What constitutes a good milking machine
Sept 8, 2024 8:23:14 GMT -5
rosalind, ktfarms, and 3 more like this
Post by mommasquilts on Sept 8, 2024 8:23:14 GMT -5
It seems that the perineal question that comes up on every dairy site I have been on is the question of which milking machine to purchase. There is a ton of confusion over the ever-growing number of off brand and lower priced milking machines available today.
When starting out on the milkmaid journey, it is so confusing with all the “options” of milkers out there and it’s hard to know which way to go. All the machines looked pretty similar with a few notable outliers. I thought the same thing initially when trying figure out which one to buy and wanted to be economical. What I didn’t realize until someone told me was that it’s not just about getting the milk out. It’s about getting it out safely, quickly, and cleanly. The up-front cost of a onetime purchase of an industry standard milker is far cheaper in the long run than buying the lower price point options multiple times and damaging udders along the way. Industry standard machines are truly a great investment as well as an insurance policy.
Someone recently asked me a question about what makes industry standard milkers better than the cheap Amazon options and other lower priced milking machines and pumps. He stated that his approximately $300 milker did a fine job of evacuating milk from the udder.
This was my response:
It is less about being able to evacuate the udder and more about the science behind how it is done and how long it takes, and whether it damages (or has the potential to damage) the udder in the process.
The machine you asked about is:
—underpowered,
—does not have a properly weighted claw (can ride up causing tissue damage),
—does not have proper pulsation (at least it has some, but it’s not right),
—does not empty the udder in a timely fashion (If it takes more than 5-6 minutes to milk out 3 gallons, that is too slow),
—has hoses that are too small to effectively and quickly move the milk away from the teat ends so milk does not splash back on the orifices. They are a cleaning challenge.
—does not have 4 inflations (you miss the letdown before you even get to the other half of the udder), and,
—is a really bad way to protect the udder of a probably high dollar cow.
People do not realize when they pay top dollar for a cow and want to machine milk that getting proper industry standard milkers is the best way (along with proper teat cleaning routines) to protect their investment. They don’t realize that they either need to hand milk (using gloves) until they save enough money or bite the bullet and buy really good equipment that will last decades. Really good equipment is cheaper in the long run than going cheap on bad equipment and having to buy a new set up and possibly a new cow.
An industry standard milking machine should be able to safely and quickly empty the udder.
--It will have-a properly weighted claw with 4 shells and inflations,
--It will have a claw bowl that is easy to open for cleaning.
--It will have a large bore silicone milk hose that is easy to clean and conveys milk quickly away from the cow so it doesn’t splash back on the teats.
--The bucket will be solid stainless steel without a rolled edge at the top. Rolled edges harbor bacteria and are a nightmare to clean properly.
--It will have a commercial pulsator that is preset specifically for cows. Pulsation requirements are different between species.
--The bucket will be large enough to hold the whole volume from one milking session without stopping to switch containers.
--For a DeLaval style bucket you will need a heavy-duty pump with a 3/4 - 1hp motor. The vacuum supply should pull 8 CFM or better. I believe the NuPulse and Surge buckets can use a bit lower CFM.
Over the last 100 years and more there has been a ton of research that has gone into making industry standard milking machines safe for use on dairy cows. With the advent of more people wanting to get into owning family cows, manufacturers have jumped on the opportunity to provide machines at lower price point that looks like they should do what you want—get the milk out of the udder. Many of these machines are cheap imitations at best. People who don’t know what goes into making a solid set up that won’t harm the cow don’t know any better and often opt for the cheaper knockoffs because they are just getting started. Some of them look pretty similar but it’s the details that make a huge difference. And the details are really important.
When starting out on the milkmaid journey, it is so confusing with all the “options” of milkers out there and it’s hard to know which way to go. All the machines looked pretty similar with a few notable outliers. I thought the same thing initially when trying figure out which one to buy and wanted to be economical. What I didn’t realize until someone told me was that it’s not just about getting the milk out. It’s about getting it out safely, quickly, and cleanly. The up-front cost of a onetime purchase of an industry standard milker is far cheaper in the long run than buying the lower price point options multiple times and damaging udders along the way. Industry standard machines are truly a great investment as well as an insurance policy.
Someone recently asked me a question about what makes industry standard milkers better than the cheap Amazon options and other lower priced milking machines and pumps. He stated that his approximately $300 milker did a fine job of evacuating milk from the udder.
This was my response:
It is less about being able to evacuate the udder and more about the science behind how it is done and how long it takes, and whether it damages (or has the potential to damage) the udder in the process.
The machine you asked about is:
—underpowered,
—does not have a properly weighted claw (can ride up causing tissue damage),
—does not have proper pulsation (at least it has some, but it’s not right),
—does not empty the udder in a timely fashion (If it takes more than 5-6 minutes to milk out 3 gallons, that is too slow),
—has hoses that are too small to effectively and quickly move the milk away from the teat ends so milk does not splash back on the orifices. They are a cleaning challenge.
—does not have 4 inflations (you miss the letdown before you even get to the other half of the udder), and,
—is a really bad way to protect the udder of a probably high dollar cow.
People do not realize when they pay top dollar for a cow and want to machine milk that getting proper industry standard milkers is the best way (along with proper teat cleaning routines) to protect their investment. They don’t realize that they either need to hand milk (using gloves) until they save enough money or bite the bullet and buy really good equipment that will last decades. Really good equipment is cheaper in the long run than going cheap on bad equipment and having to buy a new set up and possibly a new cow.
An industry standard milking machine should be able to safely and quickly empty the udder.
--It will have-a properly weighted claw with 4 shells and inflations,
--It will have a claw bowl that is easy to open for cleaning.
--It will have a large bore silicone milk hose that is easy to clean and conveys milk quickly away from the cow so it doesn’t splash back on the teats.
--The bucket will be solid stainless steel without a rolled edge at the top. Rolled edges harbor bacteria and are a nightmare to clean properly.
--It will have a commercial pulsator that is preset specifically for cows. Pulsation requirements are different between species.
--The bucket will be large enough to hold the whole volume from one milking session without stopping to switch containers.
--For a DeLaval style bucket you will need a heavy-duty pump with a 3/4 - 1hp motor. The vacuum supply should pull 8 CFM or better. I believe the NuPulse and Surge buckets can use a bit lower CFM.
Over the last 100 years and more there has been a ton of research that has gone into making industry standard milking machines safe for use on dairy cows. With the advent of more people wanting to get into owning family cows, manufacturers have jumped on the opportunity to provide machines at lower price point that looks like they should do what you want—get the milk out of the udder. Many of these machines are cheap imitations at best. People who don’t know what goes into making a solid set up that won’t harm the cow don’t know any better and often opt for the cheaper knockoffs because they are just getting started. Some of them look pretty similar but it’s the details that make a huge difference. And the details are really important.
