northeastern Ohio | Hay Hud Ohio - 9/29/2024 07:51
Looking good Jay!!
I know others with rotaries and on the subject of slow milkers etc, it gives one more criteria to add to the cull reasons. As you approach assembly line logistics, you have to mold the subjects to fit the system......
Never actually saw one in action in person, but wonder how well the "wheels" will hold up over time, some used a floating on water idea for "bearings" And others had a height adjustment for the size of the workers, how did you select the platform height?
Thought about adding a robot post sprayer? I know of one 6000 cow outfit that uses two just to keep up, and saves quite a bit of labor.
Been away from Jerseys for what seems like an eternity now ( only 24 years), and have forgotten 75% of what I knew.......
Deck height is 38". That is as low as you can go so that there is room for the receiver jars, milk pump, pipeline and meters. My brother is short, so didn't want to go any higher. My old parlor was 34", so 4" higher makes it a lot nicer for me.
I looked at some rotaries with an adjustable floor for the workers. The short guys were putting pallets on top of these adjustable floors because they still didn't go high enough for them. And other places never moved the floor after the first week. It became a trip hazard because it doesn't go all the way around. Need to look at the cows, not the floor.
They tell me the poly rollers will last for 10 years at 24 hours a day. Since I will only be running 4 hours per day at 300 head, they should last 60 years! I will be 103 years old......
I looked at several robot sprayers in use at external rotaries. They seemed to spook the cows. I was at one farm that was going to buy one soon to replace one worker that was post dipping. I watched this girl and she was doing 90% of the work! One guy was using a scrubbing wand to apply dip and wipe at the same time. The second guy was attaching. They never moved from their spots. The girl's job was to post dip, but she was doing all the re-attachments, post dip, and chasing cows out that had stopped at the sort gate. She was a real worker and the owner was going to replace her! I should go back and see how it is working now without her.
The other downside to the robot sprayers: they use a lot more dip. As you well know, every cow's udder is different. The robot can't go in and find each teat. Not enough time. It just sprays everything. Currently I use about 20 ml per cow per day which adds up to about a gallon a day. The robots I have seen use 25 ml each application, which would be 100 ml per cow per day for a total of 5 gallon per day. If dip costs $5 per gallon, that is an extra $20 per day in dip. $7300 per year more if I went to robots. Plus $40k upfront cost for each robot. |
Finally got a professional video of our internal rotary parlor
