That's the most important thing,knowing the type of stock that you want. I started on the wrong place and 6 years in am only starting to rectify the mistake
24 unit here with no acrs and no auto wash. Not planning on adding either of them anytime soon. 24 units is pushing it with no acrs but 20 units is reasonably comfortable, we’re managing away all the same. 80 cows through a barebones 12 unit will be dreamy.
Keep it as simple as possible, the less things to go wrong the better your pocket and sanity will be.
You can add on these things later when you’re up and running if you want, but from experience, most of those add ons don’t make you’re life that much easier, even though the salesmen will tell you that you won’t manage without them, but they will occasionally cause you heartache on a Sunday morning
buy the best stock you can. It’s the make or break for new entrants from what I see. Dont be satisfied with 500 kgs, try look for herds with higher milk solids but still grass based. They’re out there. Tell your mate to put some silicone grease in the remover arms. That’s why they’re slow to come off
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Have a 16 with no removers tbh on your own I could probably have left it at 12 or so units but still manageable.
I will disagree on both ACRs and especially Autowash... both well worth the money... we had to have ACRs as its a rotary but the Auto wash is a must have.. i strongly recommend it to anyone.. press a button and let it work away... 11yrs in and neither have ever given bother...
have milked in rotaries both with and without acrs and will agree they are needed in a rotary but in less than 20 unit herringbones they’re definitely not a necessity or make life easier but if you’d prefer them then whatever makes you happy in a parlour am and pm for 300 days of the year.
I do kind of miss having an auto washer but I did have a few Sunday evenings where you’d arrive back to milk in the evening only to discover it hadn’t finished washing that morning.. generally a simple fix but still something you’d rather not have to deal with. It’s probably saving 15 mins a day so not a huge time saving
Shure the boss might let you have a few buckets from the tank and you could make cheese yoursely.
Have a autowash here, its grand but definitely wouldn't consider it a must have. Saves a bit of time but definitely not fool proof and over the last couple of years has given bits of trouble with valves and card went in it last year which cost €,1500 to fix. @weatherbyfoxer you going about it the right way. Way better return on stock and grass in comparison to adding extras like acrs and autowash
@weatherbyfoxer from the days of milking here, you would be doing other jobs around the yard and parlour while running the wash, cleaning up the yard washing out the parlour, feeding the odd calf etc, while running a manual wash and then swing back to. Keep it simple. You would have no issue without an auto wash acrs with a 12 unit. Do leave it the pit long enough it you wish to expand. Look to what will save time. Get up and running with as little cost as possible. Best of luck with the venture
Autowash would be an non-negotiable for me, finish up and walk away.
ACRs are a great job. Id buy two less cows than go without either
2 cows wouldn't get an auto wash by itself at todays prices
Depends On the cows.....
Best thing about an autowash is that it eliminates the risk of wash/detergent water getting into the milk. All these extras are not necessary but do take the stress out of life.
Would it be normal enough to use water to flush the last of the milk through the lines into the tank?..The lads selling the parlour would be suggesting this as opposed to an air purge
We put in a new parlour about 10 years ago, which has acrs, autowash, airpurge l. It replaced an old 10 unit parlour my father built in the mid 1990s, which had absolutely no tech. It made milking a lot quicker because there is twice the units and I am very glad I put it in. But it had no effect on SCC, TBC or any other milk quality test. It costs more to run as well. Where there is limited budget no way would I bother with any of the extras.
bit dicey water in the milk tank even small drop and they will be on to you
I put in lacrs….feed to yield ,auto wash ,meters ,vaccume gates when doing parlour …regret none of them and make for very pleasant milking experience …it’s the cheapest time put them in as down road they will inevitably cost more …genetics and the parlour is where I make my money and wouldn’t skimp financially on either
Ffs lads, I always flush the milk through with water. Push about 20 litres through, the milk will be all out and the water will sit in the milk line between the milk pump and the tank in my parlour without ever trying to get to the tank. Keep it simple.
The manual wash on my parlour take 8 minutes to do. Set it washing, go wash the cow stands and pit and it's nearly done. Half the detergent and half the hot water used. Save the money and pay for about 150 relief milkings from it. You'll have more free time.
I do same after milking ..never an issue with water …auto wash keeps everything consistent …you should use no more or less hot water or detergent wether manual or auto….i do 2 hot washes per week…still have an immersion hot water heater …timer on it water heated during night on night rate ,i know lads with geysers and gas ..both convienent but not as cheap as made out to run
I have the gas. Use a fill about every 14 months. Not a big expense. Hot wash every day, recycle it cold next milking. Do that 3 days then an acid descale. TBC never exceeds 10.
Anyone ever double up a14 unit.considering doing here but I would need to get my time per run routine down to 5 minutes to justify doing it.currently at 6 minutes.
Ffs all the lad wanted was some advice. Instead he get a load of guys blowing about the facilities they have. My advise would be to quit before burning more money on facilities. We had a lad on here tried starting up last year. That didn't end well. There are loads of fine dairy farms needing new operators available for lease that would be how I would go if he is mad forcows or Even go to France. The amount of fine dairy farm there looking for buyers is ridiculous.
Did Siamsa get out of cows again?
who’s blowing 🤔🤔🤔lads simply outlying what they have and there 2 pence worth on what they think is needed or not ….its not gospel ffs
Whatever he should do, going to France is probably last on that list. Not for the feint of heart
Do you know someone that has set up on a farm in France with limousin sucklers?
I do. I'm just wondering if you know the same people maybe from the tipperary connections.
That's what I was thinking. They don't exactly come across as a content bunch of people. Too much scale for me anyway. There's a few French workers around here on dairy farms. They get treated like sh1t in France they said. They'd much prefer to live in a mobile home in Ireland.
A friend of mine moved out. He had a heap of beehives here and moved the whole operation to the south of France. He said its much easier because of the weather. He couldn't manage it here with the variation of the summers and all the over regulation, packed up everything here and bought 7ac with 2 houses and an old milking parlor for €80k. He said there's a heap of land and houses for sale in rural France, everyone wants to live in the cities out there.
I often did milkings in a 12 unit without ACRs, you wouldn't really need them unless you went over 16 units. I would put in an autowash though regardless of the size of the parlor. You have consistent washing of the parlor even if you have a relief milker in
