1st. Time Butchering 1200 lb. Cow?

My advice is to get somebody that knows how to do it to help you.The internet is not the best place to learn how to cut up beef.

Go to a butcher shop/restaurant supply house. You will get better cutlery there than you will at your big box stores. If nothing else you will get to see what you like and maybe you can buy it on line and save some money.
You will need a couple boning knives, a large slicing knife, a couple meat cutting knifes with 7-8 inch blades. Also a good steel and a diamond knife sharpening block, 4" x 10". A good cutting board is necessary also, I prefer wood.
My knives are "Old Hickory" brand [no longer available] that I inherited from my dad. They are good steel. I would steer away from stainless steel, they are hard to sharpen.

36-38 degrees hung for 2-3 weeks, will be edible for a month at least.
Large carbon steel slicers like these
http://www.kitchenknivesbygeorge.com/butcher-knives
and your saws all. I'd use a hand held belt sharpener, I don't like steels to sharpen.

Steels don't sharpen, they hone. They don't remove metal and proper use will make your knives last longer than if you sharpen them every day.

A 13 week old puppy isn't going to eat a 1200 # cow. He will be burying it and rolling in it when its rotten and stinks to high heaven. If the cow isn't sick, You better help him out. Save the tenderloins and back straps just like you would off a deer. Grind the hind quarters up into hamburger and let him have the rest IMHO.
Nothing wrong about jersey cow steak. That burger king cowboy can't even tell it from Angus. Been around cows all my life and I have yet to be able to tell if its angus or wombat when its ground into hamburger.

Are you going to kill it.I didn't mean to sound like a smart ass in my first answer but there is a lot more to it than cutting up a deer.I don't know your setup.Have you thought what you are going to do with the waste there will be a good bit of blood.Do you have a way to hang it.Amazon has F Dick boning knives. Yes they are stainless harder to sharpen than carbon steel but the ergogrip handles are a lot more comfortable for hours of cutting.Some like curved some like straight boning knives.Since your buying for a lifetime I'd get a couple of each.Sometimes it easier to just grab a sharp knife then to steel or sharpen one.

Its about as easy to roll it up on its back and prop it and skin the legs and skin down the belly before you pick it up.

Vtmtn.man don't you go feeding that dog the tongue, heart and liver. That some delicate flavorful eating.Best there is. Drop dead serious. Slice the heart thin, cook it with onions and add a couple tea spoons of bacon grease. The beef flavor is very rich. The tongue you boil, after about an hour and its done, skin it and slice it for sandwiches hot or cold another strong delicate beef flavor. And the liver cut it in half inch slices and fry with bacon and onions. be careful you don't over cook it or it gets tough. I like mine just past pink.
Did you know that when the indians had a good buffalo hunt and they killed a good number of buffalo they celebrated that evening with a feast, by cooking the hearts and the tongues. It was considered that special.

Lucky dog!

I grew up in a restraunt. Butcher steel can be expensive. Look for restraunt supply near you. Go there and ask for Russsel, Dexter, or sani safe knives. Three you will need are a scimatar for large cuts of muscle, two a butcher knife just like great great grandmas, a couple of boning knives 6" and an 8 or 10". Total price should be under $100 for all of them. Last power equipment for cutting bone is great if you have the capability and training to get all the surfaces and little crevices completly sanitised. Starting out just buy a boning saw you can clean and sterilise in the sink whenever you use it. The very simplest method is almost always the best. Last, if you can, find some one who has cut cattle before and buy enough beer to teach and show you hands on what to do.

blindhari

I currently work in a slaughterhouse in central IL. Nearly all of the knives there are victorinox. They arent too expensive and seem to get the job done. However as others have said this is a big job to take on. There are a few hundred steps to fully butchering a cattle carcass. If youre using the bulk of the carcass for dog food then it makes it simpler but even so there will be a lot of work just to get the carcass ready for butchering. Make sure to save the choicest cuts for yourself, maybe save the hide to tan, and plan how you are going to dispose of the inedibles.
Before you start cutting, have a solid plan of what you are going to do and have all the supplies for processing, storage, and CLEANING available. There is going to be a lot of meat and other material to deal with, and a lot of different things you can do with it (jerky, beef bacon, ground beef, steaks, roasts).
Let us know what knives you go with and how it all goes.

Or take a look at http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/kitchen/butcher-knives/c1961.aspx and http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/kitchen/boning-knives/c1955.aspx

Taking a quick look at their prices, for a couple hundred bucks you could get a drawer full of useful butchering knives from among their listings... skinning, boning, breaking, butcher, 10" or 12" slicer and a good steel...

Dexter-Russell will get you a lot of knife for not a lot of money, if you plan to use them in sanitizer soaking solution get the sani-safe ones. (http://www.dexter-russell.com/sani-safe.asp?group_name=sani-safe.asp)

VTmtn.man said:

... I'm buying the cow primarially for my 13 wk. old German Shepherd puppy. .

Click to expand...

I know a guy who only fed his GSD home-cooked prime rib.. for thirteen years.
I'd just use a machete or ax. or feed it good kibble

The way I skin a deer is to saw off the leg bottoms, head, etc, and slice open from the main hide until every leg is open. Place a golf ball under the skin near the top, and tie a rope with a loop around the ball from the outside. Hang it up, attach the rope to a car, and drive away taking the skin with it. Not sure that would work for a beeve.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000M2R6C6 All you will ever need. There is no better bargain in the knife world.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001GM4RBE if you must have stainless.

Either will serve you well and for beyond a lifetime.

If you want more equipment than just knives think about buying from LEM. They are the best source of meat processing gear I know. Here's a link to the Mundial knives they sell : http://www.lemproducts.com/product/3739/Knives

As far as your question of slaughtering method it would be best and easiest to use a small caliber pistol or 22 rifle to the brain, then immediately hoist the cow upside down and bleed it out. simple and quick, with less noise than using a full caliber rifle.

A standard .22 on a full sized cow must be surgically applied behind the ear from just the right angle and at almost muzzle contact. A .22 mag from a rifle is much better but I prefer something like a .44mag with 240 grain bullets or a .30 carbine with ball.you certainly want to hit between eye socket and ear hole with what ever. Between the eyes works but stay below the horn boss!

+1 on the idea of getting professional help.
butchering is an art.
it may cost you extra $$ - but the learning experience would be worth every penny.

CA R