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Trumpy #179091 06/25/08 07:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 53
D
Member
awesome sun set!!

denny

Trumpy #180628 09/03/08 03:25 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
OK Folks,
Now that I've got a rare spare moment here we go:
Here are some pics from a shed that was actually finished while I was there.

First up we have a general view of the rotating platform,
this one is what is known as an 80 Bail platform, meaning that when full, it will hold 80 cows:

[Linked Image]

Next up, we have a shot of the receiving can on the right and the sanitary trap on the left- this removes foreign matter from the top of the milk froth before it goes to the milk pump to the left, this is a 2.2kW motor, controlled by a VSD that is in turn controlled by a probe in the receiving can:

[Linked Image]

Here is a shot of the 24 Volt AC power supplies and milk pump controller, on the other side of the milk pump controller, are the vacuum controller and the master controller for the electronic cup removers:

[Linked Image]

Next we have probably the most critical component in the whole dairy shed, it is known as the Orbiter Gland, as well as sending vacuum to the cans, and milk out to the pump room, it houses a set of 8 brushes and slip-rings (3 phase 400V + Neutral and 3 control wires) to run the plant under the platform.
This gland must be in the absolute centre of the platform ring, if it is mis-aligned by even a millimetre or so, it can cause the pipe work to twist as the platform turns.
Above the Orbiter, is the Wash gland, this enables the milking gear to be washed as the platform is still turning, a real time saver:

[Linked Image]

From this next image, we can see that every bail has 2 rams, the top one is for operating the bail gates, seen in the first picture, the second one below it is what is known a a cup remover ram:

[Linked Image]

How this system works is, like this, every cow is monitored by a sensor on each milk tube that senses when the cow stops giving milk, the sensors look like this:

[Linked Image]

Now, when the cow stops giving milk, the cups drop off the cow and the bail gate behind it lifts up by vacuum.
One added bonus of this is that the cup remover ram will lift the cups up off the platform, to prevent them being stood on by the cow or contaminated by fecal matter.
If the cow still has not stopped giving milk by the time it has reached what is known as "cups off", the cow will be retained by the bail gate and will go around again.

Now, here is what drives these platforms, there are often, depending upon the size of the platform, 2 or 4 motors driving the thing, BTW, there is another drive unit on the other side of the track:

[Linked Image]

These units are also controlled via a VSD, a platform is not something you'd want to have to start Direct-On-Line

A look out at the yards, sorry no sunrise this time, but these ones are actually finished.
What we have here is two backing gates and a top gate, the backing gates are driven by water pressure, with the added advantage, that it cleans the yards at the same time as they are moving.
The top gate is used to move cows towards the shed.
You might notice small chains hanging from the bar on it, these are charged with an electric fence energiser, that is modified to only give the cows a mild shock, not like out in the fields:

[Linked Image]

Here is a look at the power unit for the backing gates themselves:

[Linked Image]


OK, that's about it for now, if anyone has any questions at all, please just ask.






Trumpy #180631 09/03/08 05:44 AM
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 27
O
Member
NO WONDER our milk cost so much

Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 61
Member
Geez look at all that stainless steel!

~Matt


I would rather beg for forgiveness then beg for permission.
Trumpy #180638 09/03/08 07:56 PM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 680
W
Member
I don't think the cows are giving milk, the farmer is taking it smile. Cool stuff, how many total critters are there and how many do they milk on average??

walrus #180640 09/03/08 08:24 PM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
Originally Posted by walrus
how many total critters are there and how many do they milk on average??


John,
Farm sizes do vary widely, it can mean anything from as little as 600 cows, right up to 2000 cows.
Most places milk twice a day, starting very early in the morning and finishing later in the morning, depending upon the number of cows to be milked, milking then begins again in the afternoon and ends in the evening.
Some farms here are moving to once a day milking, it seems to be easier on both the cows and the workers.

Trumpy #180642 09/03/08 08:37 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,445
Likes: 2
Cat Servant
Member
Just for comparison, I once visited quite a number of milking operations in Israel.

First, Israel asserts to have the most modern, most efficient, most productive milking industry in the world. They make the assertion - not I - nor was I in any position to evaluate the statistics given me at the time.

Their 'typical' dairy operation has about 250 producing cows. The cows are milked three times a day. That's every day - the cows can't take a day off! Being even an hour late causes the animals considerable distress.

While there are some 'carousels,' the preferred arrangement is two parallel lines, with a work deck between them.

Controls are a bit interesting. At each station, one can direct the milk from that particular cow to a holding area. For example, milk from sick cows is dumped, and milk from nursing cows is set aside for the calves.

Trumpy #180654 09/04/08 01:13 PM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 680
W
Member
I've been on many diary farms as a spectator. Its interesting to watch the farmer bring the critters in after being out in fields all day, they go right to there stall without proding. They line up the same way at the same time every day. The modern farms in Maine know how much milk comes from each cow and a computer figures how much that cow gets for feed based on milk given.It's so different than what one might imagine. Some farms in the midwest milk as many as 3000 cows. The manure is used to produce electricity(methane). Not sure if city folks understand how much manure 3000 head produces smile

walrus #180678 09/05/08 09:09 PM
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 827
Likes: 1
J
Member
Originally Posted by walrus
Not sure if city folks understand how much manure 3000 head produces smile


You're right! I thought it was 3000 tails that produced all that manure. Good pix!
Joe

Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
Originally Posted by renosteinke


While there are some 'carousels,' the preferred arrangement is two parallel lines, with a work deck between them.

Controls are a bit interesting. At each station, one can direct the milk from that particular cow to a holding area. For example, milk from sick cows is dumped, and milk from nursing cows is set aside for the calves.

John,
The shed you describe would be known as a Herring-bone shed here, the dairy industry started to move away from them in the early 90's.

Also, with the big money put into these rotary sheds, you'd sort of hope that the automation was equally as good.
Fortunately it is (for my sake), it is just a job and a half explaining to (sometimes foreign) workers, how this system works and how to use it properly.
Obviously, it isn't rocket science to operate a dairy shed (as most of it is automated), but some things can get lost in the interpretation.
But have one valve in the wrong place and you can have wash water or even acid mixed with milk in the silo.
Believe me, it HAS happened before. mad
20,000 litres of milk down the drain.

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