Rate the parlour manufacturers!

cowmilk

Who makes parlours?
Cost?
Value for money?
Comparison?


Dairymaster
- Cheaper.
- Plastic parts (clusters, feeders etc) tend to break.
- Made in Ireland



Alfa Laval?


Any others suitable for a 16 unit parlour?

mooman

cowmilk wrote: »

Who makes parlours?
Cost?
Value for money?
Comparison?


Dairymaster
- Cheaper.
- Plastic parts (clusters, feeders etc) tend to break.
- Made in Ireland



Alfa Laval?


Any others suitable for a 16 unit parlour?

I don't know anything about parlours but I know a fella working here and from talking to him the quality is top notch but the price matches, I think he said they make them in Germany.

TheWeasel

You Wont beat Alfa for Quality.

blue5000

Don't forget Lely:D

5live

cowmilk wrote: »

Who makes parlours?
Cost?
Value for money?
Comparison?


Dairymaster
- Cheaper. [???]
- Plastic parts (clusters, feeders etc) tend to break.
- Made in Ireland



Alfa Laval?


Any others suitable for a 16 unit parlour?

Not from my experience! But excellent PR;)

All manufacturers will be able to supply you with a good machine. The only differences will be price, which you can ring and ask from them, and service , which you will have to enquire locally about. Backup, especially in the first 12 months, is probably the most important factor as you will be using an unfamiliar machine and will need someone on site from time to time to sort out small issues. Find out what machines are in your general area and that will give a good indication of what machines have the best backup and dependability

cowmilk

cowmilk wrote: »

Who makes parlours?
Cost?
Value for money?
Comparison?


Dairymaster
- Cheaper.
- Plastic parts (clusters, feeders etc) tend to break.
- Made in Ireland



Alfa Laval?


Any others suitable for a 16 unit parlour?

Alfa - supposed to be good.

Lely - any comments?

What about on-going services?

Rovi

Alfa Laval no longer exist, at least not in the milking machinery world.

They're now DeLaval.

Richie2

The best quality in milking equipment, you won't bet any better than the German made WestfaliaSurge. They now go under the GEA flag.

bbam

Good Quality Plant is only the start of the equation..

You need to be dealing with a good reliable agent that operates a good service. There is no point in having plant and the agent is useless or not available when you need them...

Buy an Alfa plant of a good agent and although you've paid a little of a premium you will be well looked after and have a decent parlour too..

IMHO there are only two suppliers worth considering, Alfa & Dairymaster, in that order too..

Richie2

I agree with you 100%. No point in having a top of the range machine if you can't get anyone to look after it.
The key to buying any make of machine is to have good technical back up and the availability of spare parts.
It all depends on your local dealer.

cowmilk

On-going parlour services what factors should we rate?

- Cost (range?) - low,, medium high?
- Reliability
- ?

whelan1

Richie2 wrote: »

I agree with you 100%. No point in having a top of the range machine if you can't get anyone to look after it.
The key to buying any make of machine is to have good technical back up and the availability of spare parts.
It all depends on your local dealer.

Agreed , had to ring milking machine man this evening as one of the relays was broken, 1 has also broken on friday so i had used up the spare i had , sent husband over to the mans house and machine was back going properly in 20 minutes... have often rang him at 6.30 am and he will be over in 10 minutes, also ring him and he will talk you through a problem to see if i can fix it with out him having to come over

stanflt

whelan1 wrote: »

Agreed , had to ring milking machine man this evening as one of the relays was broken, 1 has also broken on friday so i had used up the spare i had , sent husband over to the mans house and machine was back going properly in 20 minutes... have often rang him at 6.30 am and he will be over in 10 minutes, also ring him and he will talk you through a problem to see if i can fix it with out him having to come over

what make.
do you use cookstown?


milked this evening in a fullwood plant before i milked my own- not a bad plant but no dairymaster

awaywithyou

stanflt wrote: »

what make.
do you use cookstown?


milked this evening in a fullwood plant before i milked my own- not a bad plant but no dairymaster

people in meath have great time for dairymaster.... every dairymaster parlour i looked at while i was in the place... the farmer that had the machine was very happy with it....

which is odd as here at home in north kerry.... farmers have more time for delaval than dairymaster.....

whelan1

stanflt wrote: »

what make.
do you use cookstown?


milked this evening in a fullwood plant before i milked my own- not a bad plant but no dairymaster

nope, use north east farm and dairy services

bogman_bass

are gascoigne still on the go?

5live

bogman_bass wrote: »

are gascoigne still on the go?

Yeah. Going under Gascoigne Meloitte(? not sure of the spelling)

Tipp Man

Have a dairymaster ourselves, happy enough with it

Richie2

Gascoigne-melotte are strong in some areas. Now they are part of Baumatic (American). They have some good dealers in the Cork area.

thecowboy83

Im putting in a new Gascoigne at the minute they're now called Boumatic Gascoigne Melotte . Good parlour i used to do relief milking and found easy to operate. Too much plastic with Dairymaster i felt

bt12

all the manufacters gone done the plastic route but at least dairymaster have a s/s vac line

cowmilk

bt12 wrote: »

all the manufacters gone done the plastic route but at least dairymaster have a s/s vac line

What is "a s/s vac line?"

bbam

Stainless steel vacuum line?

st1979

Can anyone tell me the benefit of a stainless steel vaccum line.They might look nice but i have never heard of a vaccum line giving trouble. I reckon its a waste of money. In my old parlour it was stainless in the new parlour its white plastic which is so easy to work with all it needs is a special epoxy glue and joiners and bends when installing. If plastic can be used on claw pieces where cows dance on them i reckon its ok for vaccum line

cowmilk

Are threre still grants for new parlours and milk tanks?

battle_hardend

de leval and dairymaster are the most common and being near a dealer is crucial , thier may be other makes who are just as good but if the dealer is fifty miles away or more , not much use

id rate de leval slightly above dairymaster but thats only a personal opinion

fullwood are good aswell though not as good as the above two IMO , they do have plenty of dealers however , thier by far the third biggest in this country

KCTK

cowmilk wrote: »

Are threre still grants for new parlours and milk tanks?

Yes, follow this link for detail and application forms http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmerschemespayments/farmbuildings/dairyequipmentscheme/
Think the closing date for the current tranch is 30th April then 31 July and so on every 3 months until scheme closes.

Zetor man

Most makes mentioned above milk cows well,The problem comes with the breakdown,and the vital thing is service and access to the service and spare parts.

_Brian

I think regarding the brands there are really only three mainstream manufacturers on the market with a decent countrywide presence.

Having a proper service team based reasonably close who are always there when you ring - this is hugely important.

There are a myriad of hybrid or mongrel parlours out there doing decent jobs.

It's amazing, even a modest parlour well maintained will milk allot of cows well. Major and minor service every year and you'll be flying it.

mahoney_j

Richie2 wrote: »

The best quality in milking equipment, you won't bet any better than the German made WestfaliaSurge. They now go under the GEA flag.

Have a gea westfallia parlour and after extensive viewings of parlours the quality of materials used and way everything works nothing comes close to it.Closest would be fullwood.The big downside with gea in ireland is there dealer network and marketing which still needs serious work.wouldnt touch dairymaster .Too much plastic,4x0 pulsation and poor build quality.Put it beside a westfalia,de laval or fullwood and there is no comparasion.Only advantage is that they are irish have a huge dealer network and excellent back up.Theyd bust your balls though trying to get a price off them.Theyll give you a high price first and knock thousands off it but material quality will suffer

fastrac

awaywithyou wrote: »

people in meath have great time for dairymaster.... every dairymaster parlour i looked at while i was in the place... the farmer that had the machine was very happy with it....

which is odd as here at home in north kerry.... farmers have more time for delaval than dairymaster.....

If your from North Kerry you will get a good deal on a Delaval machine.