Staggered Rump Rail?

kowtow

Thinking of narrowing our pit a little as moving to 2'6" centres and only have 5' from wall to beginning of kerb... which is about 7" sloping upwards so about 5'7 in total if we changed the kerb to a rail. Rump rails are currently straight and a few inches "in" from the actual kerb / pit edge. New mangers are staggered steel, 2'6" about 45 degrees and obviously I want to minimise the reduction in space in the pit as we are keeping our jars.

What I'm considering is to take another 4-6" (probably a run of lintel) from each side of the pit, take out the sloping kerb and replace with a fixed rail at the very edge of the pit, and put in new rump rails basically supported by the rest of the existing frame which is in good condition.

If we stuck with straight rump rails, angled back, that might give 70-72" from wall to rump rail - but I am tempted to maximise space by putting in staggered rump rails. Some people have mentioned that staggered rails & staggered mangers aren't a great combination - anyone any direct experience of this?

We are only setting up for two or three dozen on 5/6 units so cow flow may not be such an issue as it is with bigger parlours.

Deepsouthwest

kowtow wrote: »

Thinking of narrowing our pit a little as moving to 2'6" centres and only have 5' from wall to beginning of kerb... which is about 7" sloping upwards so about 5'7 in total if we changed the kerb to a rail. Rump rails are currently straight and a few inches "in" from the actual kerb / pit edge. New mangers are staggered steel, 2'6" about 45 degrees and obviously I want to minimise the reduction in space in the pit as we are keeping our jars.

What I'm considering is to take another 4-6" (probably a run of lintel) from each side of the pit, take out the sloping kerb and replace with a fixed rail at the very edge of the pit, and put in new rump rails basically supported by the rest of the existing frame which is in good condition.

If we stuck with straight rump rails, angled back, that might give 70-72" from wall to rump rail - but I am tempted to maximise space by putting in staggered rump rails. Some people have mentioned that staggered rails & staggered mangers aren't a great combination - anyone any direct experience of this?

We are only setting up for two or three dozen on 5/6 units so cow flow may not be such an issue as it is with bigger parlours.

Suprised there hasn't been more response to this, have no experience of staggered rump rails, but I'm sure there's plenty parlour design consultants who would nearly tell u over the phone. Grasstec spring to mind, Teagasc should also have an opinion

st1979

staggered either front or back but not both was what I was told when doing mine. so I have straight rump rail and feed mangers in front which is basically staggered. works well

kowtow

st1979 wrote: »

staggered either front or back but not both was what I was told when doing mine. so I have straight rump rail and feed mangers in front which is basically staggered. works well

The main complaint I hear is that zig zag rump rails mean you can't use the next door cow to push up the girl in front and keep her quiet. Possibly they also impede cow flow as the cow has to disentangle itself both front and rear in order to exit... not sure whether this will bother us so much with a short parlour and only and handful of sides to milk.

Does anyone here still have zig zag rails?