 lb cow.
Not legal for trade
This is a farm / 4-H / vet-style process scale.
Fine: your records, feed conversion, show practice, vet dosing by your own weight.
Not fine: selling animals by the pound from this readout, a commercial livestock barn, or anything TDA expects to see NTEP + placed in service.
NTEP on a GX-1 cell does not make a homemade platform legal for trade. LP7515 / OP-902 is sold here as a bench/floor process indicator with animal hold — the live LP7515 page does not claim a legal-for-trade livestock system.
No ISO 17025 on this kit. Plain English: NTEP vs legal for trade.
This is not a Rice Lake farm scale
Rice Lake (and similar) sell complete livestock platforms and indicators with farm software, legal-for-trade options, and dealer install. That is a different budget and a different product.
What we sell is a DIY electronics kit plus cells. You get a number on a display. You do not get a Rice Lake chute, a factory deck, or a CC for commercial livestock. If you actually need that, say so and we will tell you whether we can help or whether you need a farm-scale dealer.
Order from Cypress
All Scales USA 21249 FM 529 Rd, Cypress, TX 77433
Call (832) 766-5410. Also: (281) 656-2666 · (832) 290-3120. Email pete@allscales.com.
Tell us the animal (goat / hog / cattle), wood or steel, and whether this is 4-H or a chute. We will confirm the live kit vs cells + LP7515 vs something we should not sell you.
The same team also runs MNM Scales and ek1200i.com; buy the livestock kit and LP7515 on allscalesusa.com unless we send you a specific link. (MNM lists a separate cattle/hog/sheep chute kit with four 5,000 lb shear beams, junction box, feet, and LP7515-C — different SKU, different spec sheet; do not copy those numbers onto the All Scales $208 kit.)
Related shop pages: Floor Scales, Load Cells, Digital Indicators, and S-Type Crane Kits (different product — do not hang animals from an S-cell).
This DIY kit is not legal for trade. For commercial livestock sales, see NTEP Legal for Trade.
FAQ
Is this legal for trade?
No. Do not sell by this weight. It is a process / farm kit with animal hold.
Will it work for goats and 4-H?
Yes, if you build a stiff, small platform and use hold/lock-on. Start with the livestock kit or LP7515 and the 1,000 lb shear beams if you are buying cells loose. Keep kids’ feet off the deck during a weigh.
Can I put it under a cattle squeeze chute?
Only if the chute sits on the cells and the alley does not steal the load. That is a steel job. Call (832) 766-5410 with chute weight and animal size. Do not hang a cow from an MS720 crane kit.
Wood or steel?
Wood for goats / 4-H if you keep it dry and stiff. Steel for cattle and for hogs that will wreck a box. Flexing wood reads as weight.
What is MS-720 / MS720?
On allscalesusa.com, MS720-15k and MS720-15K are 15,000 lb S-type crane kits. The livestock readout we actually list is LP7515 (OP-902 compatible) and the livestock kit’s MS-520 / lock-on copy. Do not order MS720 for a chute.
Does the kit include the platform?
No. Original All Scales copy says everything except the platform. You build the deck.
How many load cells?
LP7515 is listed for up to four 350 Ω cells. A four-corner platform is the usual build. The $208 kit page does not print a cell count — confirm what is in the box when you order.
Is this a Rice Lake?
No.
Do I need calibration?
Yes, with known weights, after the platform is built. See the LP7515 calibration guide on our blog. We do not claim ISO 17025. If you need a Houston-area cal on a finished scale, ask — calibration page.
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