milking parlour build

mahoney_j · 15-08-2013 4:52pm

Going forward... wrote: »

They won't make me more money or speed up the job that much. I'm perfectly happy milking in it and I'm sure it's not the limiting factor in allowing the cows to express their full potential. Just my personal opinion. If it comes down to gizmos in a parlour or front/cab suspension on a tractor, I'll go with the tractor tbh. My spine will be more thankful I reckon.

Basic, no frills parlour does not mean sub standard milking or a hell hole to work in.

Wouldn't be without acrs feed to yield plant washer or drafting in my set up anyway.was milking for 3 to 3.5 hours daily before I put in new parlour and now no more than 1.5 hours a day.cows milking better and a lot of money saved on meal due to feeding cows to yield.saying that I'd love to have a big fancy tractor in yard but not essential or practical for me as a dairy farmer.have a 2010 new holland with wide tyres and its a horse of a yolk!!

Timmaay · 15-08-2013 5:09pm

"maloney_j wrote: »

was milking for 3 to 3.5 hours daily before I put in new parlour and now no more than 1.5 hours a day

Your at about 80cows? Was it with a 4unit parlour when it took 3.5hrs ha? 75cows now in a horrible wreck of a 6unit parlour (pit too low, too narrow for HOs at the minute), but in fairness it does the job, and never longer than 80mins from clusters on to clusters off.

kevthegaff · 15-08-2013 5:18pm

i have a 12 unit bog basic for 90 cows, batch feeders. first cluster on at 3:45, In drinking tae at 5. Early this evening as im off to spain in the morning. Obviously id love the works with acrs etc but i dont want to be crippled with debt. Id prefer in investing in reseeding, roadways and maybe a land investment if it came up for sale;)

Going forward... · 15-08-2013 5:20pm

Similar story here, Tim. Things can only get better for us.;)

We'd all like to have such parlours but like the lad in the IFJ said, other things take priority. Tractor isn't one of those priorities for me either, your 2010 is a few years fresher than my yoke.:pac:

mahoney_j · 15-08-2013 6:11pm

Timmaay wrote: »

Your at about 80cows? Was it with a 4unit parlour when it took 3.5hrs ha? 75cows now in a horrible wreck of a 6unit parlour (pit too low, too narrow for HOs at the minute), but in fairness it does the job, and never longer than 80mins from clusters on to clusters off.

That was for both milkings Tim,it was an 8 unit senior with anything but automation.col yard could only hold half the cows ,other half had to be kept in yard.when finished milking col yard could only hold 16 cows so u was like a yo yo in and out of parlour.also as more Holstein came into cows my 8 unit was turning into a 7 unit at times,'twas pure hardship.agree about putting money into reseeding etc.i am doing thAt anyway and thru the years land fertility and ainmAl husbandry were never neglected.going to paying for my gadgets for next 9 years but well worth it now I have a daughter and don't want to be a slave to the job.

Timmaay · 15-08-2013 6:54pm

Fair enough, 1 1/2 hrs a day is impressive in fairness so.

jersey101 · 15-08-2013 7:13pm

We built a 12 unit parlour here 9 year ago and put the old 6 unit into it with the idea of putting in the 12 in a few years time.......9 years later we still have the 6 unit in

takes 1hr15min to milk, were talking about finishing it off in two years time. 60k for a 12k litre bulk tank 12 unit parlour with a low line wash unit and a dump line going very basic and if there is funds left maybe a backing gate

Markcheese · 15-08-2013 8:41pm

I suppose a lot of lads start off with a basic set in their heads , and then it's just a little more for ACR, a little more for a flashy feed system, a backing gate in the yard, better drafting,dump
Line, ect , ect ... Pretty easy to price yrself up ....

jersey101 · 26-09-2013 6:18pm

Trying to work out what size of a collecting yard i need so i can order a backing gate. Does anyone know what the regulations are for collecting yards i.e. The area a cow needs or else the area of the cow. Need to make one for 150 cows

grazeaway · 26-09-2013 8:00pm

jersey101 wrote: »

Trying to work out what size of a collecting yard i need so i can order a backing gate. Does anyone know what the regulations are for collecting yards i.e. The area a cow needs or else the area of the cow. Need to make one for 150 cows

Right down at the end

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/farmingschemesandpayments/farmbuildings/farmbuildingspecifications/pdfversions/S103%20September%202011.pdf

delaval · 27-09-2013 10:59pm

jersey101 wrote: »

Trying to work out what size of a collecting yard i need so i can order a backing gate. Does anyone know what the regulations are for collecting yards i.e. The area a cow needs or else the area of the cow. Need to make one for 150 cows

Backing gte is the work of the devil. It will lead to more lame cows if used to push cows

Timmaay · 27-09-2013 11:13pm

I was at an open day for a new 20unit fullwood parlour down the road from me. My 1st ever time being in a modern parlour as such, big eye opener for me! I'll admit to being cynical before to having all the extras likes acrs/pedometers/feed to yeild etc, but in this case it looks like money well spent, the chap has enough land to go to 250/300 cows, and has his head screwed on about minimising the workload for them.

delaval · 27-09-2013 11:15pm

Timmaay wrote: »

I was at an open day for a new 20unit fullwood parlour down the road from me. My 1st ever time being in a modern parlour as such, big eye opener for me! I'll admit to being cynical before to having all the extras likes acrs/pedometers/feed to yeild etc, but in this case it looks like money well spent, the chap has enough land to go to 250/300 cows, and has his head screwed on about minimising the workload for them.

How much money did he spend?

awaywithyou · 27-09-2013 11:23pm

delaval wrote: »

Backing gte is the work of the devil. It will lead to more lame cows if used to push cows

have you bells & whistles in your parlour???

darragh_haven · 27-09-2013 11:28pm

awaywithyou wrote: »

have you bells & whistles in your parlour???

Delaval is a skin and bones type parlour. Walls are a luxury. Walls on the Atlantic Coast are a must tho

Sam Kade · 27-09-2013 11:28pm

I went to an open day to see a 24 unit bare bones parlour back in 2000. They were milking 200 cows it was based on a Kiwi parlour. It did the job fine without all the fancy extras

27-09-2013 11:30pm

Sam Kade wrote: »

I went to an open day to see a 24 unit bare bones parlour back in 2000. They were milking 200 cows it was based on a Kiwi parlour. It did the job fine without all the fancy extras

i would rather spend the money on grass land and good breeding than extras in the parlour , ok to spend if you are going to help cull down a tax bill

darragh_haven · 27-09-2013 11:31pm

Sam Kade wrote: »

I went to an open day to see a 24 unit bare bones parlour back in 2000. They were milking 200 cows it was based on a Kiwi parlour. It did the job fine without all the fancy extras

That would be fine if you were only milking them hakf the time and someone else in to do it the rest of the time. But I suppose at the 200 cow mark you would.

freedominacup · 28-09-2013 6:20am

The BIL is putting in a 16 unit from scratch. With stallwork for 20, feeders and meters it's coming to €70k. The price range was €300 per unit from dearest to cheapest across the various suppliers.

keep going · 28-09-2013 7:36am

Every now and again I time myself milking each row just to see where the time is actually spent and should come in in less than 7.5 minutes.I made a small change to where I stand when the cows are being left in and it made a huge difference

delaval · 28-09-2013 7:50am

keep going wrote: »

Every now and again I time myself milking each row just to see where the time is actually spent and should come in in less than 7.5 minutes.I made a small change to where I stand when the cows are being left in and it made a huge difference

Dead on, it's about time and motion. A small change even the way you hold the claw, wash out, detergent that doesn't need to be rinced or filters in before milking can shave off time

delaval · 28-09-2013 7:52am

awaywithyou wrote: »

have you bells & whistles in your parlour???

Our parlour would be a GTI as opposed to an 'S' class. Seat, steering wheel and a roll cage!!

We have one on an out farm currently unused with all the toys, one of the reasons we are there I'd suspect. It will be recommissioned in 2015 and all toys will be removed as its so slow to milk there.

jersey101 · 28-09-2013 8:13am

delaval wrote: »

Backing gte is the work of the devil. It will lead to more lame cows if used to push cows

how would you reckomend getting them into the parlour if you have a big yard?

jersey101 · 28-09-2013 8:14am

Timmaay wrote: »

I was at an open day for a new 20unit fullwood parlour down the road from me. My 1st ever time being in a modern parlour as such, big eye opener for me! I'll admit to being cynical before to having all the extras likes acrs/pedometers/feed to yeild etc, but in this case it looks like money well spent, the chap has enough land to go to 250/300 cows, and has his head screwed on about minimising the workload for them.

i was at that yesterday too. The uncle fitted it. I liked the floor it tge pit alot

delaval · 28-09-2013 8:38am

jersey101 wrote: »

how would you reckomend getting them into the parlour if you have a big yard?

Backing gate will lead to more lame cows if used for pushing cows as opposed to holding them. I've even seen ones with fence connection, shocking really to do that to a cow just because she's at the back.
An option of your not feeding during the summer is to feed the last two rows and that keeps them interested.
The most important element for cow flow in any parlour is a clear exit. This has a greater effect on cows coming in than all else IMO.

No back gates here boy then no front walls either and cows getting meal all year especially in this continuing drought

delaval · 28-09-2013 8:41am

Do any of ye try the speed test putting on cups in the Dairymaster stand at the ploughing.

The winner did 4 in 14 seconds. I managed it in 17 after a few goes at over 20 secs. To be fair hygiene or the cow weren't a consideration with the test. Great craic though

whelan1 · 28-09-2013 9:18am

jersey101 wrote: »

how would you reckomend getting them into the parlour if you have a big yard?

thats what the kids are for:D my cows are feckers at the moment only the first row will come in themselves as they are mostly fresh ones getting meal.. milking really well, milk went up 700litres from one collection to another during the week and it has stayed up

jersey101 · 28-09-2013 9:24am

delaval wrote: »

Backing gate will lead to more lame cows if used for pushing cows as opposed to holding them. I've even seen ones with fence connection, shocking really to do that to a cow just because she's at the back.
An option of your not feeding during the summer is to feed the last two rows and that keeps them interested.
The most important element for cow flow in any parlour is a clear exit. This has a greater effect on cows coming in than all else IMO.

No back gates here boy then no front walls either and cows getting meal all year especially in this continuing drought

how do you manage with heifers in the spring. Put mine through the parlour before they calve so there used to it. And they still hang back.
Ill be milking on my own here and dad will look after calves so i cant be going round chasin heifers around a collecting yard ha

Timmaay · 28-09-2013 9:25am

delaval wrote: »

How much money did he spend?

I didn't dare ask that question ha, at a guess 200k on the whole building! He has most other things sorted on the farm, and probably had abit of money to spend on it. Certainly wouldn't be the route I'd be going, someone said 20k was spent on the wiring of the whole parlour, I said that's around what I'd be wanting to spend on a full 10unit parlour ha.

Jersey, Joe your uncle? I'd have shown face if I knew ya were there, I wasn't down until after 2 though.

delaval · 28-09-2013 9:31am

jersey101 wrote: »

how do you manage with heifers in the spring. Put mine through the parlour before they calve so there used to it. And they still hang back.
Ill be milking on my own here and dad will look after calves so i cant be going round chasin heifers around a collecting yard ha

Two milking from start of calving to end of ai. We ram in heifers at the end. We would put through parlour as well with a few dry cows

jersey101 · 28-09-2013 9:39am

Timmaay wrote: »

I didn't dare ask that question ha, at a guess 200k on the whole building! He has most other things sorted on the farm, and probably had abit of money to spend on it. Certainly wouldn't be the route I'd be going, someone said 20k was spent on the wiring of the whole parlour, I said that's around what I'd be wanting to spend on a full 10unit parlour ha.

Jersey, Joe your uncle? I'd have shown face if I knew ya were there, I wasn't down until after 2 though.

yep joe is my uncle. My father knows hugh well. Ah we were there at 12 left about one ish. Did ye see the meak feeders? They trickle down the meal to the cow based on her expected time milking. So itll give her the kg over 4-5 min

jersey101 · 28-09-2013 9:52am

delaval wrote: »

Two milking from start of calving to end of ai. We ram in heifers at the end. We would put through parlour as well with a few dry cows

hmmm think my fathers days milking cows are finished. Hard enough to get him to milk in the summer never mind in the spring

mahoney_j · 28-09-2013 9:57am

Lads as someone with a bells and whistles parlour,I can't recommend bit enough.then again I have a highish enough yielding hol cow that needs to be feed to yield and needs a bit of pampering.another thing I took into account I am still youngish (33) married and with one daughter and I refuse to be a slave to the job.both milkings at peak take me no more than an hour and forty minutes.my farm is well set up as regards accommodation ,grassland reseeding etc.i am ready to expand by 30% in 2015 and also have stock on the ground..then there is the tax issue,I hate handing over money to mr collector general.spending a chunk of money on my own business that will make my life easier and allow me to milk my cow to her full potential was a no brained.capital allowances reduce my tax bill for the next few years

dar31 · 28-09-2013 10:04am

jersey101 wrote: »

yep joe is my uncle. My father knows hugh well. Ah we were there at 12 left about one ish. Did ye see the meak feeders? They trickle down the meal to the cow based on her expected time milking. So itll give her the kg over 4-5 min

the big man himself...curious now
couldnt make it up for a look as Bil was getting married, would have looked a sight in the suit and wellies, father went though said it was very impressive parlour calving and crushes under one roof, will go for a look some other time, heard figures of 230 being thrown around

jersey101 · 28-09-2013 10:10am

dar31 wrote: »

the big man himself...curious now
couldnt make it up for a look as Bil was getting married, would have looked a sight in the suit and wellies, father went though said it was very impressive parlour calving and crushes under one roof, will go for a look some other time, heard figures of 230 being thrown around

ah it was impressive now alright. Not to my likeing though. Joe said there was a week putting wires in. Never mind coneccting them up. Ill find out from joe next time i see him

dar31 · 28-09-2013 10:15am

he has been trying to get me up there for a good while now and see if id part with some money, he is getting fed up fixing my vintage lady.
played a bit of rugby with one of the brothers that wire it

Sam Kade · 28-09-2013 10:29am

delaval wrote: »

Do any of ye try the speed test putting on cups in the Dairymaster stand at the ploughing.

The winner did 4 in 14 seconds. I managed it in 17 after a few goes at over 20 secs. To be fair hygiene or the cow weren't a consideration with the test. Great craic though

What did the winner get?

Timmaay · 28-09-2013 10:32am

jersey101 wrote: »

yep joe is my uncle. My father knows hugh well. Ah we were there at 12 left about one ish. Did ye see the meak feeders? They trickle down the meal to the cow based on her expected time milking. So itll give her the kg over 4-5 min

Joe does alot of our parlour and scraper servicing, I'd know Hugh very well myself also. I was looking at feeders at the ploughing, saw thoses fullwood feeders alright, 1000 quid for 2cows not bad, cheapest feeders I could find other than the batch feeders were Powers feeders which worked out 560 for manual, or about 750 pneumatic. The trickle feed does sound useful, would be less poaching of food, and all plastic is good also, most steel ones will rot. But I think for now I'll be staying on a bar budget so will probably go with the manual Powers feeders

delaval · 28-09-2013 10:33am

Sam Kade wrote: »

What did the winner get?

They took our numbers, no idea if there was a prize 'it's the taking part that counts'

If it was a Dairymaster parlour I'd have to take the money and buy two others in its place!!!!!!

28-09-2013 10:35am

jersey101 wrote: »

Trying to work out what size of a collecting yard i need so i can order a backing gate. Does anyone know what the regulations are for collecting yards i.e. The area a cow needs or else the area of the cow. Need to make one for 150 cows

i have a good coille dog here she goes for the cows morning and evening , no need for a backing gate when she s about , would be lost without her

grazeaway · 28-09-2013 10:42am

keep going wrote: »

Every now and again I time myself milking each row just to see where the time is actually spent and should come in in less than 7.5 minutes.I made a small change to where I stand when the cows are being left in and it made a huge difference

I always had a bit of an engineers head on me, comes from my dad. I'd say if he had the opportunities I've had he would either an engineer or vet. Very clever guy and does a lot of engineering princeables even though he has no formal training.

We have a 8 a side parlour milking 8 at a time. When he was milking he used to actually have 7 each side rather 8. What he noticed was that there would always be a few slow milkers in the herd so he would look to get one of them in to each row. That way you are still milking 8 at a time but wouldn't be waiting for the last one to finish for ages while the others were waiting. I remember timing it and going 8+8 was about 10mins longer then 7+7 each time. Similarly he had a very good system for timing the change overs of his cooling water and was able to go it in between the change overs. He also trained the dog to move the cows so no need for a backing gate.

grazeaway · 28-09-2013 10:46am

6480 wrote: »

i have a good coille dog here she goes for the cows morning and evening , no need for a backing gate when she s about , would be lost without her

We had a few too, great job, cheaper and more reliable the a quad bike far more friendly. Hard to beat a good dog. The one we had up to when we last milked would bring in the milking cows and knew which dry and heifers to leave behind while we only needed to stand at the gate. He also got them into the parlour. Not mad barking as the cows knew who was boss.

jersey101 · 28-09-2013 11:18am

Timmaay wrote: »

Joe does alot of our parlour and scraper servicing, I'd know Hugh very well myself also. I was looking at feeders at the ploughing, saw thoses fullwood feeders alright, 1000 quid for 2cows not bad, cheapest feeders I could find other than the batch feeders were Powers feeders which worked out 560 for manual, or about 750 pneumatic. The trickle feed does sound useful, would be less poaching of food, and all plastic is good also, most steel ones will rot. But I think for now I'll be staying on a bar budget so will probably go with the manual Powers feeders

jaysus your lucky i find it hard to get him to even service my parlour. Perks of being related

ha ye i dunno what sort of feederx to put in i said it to him about the batch feeders but joe wasnt too happy ha. At the end of the day ye can only buy what ye can afford

jersey101 · 28-09-2013 11:19am

dar31 wrote: »

he has been trying to get me up there for a good while now and see if id part with some money, he is getting fed up fixing my vintage lady.
played a bit of rugby with one of the brothers that wire it

which one john or anthony??

dar31 · 28-09-2013 12:08pm

Didn't think they done the wiring
But know who you are on about, their nursing the same hangover I am

mahoney_j · 28-09-2013 1:26pm

Timmaay wrote: »

I didn't dare ask that question ha, at a guess 200k on the whole building! He has most other things sorted on the farm, and probably had abit of money to spend on it. Certainly wouldn't be the route I'd be going, someone said 20k was spent on the wiring of the whole parlour, I said that's around what I'd be wanting to spend on a full 10unit parlour ha.

Jersey, Joe your uncle? I'd have shown face if I knew ya were there, I wasn't down until after 2 though.

No way parlour wiring cost 20 k ,mine cost 5.5 k .serious amount of cable put in and had a crew of 4 lads just to lAy them and run back to fuse board

jersey101 · 28-09-2013 1:37pm

mahoney_j wrote: »

No way parlour wiring cost 20 k ,mine cost 5.5 k .serious amount of cable put in and had a crew of 4 lads just to lAy them and run back to fuse board

ah it was a savage parlor now alri. The cows all had pedometers and all tgere yeilds were recorded and then they were fed meal accordungly. He gad a zero grazer aswell and an out of parlour feeder for the dry cows

mahoney_j · 28-09-2013 1:40pm

jersey101 wrote: »

ah it was a savage parlor now alri. The cows all had pedometers and all tgere yeilds were recorded and then they were fed meal accordungly. He gad a zero grazer aswell and an out of parlour feeder for the dry cows

I've all that bar out of parlour feeders ,20k seems excessively high.maby it was for new connection as well??

jersey101 · 28-09-2013 1:57pm

mahoney_j wrote: »

I've all that bar out of parlour feeders ,20k seems excessively high.maby it was for new connection as well??

possibly. He had to connexted up to 3 phase id say

delaval · 28-09-2013 2:08pm

jersey101 wrote: »

ah it was a savage parlor now alri. The cows all had pedometers and all tgere yeilds were recorded and then they were fed meal accordungly. He gad a zero grazer aswell and an out of parlour feeder for the dry cows

What's his SR?
What's his tonnes dm grown?
Sounds like more money than sense, out of parlour feeders went out with the arc!!!

milking parlour build

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