Dairy chit chat II

White Clover wrote: »

Fine parlour there. Do the cows step up into the parlour?

They do and not a bother. Landed over our cows and straight in, no hesitation. There's a problem with cow flow in that parlour. They'll leave smartly but hesitate entering as they have to come through doors. The demolition of that wall will happen 1 minute after the last cow is dried in November, pure bastard set up and like a sauna.

atlantic mist wrote: »

we have acr with 20 units, one person can handle all milking putting 140 cows through in an hour 20. while attaching the second last unit the first one is coming off so from a work flow it works well. we dont leave the pit during milking but cows getting fed meal here so they run in

we put pit as wide as possible at 2.3 meters, cant beat a bit of space especially with cluster removers, nice slap off them if your standing in wrong place

Is that not very slow? 1hr 20 or does that include wash up.

johnny122

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Is that not very slow? 1hr 20 or does that include wash up

Milking in my mind is nice n gentle and not a race. Can't understand why you wouldn't have them

atlantic mist

ya includes washing and set up, what are most averaging?

all yields recorded and meal automatically fed, dont think id get it done much faster, never more than 2 clusters hanging at any time

i find british friesian are a bit slower to milk out than hol/jer cross maybe this adds a bit to time

The part time boy

Sam Kade wrote: »

He would be better off getting up 15 minutes earlier, lazy sod.

Ya cause In the real work you always start and finish cows at the same time . Nothing ever goes wrong /agaist you to set you back a bit on time

Coolfresian wrote: »

How do people find working in a narrow pit?Putting in a new unit too but restricted by space. It l prob be 4 ft 8. Anyone using feed to yield or is it worth the extra outlay?

My pit is only just 4ft since I narrowed it to put the cows at 2'6" and I have jars in it.

Which is why I'm going back to 3ft centres and a 6ft pit give or take!

I reckon you'd be ok with a direct line if you kept everything out of the way and designed it carefully, but I've decided to balance my comfort with the cows comfort.

If I could find decent plans for one I'd build a tandem.

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't put in removers unless passing 20 units. This parlour is 100% well 90% run on paid labour. We moved here in April and had planned extending to 16 this winter and taking out the jars and acr but milker wants them. If that keeps him happy then I'm ok with that.

If you'd like them go for it but I find them a pain tbh. Jars are a complete bollix, I just don't see the need. Another dirt catcher. You'll notice that this is a narrow building and we milk in front of the leg as opposed to between them again no issue.

Cows are at 30 degrees and 3 foot?

kowtow wrote: »

Cows are at 30 degrees and 3 foot?

Yes

johnny122 wrote: »

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Is that not very slow? 1hr 20 or does that include wash up

Milking in my mind is nice n gentle and not a race. Can't understand why you wouldn't have them

I do and I think they're shyte

the_blue_oval

atlantic mist wrote: »

ya includes washing and set up, what are most averaging?

all yields recorded and meal automatically fed, dont think id get it done much faster, never more than 2 clusters hanging at any time

i find british friesian are a bit slower to milk out than hol/jer cross maybe this adds a bit to time

1 person, 266 cows, 20 unit no acrs. Start the machine at 3pm. Wash up done, cups scrubbed down, parlour and yard set up for am and cows locked in paddock. Back in car to go home at 5 all going well. Wouldn't be rushing or racing but would never be idle either. Crossbred herd doin about 22 litres. Add about 10mins plus scraping down the yard for am milking.

Reckon if there was more room at exit of parlour and could close the cow entry gates from the pit I'd shave another few mins off.

johnny122 wrote: »

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Is that not very slow? 1hr 20 or does that include wash up

Milking in my mind is nice n gentle and not a race. Can't understand why you wouldn't have them

+1 milking ain't a race

johnny122

Keepgrowing wrote: »

johnny122 wrote: »

I do and I think they're shyte

Maybe different brands of parlour work better than others?

the_blue_oval

mahoney_j wrote: »

+1 milking ain't a race

I agree that it isn't a race at all but no point in it taking any longer than it should. Started timing myself during milking and doing the wash up and tried doing things differently and was amazed at the amount of time I managed to shave off. Managed to shave nearly 10mins off washing up just by doing things in a different order. Things like putting a leg band on slow milkers so they're quickly identified and cup them first, and minimising the amount of walking you have to do.. they're only small time savings when you look at them individually, but it all adds up to a significant time saving.

Buford T. Justice XIX

atlantic mist wrote: »

we have acr with 20 units, one person can handle all milking putting 140 cows through in an hour 20. while attaching the second last unit the first one is coming off so from a work flow it works well. we dont leave the pit during milking but cows getting fed meal here so they run in

we put pit as wide as possible at 2.3 meters, cant beat a bit of space especially with cluster removers, nice slap off them if your standing in wrong place

On the plus side, though, a slap of 2kgs of a cluster will wake you up very fast in the pit:pac:

blackdog1

the_blue_oval wrote:

Having to settle the cluster, make sure the twine for the acr isn't tangled and having to swing over the swing over arm are the big killers. as opposed to just taking the cluster off the cow, it'll be someway right in your hand when you take it off, and a little flick of the wrist will settle all the cups as your crossing over the pit to the other side, so there's no delay at all.

I understand what you're saying but it's the exact same time for me as I've no problem with the ropes. I won't go back. I had 2 shoulder surgeries and people forget about wear and tear on the body. Taking off 120 clusters twice a day for 40 years is tough on the body.

kowtow wrote: »

Cows are at 30 degrees and 3 foot?

kg: I know you have mangers in there, but do you think a zig zag rump rail and a straight trough would work equally well?

Am a bit worried that feeding to yield will have them all racing up the inside of each other...

GrasstoMilk

Well over 7ft pit here. It's spacious but probably too spacious

whelan2

kowtow wrote: »

kg: I know you have mangers in there, but do you think a zig zag rump rail and a straight trough would work equally well?

Am a bit worried that feeding to yield will have them all racing up the inside of each other...

3ft centres here. Disaster. Cows headbutting clusters off cow in front. Moving back into feeder behind. In new parlour will have 2ft 6centres

Mooooo

Have mangers here with two bars in them to prevent bullying they've worked well so far I'll get a pic 2moro

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Well over 7ft pit here. It's spacious but probably too spacious

Nope I'd say well planned ,wide pit gives u way more options for expansion e.g. Double up etc narrow pit dosnt give that I've seen that 4 ft pit in t
Witter and tbh it looks a pure **** of a
Yoke with Jetters in middle ,lots of accidents

dar31

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Well over 7ft pit here. It's spacious but probably too spacious

Put mine in at 6ft. could have got away with 5'6", but was allowing two people in pit in future.

Milking this evening 1hr 50, cups on to cows locked in and heading home

whelan2 wrote:

3ft centres here. Disaster. Cows headbutting clusters off cow in front. Moving back into feeder behind. In new parlour will have 2ft 6centres

Is that with a zig zag rail?

whelan2

kowtow wrote: »

Is that with a zig zag rail?

Mooooo

Not sure what width mine is but i can catch both bars either side with the hands so 5ft or there abouts it's fine you can go side to side with one step

K.G.

Measured tonite for the crack-4ft8 .plenty wide a couple inchs less if i was going again.

kevthegaff

Will mangers prevent bullying? Also would a 24 unit be much faster than a 20? I'd hope that milking 6 or 7 rows of a 20 unit with acrs would be not much longer than an hour

kevthegaff wrote: »

Will mangers prevent bullying? Also would a 24 unit be much faster than a 20? I'd hope that milking 6 or 7 rows of a 20 unit with acrs would be not much longer than an hour

I have mangers at the moment and cows can still get the head over and into the next door trough, doesn't help that they can bang the feeders for food so they have got into the habit of it. I'm changing to electric feeders in the new setup and hopefully once I put a good metal guard in front of them the self feeding will end.

My theory was that with the straight trough and the zig zag rail they'd generally see that there was nothing going next door and leave off the neighbour but can't do much about the ones that get more / eat slower than others.

The banged up feeders also tend to drop a lot on the floor which teaches them to put their head down and bounce the girl in front around a bit.. again hopefully no more stuff dropping and maybe the adjustable breast rail with a straight trough will discourage those ones.

Failing that Whelan has me worried and I might figure out how to lay out an auto-tandem where nobody can touch anybody!

kevthegaff wrote: »

Will mangers prevent bullying? Also would a 24 unit be much faster than a 20? I'd hope that milking 6 or 7 rows of a 20 unit with acrs would be not much longer than an hour

Yes I've mangers and zig zag rail behind ,great pleasure in spring with heifers no bullying ,also 24v 20 difference would be minimal with 6/7 rows I think ,good backing gate with good cow flow in and out of parlour would be better

mahoney_j wrote: »

Yes I've mangers and zig zag rail behind ,great pleasure in spring with heifers no bullying ,also 24v 20 difference would be minimal with 6/7 rows I think ,good backing gate with good cow flow in and out of parlour would be better

Presumably at 2'6"?