Robati Milking Machines.

TheWeasel

Hi All. Just Wondering what is yer Opinion on Robatic Milking Machines?... Do they actually work?, Especially on a Grazing System....

PMU

was any one here at the demo in kerry last week?

TheWeasel

I was at it myself, Talked to the Farmer he seemed very Happy with the Robots. He had two milking 110 Cows Hoping to Expand to 140 in the Future. I was at one Last Year aswell. Learnt much more at the one the other day tho!.. The only Thing is at both Open Days they Had the Cows Locked into the Yard , So They Had to come Through the Robot. What id Love to See is the Cows Coming in out of the Paddock themselves to get Milked & to Acess Fresh Grass at the Other side. . They are big Money Tho!:eek:

Fermec

They Could be the Future Lads,

yellow50HX

yeah big money alright about 70-100k for the machine then probaly another 50k for the other bits. most of the cows on the contenint are robot milked but they are mostly in all year. you need 1 robot for about 65-70 cows from what i've been told. proably the way to go alright but big start up costs, you would b
need to have everything else in place before going down that road i'd say. heard there ar e a few guys in ireland using the 12 split day grazing system not sure how it works and would it be any issue when it gets wet with the cows cuttign up small paddock? saw a guy in the uk using it for organic milk, clever set up the cows have to come into the shed to get water so muct pass through the robot he has a one way system for the cows to come into the shed. that way he dosent need to use meal to get them to dome in. proably ok as long as the feilds are near enough to the shed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If7iA4sMpF8&feature=relmfu

yellow50HX

rest of the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoWpxWBlMpg

Markcheese

Any way that u could have a mobile set up, on a trailer, with either solar panel or a genny( or both) and not have to invest so much in roads, paddocks and concrete?

Tipp Man

How does their energy costs stack up against your typical system?

Tipp Man

TheWeasel wrote: »

IThe only Thing is at both Open Days they Had the Cows Locked into the Yard , So They Had to come Through the Robot. What id Love to See is the Cows Coming in out of the Paddock themselves to get Milked & to Acess Fresh Grass at the Other side. . They are big Money Tho!:eek:

Just to clariyf this - did they have the cows in the yard just for the open day or is that what they always have to do??

Fermec

They had the Cows Locked in the Yard just for the Open Day.

Fermec

Id Say it would have to be Heavy on Electricty, cos its going 23 hrs & Washing for 1..

Markcheese

Fermec wrote: »

Id Say it would have to be Heavy on Electricty, cos its going 23 hrs & Washing for 1..

Yeah , but it's only 1 unit,so really small vacumn and milk pumps and no really long runs of pipe,and I guess pumps don't switch on till a cows in the machine ??

Fermec

Prob ya, I think they Have a varable speed Vacum Pump.. Alot of Moving Parts tho, there would have to be Wear over Time, Imagine if a Cross Heifer Started Kicking the Sh1t out of it!:eek:

5live

Iirc he had a 12 hour grazing system with the cows going onto the next paddock as soon as a certain amount of time had passed. 2.1 milkings per day with 8.5 minutes per milking and ration fed to get them into the machine. Good road system and setup for the robots to be fair. The ones not inclined to come for milking must be a pain in the tit though as you would have to go to the paddock to round up a few each milking and leave the rest

Injuryprone

5live wrote: »

The ones not inclined to come for milking must be a pain in the tit though as you would have to go to the paddock to round up a few each milking and leave the rest

Wouldn't the ones not milked be the only ones left in the paddock as the milked cows would be gone on to another fresh paddock after they went to the robot? Or am I misunderstanding the system?

yellow50HX

i think the 12 hour change means that they change the paddocks. the cows are all bought out of the field and back to the yard to the milker (any thats havent passed through already) that way every cow passes through at least once every 12 hours. not that much extra work i suppose as you should be walking through them anyway to see what bulling. means that the roadways much go in two differnt directions and that you have a good balance between the grazing grounds. would it be just as handy to bring them all into the shed once a day and let the machine work its way through them and milk what hasnt been in just to make sure they all go through at least once a day.

from what i've been told from a few lads in sweden the amount of power used actaully balances out over the year as your not always running a peak times. most have a deicated back up water tank and you'd proably need a gennie here as the esb can go down at anytime. as for the mobile milker how long would it take you to milk 70 cows with a 6 unit parlour? proably be better off getting a zero grazer and bring the grass to the home place.

5live

Injuryprone wrote: »

Wouldn't the ones not milked be the only ones left in the paddock as the milked cows would be gone on to another fresh paddock after they went to the robot? Or am I misunderstanding the system?

I went late and was looking at something else there but afaik the cows at peak could come in every, say, 9 hours. So sometimes they will go forward to a new paddock and sometimes back to the paddock they came out of so it would be a mix of cows in the paddock if the farmer was working on 12 hour paddocks

Fermec

Correct ya,Prob Heifers etc Could stay behind,But i Suppose They would get into the Hang of it after a While!

Tipp Man

How is he getting the cows to graze out the paddocks?

Viewtodiefor

So is anyone seriously thinking of investing in one? Would it justify a seventy cow man to lay out the cash for one?? I think they may be the way to go in the future (imagine the opposition to todays standard system 60yrs ago!) let's hope they perfect them!

Or maybe they are perfected already?? In the meantime I'm sure lotsa guys will have a pole doing the milking!

yellow50HX

i reckon they are the way to go alright, doenst seem to be bothering the farmers in holland, germany and most of northen eurpoe. i reckon if there was enough good back here from the manufacturers and that farmers can come up with a system where the cows still graze i think you'll see more and more. but i couldnt see the point in changing out a palour that might have been upgraded in the last 10 years to get one in.

Tipp Man

The costs are outrageous I think - relative to what they can milk - the output from 1 machine is way to low and would want to be double or more of what it currently is

I don't think comparing to Holland, Germany or UK is particularly relevant as the majority of their milk is produced indoors

Personally i'd rather go to once a day milking than robot if labour/time is an issue

Fermec

Ya , I suppose its Early Days yet, But Very Interesting. I was Taking To a Man in Kerry who has one in since Either 1999 or 2009 i cant Remmember What he said, But he did Say that they have dropped about 30 grand since he put his in. He Also Said he Doesnt head down the yard till about 11am most mornings! Nice if ur after a few the night before!:)

yellow50HX

i think its probably like everything else you must balance a system to the way you farm. you need to be thinking in groups of 70 as that seems to be the capacity for each unit so if your set up for 100 cows then you either need to go up or down to make the most efficient use of a robot.

for a farmer with 70/80 cows whose main enterprise is milking and who has already invested in a good set-up and can milk the cows in an hour and half twice a day and still has time to get everything things else done it wouldn't make sense. however if its a case of someone who pays to get the cows milked or who also has another enterprise like beef or tillage or inter county hurling then rather then having to pay someone to help out they can get a robot in. i've also heard or some lads that use zero grazing for most of the year. if you have the ability to do that with housing or have a standoff pad then i'd say it would probably make a lot of sense as its then like a continental system and the cows are next to the parlour all the time.

I reckon if your thinking of getting one the reasons should be sound. the main benefit is that it frees up time to make improvements elsewhere, as long as you can take advantage of that then it'll be a success.

stop thelights

I just came across this thread. Does anyone have any first hand experience of these machines on here. I heard with lely you have to enter into a service contract of either 2k for basic plus chemicals and parts that have to be replaced. Or 4k per year for the all in. Thats per robot.

So milking 120 cows is going to cost 4k( 2 bots) or 8k a year!!:eek: We're milking round the 100 mark and i'd reckon service for us is less than a grand for the year! I reckon they are the way forward but there is no real competition in the market place so the prices are a bit unrealistic at present!!

yellow50HX

4k a year for servicing, hmmm seems a bit high. would be good to know how much chemical you use now. and how much more with the robot. would be good to compare prices on the contenient, far more competition there. it might even be worth your while to price up getting them shipped over (could be cheaper to get a years supply) and fly a service guy over once a year. that said i know from work its actually worth it to have the back up for the few years to get any bugs in the system sorted and it would also allow you to get to know the system and to do any minor work, and then trying to price up a new service deal.

Fermec

I Didnt Know the Service costs were so High for the Year! Lely Never tell you that @ the Open Days!Defently More Competation Needed.Its a bit Like When VHS Video Recorders came out first about 20 years ago, they were very expensive, & Big. Now Look what you can buy a DVD Player for?.. I Do Know that Lely have the Patient of the Arm going in the side , But i think Fullwoods Machine is a Copy of the Origional Lely. I Still dont Think they are worth over a 1OOK Tho!

stop thelights

yellow50HX wrote: »

4k a year for servicing, hmmm seems a bit high. would be good to know how much chemical you use now. and how much more with the robot. would be good to compare prices on the contenient, far more competition there. it might even be worth your while to price up getting them shipped over (could be cheaper to get a years supply) and fly a service guy over once a year. that said i know from work its actually worth it to have the back up for the few years to get any bugs in the system sorted and it would also allow you to get to know the system and to do any minor work, and then trying to price up a new service deal.

Chemical and electrical usage wouldn't amount to a whole lot more than in a a parlour as far a i know. I doubt that lely would cross over dealers in Ireland and I reckon that the machine has to be serviced four times a year. So flying over a service man would be uneconomical (sp)

In my mind i wouldnt let one into my yard unless i knew as much as i could about them. Be able to service yourself and solve minor issues, replace parts.....;)

stop thelights

Fermec wrote: »

I Didnt Know the Service costs were so High for the Year! Lely Never tell you that @ the Open Days!Defently More Competation Needed.Its a bit Like When VHS Video Recorders came out first about 20 years ago, they were very expensive, & Big. Now Look what you can buy a DVD Player for?.. I Do Know that Lely have the Patient of the Arm going in the side , But i think Fullwoods Machine is a Copy of the Origional Lely. I Still dont Think they are worth over a 1OOK Tho!

Ya as far as I know they are. You have to enter into the service for 5 or ten years too. So in ten years the machines will have cost 20k plus parts or 40k. And then theres a major service or some thing where you have to replace certain components near there life end to carry on with the contract.

Its like buying a merc or a BMW and only the main garages can sercive em. You know you could get the same level of service from the local man for a fraction of the cost or do a DIY job on it!:pac: