Dairy Chit Chat- Please read Mod note in post #1

6270red

Just had a look at quote there put in 14 unit with jars and a good few extras like auto wash, acrs, individual feeding system, dumpline, swingover arms. Completely new build nothing kept from old one new kerb steelwork the lot. Also put in a tank from them but that has turned out to be a disaster!
€55,000 not including the tank. Was cheapest I could get at the time and I priced them all. Was the time of the first round of grants. Just another point too I found it hard to get this parlour with jars only 3 companies would have put them in and that narrowed my options.

Milked out

6270red wrote: »

Just had a look at quote there put in 14 unit with jars and a good few extras like auto wash, acrs, individual feeding system, dumpline, swingover arms. Completely new build nothing kept from old one new kerb steelwork the lot. Also put in a tank from them but that has turned out to be a disaster!
€55,000 not including the tank. Was cheapest I could get at the time and I priced them all. Was the time of the first round of grants. Just another point too I found it hard to get this parlour with jars only 3 companies would have put them in and that narrowed my options.

What was up with the tank if u don't mind me asking?

6270red

Milked out wrote: »

What was up with the tank if u don't mind me asking?

Not washing correctly have to go in with hose afterwards to wash it out. The lads fitting it never levelled it right so had high tbc for ages. Probes failed, thermostat failed gas leak. Working ok at the min but it shouldn't have given so many Probs!
Got no satisfaction form Dairymaster either.

Posted bout this before and lots of fellas happy out with them. I got sold a lemon!😄😄

Milked out

6270red wrote: »

Not washing correctly have to go in with hose afterwards to wash it out. The lads fitting it never levelled it right so had high tbc for ages. Probes failed, thermostat failed gas leak. Working ok at the min but it shouldn't have given so many Probs!
Got no satisfaction form Dairymaster either.

Posted bout this before and lots of fellas happy out with them. I got sold a lemon!😄😄

Have one goin in here, seperate crowd install g it tho

Timmaay

6270red wrote: »

Just had a look at quote there put in 14 unit with jars and a good few extras like auto wash, acrs, individual feeding system, dumpline, swingover arms. Completely new build nothing kept from old one new kerb steelwork the lot. Also put in a tank from them but that has turned out to be a disaster!
€55,000 not including the tank. Was cheapest I could get at the time and I priced them all. Was the time of the first round of grants. Just another point too I found it hard to get this parlour with jars only 3 companies would have put them in and that narrowed my options.

Why would anyone want jars on a new machine? They rob vacuum reserves, slow down milking, take more water to wash, and add afew 100 per unit.

kowtow

Timmaay wrote: »

Why would anyone want jars on a new machine? They rob vacuum reserves, slow down milking, take more water to wash, and add afew 100 per unit.

And in a pit as narrow as mine (4 foot 6) you are in constant danger of knocking yourself out unless you place them high.

But they have a certain mesmeric quality, like a log fire. And you can see what's going on.

So I put them in.

kevthegaff

Any idea price of 20 unit now with acrs, swing over arms, just roughly? Might throw in application!

Buford T. Justice XIX

kowtow wrote: »

And in a pit as narrow as mine (4 foot 6) you are in constant danger of knocking yourself out unless you place them high.

But they have a certain mesmeric quality, like a log fire. And you can see what's going on.

So I put them in.

True, that.

I have them in too. It gives me a constant check of the quantities that a cow is giving so I know if she is down in milk and I can check out any problems like mastitis or off her feed straight away.

Where I find it really pays is in checking the milk for blood. I have a few cows that bleed fairly easily so I can spot the colour change straight away. And it's good for spotting if the plant wash isn't good enough with deposits on the side of jars.

But we have always had jars and I always found it strange not to see the milk hitting the jars when I was milking in other plants.

6270red

Timmaay wrote: »

Why would anyone want jars on a new machine? They rob vacuum reserves, slow down milking, take more water to wash, and add afew 100 per unit.

Depends on what you like I suppose! Had them in old one so stayed with them. Very handy to see a sick cow also best way to keep colostrum for calves in the spring. No messing with pipes. But everyone has their own way of doing things.

whelan2

how long before calving do you put dry cows ona restricted diet?

6270red

Milked out wrote: »

Have one goin in here, seperate crowd install g it tho

Ya they have sub contractors to put them in alright. Just make sure they are good and you have a good contract with them if something goes wrong. Make sure you know what's covered and what is not. Like I said lots of guys happy with them I got sold a lemon!
Hope you have few hours of trouble free cooling!!

kowtow

While we are on the subject of parlours - in my quest to make the most of four and a half feet of pit I managed to get the jars high enough not to brain myself (just over head height).

My issue now is with the amount of tubing & jetters etc. on the drops.

I know there are plenty of wash trays that fold down etc. but is there one that can work inverted, overhead? Thought I saw a waikato one one time but I might be dreaming.. does anyone have one? Could I use a normal jetter tray upside down?

Timmaay

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

True, that.

I have them in too. It gives me a constant check of the quantities that a cow is giving so I know if she is down in milk and I can check out any problems like mastitis or off her feed straight away.

Where I find it really pays is in checking the milk for blood. I have a few cows that bleed fairly easily so I can spot the colour change straight away. And it's good for spotting if the plant wash isn't good enough with deposits on the side of jars.

But we have always had jars and I always found it strange not to see the milk hitting the jars when I was milking in other plants.

Have large all clear Gascoigne clusters here, which I find show ya 90% of what jars showed, also got cheap enough milk indicators. We've always had jars here, and I actually priced them up in the new parlour, but from talking to afew farmers who switched it convinced me I didn't need them, I can't say I've ever missed them. In terms of beastings, get a clear dump bucket.

Timmaay

kevthegaff wrote: »

Any idea price of 20 unit now with acrs, swing over arms, just roughly? Might throw in application!

3k/unit

6270red

kowtow wrote: »

While we are on the subject of parlours - in my quest to make the most of four and a half feet of pit I managed to get the jars high enough not to brain myself (just over head height).

My issue now is with the amount of tubing & jetters etc. on the drops.

I know there are plenty of wash trays that fold down etc. but is there one that can work inverted, overhead? Thought I saw a waikato one one time but I might be dreaming.. does anyone have one? Could I use a normal jetter tray upside down?

Would a lighter cluster work in that scenario? Something like milkrite do? You'd think the weight of the normal one would cause it to drop. I've seen jars up really high and a low level wash fitted under the kerbing it was a lovely job. No clutter at all.

kowtow

6270red wrote: »

Would a lighter cluster work in that scenario? Something like milkrite do? You'd think the weight of the normal one would cause it to drop. I've seen jars up really high and a low level wash fitted under the kerbing it was a lovely job. No clutter at all.

Our jars are pretty high now, bottom of the tap is about my eye level, and they can go higher because we set things up with this problem in mind. I took pity on the cows at the last minute and kept the height of the milk line to 1.40m above the platform so as not to stress them too much with the new jars but certainly would be happier the further up we could get them.

I Like the idea of a separate wash-line under the kerb, we still have one kerb to bring in at the moment as milking on one side while we upgrade.

In the parlours you saw what did they do on the drops and the servo switches?, just keep them really short and hang the cluster up out of the way when not in use?

mahoney_j

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

True, that.

I have them in too. It gives me a constant check of the quantities that a cow is giving so I know if she is down in milk and I can check out any problems like mastitis or off her feed straight away.

Where I find it really pays is in checking the milk for blood. I have a few cows that bleed fairly easily so I can spot the colour change straight away. And it's good for spotting if the plant wash isn't good enough with deposits on the side of jars.

But we have always had jars and I always found it strange not to see the milk hitting the jars when I was milking in other plants.

Good milk meter that will measure conductivity will do same and more and also take up less space ,measure yield and conductivity every milking and get red lights and report of any irreguralities after milking .feeding and drafting also managed from it as well

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

Good milk meter that will measure conductivity will do same and more and also take up less space ,measure yield and conductivity every milking and get red lights and report of any irreguralities after milking .feeding and drafting also managed from it as well

http://www.fullwood.com/news/content/546

The new fullwood system looks very clean and simple.

Love how the control pad looks

6270red

kowtow wrote: »

Our jars are pretty high now, bottom of the tap is about my eye level, and they can go higher because we set things up with this problem in mind. I took pity on the cows at the last minute and kept the height of the milk line to 1.40m above the platform so as not to stress them too much with the new jars but certainly would be happier the further up we could get them.

I Like the idea of a separate wash-line under the kerb, we still have one kerb to bring in at the moment as milking on one side while we upgrade.

In the parlours you saw what did they do on the drops and the servo switches?, just keep them really short and hang the cluster up out of the way when not in use?

One I saw had acrs and swingover arms so cluster just hanging there when comes off a cow. Switches were above head height below jar. Set up for the height of the operator.
Was sorry after that I didn't do it this way myself! Brilliant idea and was the farmer himself who thought of it.

kowtow

6270red wrote: »

One I saw had acrs and swingover arms so cluster just hanging there when comes off a cow. Switches were above head height below jar. Set up for the height of the operator.

.. now there's an idea.

Hmm.. where would I get some swing-over arms..

Timmaay

Greengrass1 wrote: »

http://www.fullwood.com/news/content/546

The new fullwood system looks very clean and simple.

Love how the control pad looks

Hmmm thats actually a minor pet hate of mine with the control box I have, only 3 buttons to keep it "clean and simple", however this means buttons have to double up, to set the clusters to wash you got to hold the middle button for 4 bloody seconds ha, on each cluster. One dedicated "wash" button would be alot handier, I'd definitely scrap a clean and simple look for functionality.

kowtow

6270red wrote: »

You'd think the weight of the normal one would cause it to drop.

I see there are a few that have a positive "clip in" action which are designed for overhead / rotary use. I wonder would these double up to hold clusters in between milkings or would that cause a hygiene issue?

http://www.rodgerindustries.com/en/product-page?m_id=eccbc87e4b5ce2fe28308fd9f2a7baf3&sp_id=98f13708210194c475687be6106a3b84&cat=8f53295a73878494e9bc8dd6c3c7104f&prd=3f67fd97162d20e6fe27748b5b372509

C0N0R

On phone so can't throw up pics or look at pics but in nz we used to hang clusters up above head, vacuum held them on

Buford T. Justice XIX

mahoney_j wrote: »

Good milk meter that will measure conductivity will do same and more and also take up less space ,measure yield and conductivity every milking and get red lights and report of any irreguralities after milking .feeding and drafting also managed from it as well

I looked at them when I was putting in parlour but they were very much emerging technology at the time. I just went for the proven tech at the time.

Greengrass1

AnyOne chancing urea atm?
Local coop looking to get rid of what he has. 370 he's offering

leg wax

Greengrass1 wrote: »

AnyOne chancing urea atm?
Local coop looking to get rid of what he has. 370 he's offering

too dry here at the moment .

ellewood

Greengrass1 wrote: »

AnyOne chancing urea atm?
Local coop looking to get rid of what he has. 370 he's offering

Ahh jezus, couldnt get urea off 3 different co ops last week so went with Can it prob is too dry around here now for urea now too.. Was ideal for it last week tho!!
Only urea could be got was some from another farmer that was returning it as he didnt want it and bags wernt 100% and some lumpy/wet no thanks I said

Greengrass1

ellewood wrote: »

Ahh jezus, couldnt get urea off 3 different co ops last week so went with Can it prob is too dry around here now for urea now too.. Was ideal for it last week tho!!
Only urea could be got was some from another farmer that was returning it as he didnt want it and bags wernt 100% and some lumpy/wet no thanks I said

Too dry here atm I think. Very dry wind going around. Be next Mon Tuesday before we could get it.
Weather might be differ by then

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Too dry here atm I think. Very dry wind going around. Be next Mon Tuesday before we could get it.
Weather might be differ by then

If you can get it spread away ,very dry here too but also very heavy dew in morning .id chance spreading but Im done with fertiliser for year mixture of can and pasture award put out earlier in week .370 for gran urea good price ,if it's prilled wouldn't bother as its afull ****e to spread accurately

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

If you can get it spread away ,very dry here too but also very heavy dew in morning .id chance spreading but Im done with fertiliser for year mixture of can and pasture award put out earlier in week .370 for gran urea good price ,if it's prilled wouldn't bother as its afull ****e to spread accurately

Not prilled urea seen it in the yard this morning.
Only going to do 40 ac of milking block. Don't want to drive too much grass with the low sr.
Will cover out farm though. I'll try keep out young stock as long as I can wether there at home or on out block.