Dairy Chitchat 3

Mooooo

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Milk collected today at 1.30pm. Just on the farm now for evening milking. Warning signal beeping on tank. Temperature too low. Tank wasn't turned off and put washing. Rang the haulage contractor. Relief driver on today and was told that their not obliged to put the tank washing. All tank operational instructions taped to the tank. This is the 2nd or 3rd time where this has happened recently. Do lorry drivers put on other people's tanks washing?

They always put it washing here. Ring the milk manager in coop. It's normally only a case of connecting a pipe or closing the cap they opened and hitting a button or switch, wouldn't exactly cost them time

liosnagceann75

Mooooo wrote: »

They always put it washing here. Ring the milk manager in coop. It's normally only a case of connecting a pipe or closing the cap they opened and hitting a button or switch, wouldn't exactly cost them time

Very simple process. Often they just throw the outlet cap on the ground instead of placing it on the tank steps right in front of them

Buford T. Justice XIX

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Milk collected today at 1.30pm. Just on the farm now for evening milking. Warning signal beeping on tank. Temperature too low. Tank wasn't turned off and put washing. Rang the haulage contractor. Relief driver on today and was told that their not obliged to put the tank washing. All tank operational instructions taped to the tank. This is the 2nd or 3rd time where this has happened recently. Do lorry drivers put on other people's tanks washing?

Most drivers here do but they're not obliged to do it. The early collections normally are put washing round here so the farmer doesn't have to wait for the wash to finish before milking though.

liosnagceann75

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Most drivers here do but they're not obliged to do it. The early collections normally are put washing round here so the farmer doesn't have to wait for the wash to finish before milking though.

Leaving the tank on cooling with no milk is not good for the compressor. Are they obliged to turn off the tank? Otherwise I may as well become a complete slave to the farm and can't head away to a match or anything

whelan2

Just put a note on the tank to please turn off cooler.

Mooooo

whelan2 wrote: »

Just put a note on the tank to please turn off cooler.

If it's a dairymaster tank it's as easy to put washing as it is to stop cooling

liosnagceann75

Mooooo wrote: »

If it's a dairymaster tank it's as easy to put washing as it is to stop cooling

Packo tank

liosnagceann75

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Packo tank

Press one button twice to stop tank and then wash button twice

Buford T. Justice XIX

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Leaving the tank on cooling with no milk is not good for the compressor. Are they obliged to turn off the tank? Otherwise I may as well become a complete slave to the farm and can't head away to a match or anything

The operations that they have to carry out should be up on the tanker, iirc?

Our lads always turn off the tank and switch on the agitator and switch it off towards the end of the collection, we've never had any problems like that, thank god.

Might be worth having a chat with your local manager about it. Making a big fuss about it could result in them only doing the absolute bare minimum and you getting a bad rep as a troublemaker?

liosnagceann75

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

The operations that they have to carry out should be up on the tanker, iirc?

Our lads always turn off the tank and switch on the agitator and switch it off towards the end of the collection, we've never had any problems like that, thank god.

Might be worth having a chat with your local manager about it. Making a big fuss about it could result in them only doing the absolute bare minimum and you getting a bad rep as a troublemaker?

Didn't want to speak to the manager as I felt I would be going over the haulage operator. Preferred to speak to him direct

GrasstoMilk

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Didn't want to speak to the manager as I felt I would be going over the haulage operator. Preferred to speak to him direct

**** it I'd ring the milk manager. Its hardly that hard to put the tank on wash. Driver does it here and there has been a good few new ones driving this year.
I fell out black with mine last year because I wasnt finished milking at 8.30 am for him, in the spring no less!
I never held a grudge and he hasnt either

liosnagceann75

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

**** it I'd ring the milk manager. Its hardly that hard to put the tank on wash. Driver does it here and there has been a good few new ones driving this year.
I fell out black with mine last year because I wasnt finished milking at 8.30 am for him, in the spring no less!
I never held a grudge and he hasnt either

Thanks. I contacted the manager before about the drivers not switching on the agitators before collecting the milk. Today's collection was pure carelessness again. He had it set up to wash but never pressed the button for wash. Invested in a new dairy and tank and the drivers can't check to see if the wash is running on the display panel

GrasstoMilk

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Thanks. I contacted the manager before about the drivers not switching on the agitators before collecting the milk. Today's collection was pure carelessness again. He had it set up to wash but never pressed the button for wash. Invested in a new dairy and tank and the drivers can't check to see if the wash is running on the display panel

With a new tank theres no excuse. Ours is 4 years old. Very easy to do it. Turn it off before milk is collected, screw on the wash cap after the collection pipe is taken away and press wash
Job done

liosnagceann75

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

With a new tank theres no excuse. Ours is 4 years old. Very easy to do it. Turn it off before milk is collected, screw on the wash cap after the collection pipe is taken away and press wash
Job done

Same as mine. Its not rocket science to be honest and the instructions are taped onto the tank

K.G.

So the driver is doing you a favour and ye get cross because they dont do it or do something wrong.not saying a bit bur do ye expect a relief driver to get a list of instructions on each tank on his run and get it right.make it you're business to be there if its important .

wrangler

K.G. wrote: »

So the driver is doing you a favour and ye get cross because they dont do it or do something wrong.not saying a bit bur do ye expect a relief driver to get a list of instructions on each tank on his run and get it right.make it you're business to be there if its important .

Agreed
Running to the boss sounds very childish anyway;
Could have the opposite effect

GrasstoMilk

wrangler wrote: »

Agreed
Running to the boss sounds very childish anyway;
Could have the opposite effect

My tank takes 40 minutes to wash. That's 40 minutes of my morning gone if the milk is collected at night, which it used to be.
If you held them up for 40 minutes they would have some puss on there face
And leaving the tank on with no milk in it is bad for the tank and compressors.
It's not like it's a big job to press a button and screw on the wash cap

wrangler

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

My tank takes 40 minutes to wash. That's 40 minutes of my morning gone if the milk is collected at night, which it used to be.
If you held them up for 40 minutes they would have some puss on there face
And leaving the tank on with no milk in it is bad for the tank and compressors.
It's not like it's a big job to press a button and screw on the wash cap

Probably just forgot,..... to err etc etc
I was talking to a new recruit to the PS yesterday, he was telling me that he has had to find his low box since he joined. another guy said that if he puts up ten fence posts today they'll expect the same tomorrow !!!!!!!!!......that's the mentality thats out there now. it's certainly not the mentality of milk tanker drivers

liosnagceann75

wrangler wrote: »

Agreed
Running to the boss sounds very childish anyway;
Could have the opposite effect

The boss man said the driver should not have left the yard without switching off the tank. Keep your childish comments to yourself

mahoney_j

Not worth falling out with milk man ,there will be days when u badly need him .running off to the boss crying rather than just having a word with the driver/milk manager is pure madness and childish ,unless the driver is a pure dick or pure incompetent I wouldn’t be going over board ,they work long hours and have to suck it up going into tight yards ,opening gates ,waiting on lads to finish milking etc

mahoney_j

Mooooo wrote: »

Yield holding very well for you. Did you add much to the meal for the bf. Had issues with bf earlier in may and for all the messing with ration putting a bit of straw in a round feeder as they walked passed was prob the most effective. The changes to pricing had the low bf effect the price per litre more as well. As my first year all spring it's possible my genetics aren't great for bf anyway, normally average around 4 for the the year when split calving.

Megafat at 2.5% in nut since start of year ,nis at 12.5% since start as well and actisaf since mid April .13.5% p nut with main ingridents maize,barley. Soya beet pulp and distillers .fat at lowest went to 3.59 but averaged 3.7 for May ,back at more acceptable level now .tbh there isn’t much I can do outside of putting in a buffer of maize silage/beet and something like brewers grains mix but no diet feeder and too much hassle at this stage of year

Castlekeeper

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Milk collected today at 1.30pm. Just on the farm now for evening milking. Warning signal beeping on tank. Temperature too low. Tank wasn't turned off and put washing. Rang the haulage contractor. Relief driver on today and was told that their not obliged to put the tank washing. All tank operational instructions taped to the tank. This is the 2nd or 3rd time where this has happened recently. Do lorry drivers put on other people's tanks washing?

Yes always put washing here, although it'd be washed by the time I'd be ready to start anyway so Im not too bothered.

In our tank you can't switch on the washer without the tank being off. Shouldn't be too hard to do or think of for a tank manufacturer .

mf240

Once or twice over the years a driver has forgotten to switch off the tank. I never bothered ringing anyone, they probably just forgot.

Castlekeeper

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Could you explain that? I'm assuming that means heavy covers?

Yes-ish, its not a "thing" , im just tryingvto describe it . Using minimal N input so covers are still around 2000 grazing down to 5-700. Not too dense at the base. Happened by accident last year due to the bizarre weather and I was surprised how well it worked. Might need to make some dry cow bales yet to straighten it out.
Reason I mentioned it is because protein should be higher otherwise.

Castlekeeper

Panch18 wrote: »

How’s the OAD going for you?

Good so far, there's more in it though. It suits my situation and pays the bills, makes dairy farming a very attractive lifestyle.

Dakota Dan

cute geoge wrote: »

There is a vane of the best land in the country running from Ratoo round tower in Ballyduff on into Causeway back past Dairymaster into Ballyheighue up to Kerryhead

Some good land in Ardfert, where the ploughing was in 1984.

Dakota Dan

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Milk collected today at 1.30pm. Just on the farm now for evening milking. Warning signal beeping on tank. Temperature too low. Tank wasn't turned off and put washing. Rang the haulage contractor. Relief driver on today and was told that their not obliged to put the tank washing. All tank operational instructions taped to the tank. This is the 2nd or 3rd time where this has happened recently. Do lorry drivers put on other people's tanks washing?

They have forgotten to turn off the compressor switch on my tank on more than one occasion, then you have the compressor fighting 80 degree water :mad: I said it to a new driver last week who's Polish but I don't know whether he didn't understand or didn't want to understand.

Keepgrowing

K.G. wrote: »

So the driver is doing you a favour and ye get cross because they dont do it or do something wrong.not saying a bit bur do ye expect a relief driver to get a list of instructions on each tank on his run and get it right.make it you're business to be there if its important .

I absolutely do.
Cooler off, agitation on press wash button. It’s part and parcel of collecting milk, simple as that.

liosnagceann75

Keepgrowing wrote: »

I absolutely do.
Cooler off, agitation on press wash button. It’s part and parcel of collecting milk, simple as that.

Can't understand why some posters here are so hostile regarding milk collections. Am I supposed to hang around on the day of collection so I can make sure the tank is turned off? Milk lorry can arrive at any time in the day. I went to a match yesterday and arrived home to the tank not switched off. This is a great country where milk is being collected and here is no obligation to switch off the tank or put the tank washing.

wrangler

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Can't understand why some posters here are so hostile regarding milk collections. Am I supposed to hang around on the day of collection so I can make sure the tank is turned off? Milk lorry can arrive at any time in the day. I went to a match yesterday and arrived home to the tank not switched off. This is a great country where milk is being collected and here is no obligation to switch off the tank or put the tank washing.

Is it actually part of the drivers job,

liosnagceann75

wrangler wrote: »

Is it actually part of the drivers job,

If it isint it should be

wrangler

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

If it isint it should be

I wouldn't be surprised if undertaking to do the tank would leave them open to a claim if forgotten and they would be foolish to commit.
We're in a very litigious society now

K.G.

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

If it isint it should be

In my view milk quality is the responsibility of the farmer .fair enough they should switch off tank but putting it washing is a favour to you and no way should you complain a fella for times it dosent happen or it goes wrong

liosnagceann75

K.G. wrote: »

In my view milk quality is the responsibility of the farmer .fair enough they should switch off tank but putting it washing is a favour to you and no way should you complain a fella for times it dosent happen or it goes wrong

What about when they don't switch off the tank?

wrangler

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

What about when they don't switch off the tank?

,

Can there be no automatic switch put on the tank to turn it off to protect it when it's empty, sounds a very simple solution

Buford T. Justice XIX

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

If it isint it should be

Tbh, drivers have enough crap to deal with outside the gate without getting blamed for stuff inside the gate too. We were collected an hour late a while back as a huge queue had built up due to not having any silo to pump the milk into. Now there was an empty silo there but that was being kept because there 'might' be a load of whey coming.

So in the logic of management, it's cheaper to store milk in the milk trucks and delay all the drivers than to let the one load of whey coming in wait for space to become available?

And it is cheaper to store milk in the tankers than put up another silo.

I'd be reluctant to criticise drivers, tbh.

Keepgrowing

liosnagceann75 wrote: »

Can't understand why some posters here are so hostile regarding milk collections. Am I supposed to hang around on the day of collection so I can make sure the tank is turned off? Milk lorry can arrive at any time in the day. I went to a match yesterday and arrived home to the tank not switched off. This is a great country where milk is being collected and here is no obligation to switch off the tank or put the tank washing.

If our drivers didn’t do it I’d be getting milk collected at 8.30 am or 6pm and not outside these times. It happens here on occasion that it’s forgotten but it’s rare.

Mooooo

If it doesn't wash or forgotten once or twice fair enough., but putting it washing isn't a big deal tbh. Literally a case of pushing a button before they leave on current tank and on old packo it was just a case of screw on the connection and turn switch to wash. I wouldn't go falling out with people over it but at the same time it should be something drivers should do. Most collections here are in the middle of the night, tank takes an hour to wash.

K.G.

Keepgrowing wrote: »

If our drivers didn’t do it I’d be getting milk collected at 8.30 am or 6pm and not outside these times. It happens here on occasion that it’s forgotten but it’s rare.

We recently had our routre chang3d to suit one of the larger suppliers so i know that for you to be accommodated somebody else is thrown out of kilter.it has put a it of pressure on us but we just get on with it.but anyway everyone does things rheir own way but abit of respect dosent go astray for the drivers.

mahoney_j

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Tbh, drivers have enough crap to deal with outside the gate without getting blamed for stuff inside the gate too. We were collected an hour late a while back as a huge queue had built up due to not having any silo to pump the milk into. Now there was an empty silo there but that was being kept because there 'might' be a load of whey coming.

So in the logic of management, it's cheaper to store milk in the milk trucks and delay all the drivers than to let the one load of whey coming in wait for space to become available?

And it is cheaper to store milk in the tankers than put up another silo.

I'd be reluctant to criticise drivers, tbh.

Fully agree

Timmaay

Finally saw the light and picked up a 10ft mower to replace the topper that I broke up last week. It's like going from a rusty bet up beard trimmer to the nicest mach3 fusion razor ha.

K.G.

Timmaay wrote: »

Finally saw the light and picked up a 10ft mower to replace the topper that I broke up last week. It's like going from a rusty bet up beard trimmer to the nicest mach3 fusion razor ha.

Its the kind of thing that is very hard to justify on paper but very easy in practice

mahoney_j

K.G. wrote: »

Its the kind of thing that is very hard to justify on paper but very easy in practice

Means a lot to have a mower that can top clean and also mow paddocks when it suits u

visatorro

Timmaay wrote: »

Finally saw the light and picked up a 10ft mower to replace the topper that I broke up last week. It's like going from a rusty bet up beard trimmer to the nicest mach3 fusion razor ha.

What did you buy?

Keepgrowing

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Tbh, drivers have enough crap to deal with outside the gate without getting blamed for stuff inside the gate too. We were collected an hour late a while back as a huge queue had built up due to not having any silo to pump the milk into. Now there was an empty silo there but that was being kept because there 'might' be a load of whey coming.

So in the logic of management, it's cheaper to store milk in the milk trucks and delay all the drivers than to let the one load of whey coming in wait for space to become available?

And it is cheaper to store milk in the tankers than put up another silo.

I'd be reluctant to criticise drivers, tbh.

Not what the poster is talking about. Delays happen and drivers in my experience are more than accommodating but not putting a tank to wash on a regular basis is not playing the game

Timmaay

visatorro wrote: »

What did you buy?

A decent clean 2nd hand Krone.

Water John

I'm telling you, if you occasionally left the gate into the yard closed, you wouldn't be long hearing about it.

moneyheer

Water John wrote: »

I'm telling you, if you occasionally left the gate into the yard closed, you wouldn't be long hearing about it.

Yard gate always closed here no problem with drivers opening it only thing we ask of driver if milk collected during the night to close on way out, or if they don't see anyone in the yard during the day to close gate on way out.

Say my name

Water John wrote: »

I'm telling you, if you occasionally left the gate into the yard closed, you wouldn't be long hearing about it.

With a blast of the horn. Ha!

I'd say we all have stories about drivers and they have stories about farmers too.
So with that I'll suck up to em and say they're the greatest people in the world. Not that I'm afraid of them reading this or putting a finger in a milk sample or using the tank washer as a weapon of mass destruction against you or making multiple trips to empty the tank or coming during milking time or the milk lorry meter reading light and only finding out by talking with your neighbours or ...I'd better shut up now. :pac:

Ah we're all a great bunch of lads!

Water John

A wide range, some very good, I think it depends too on how they are treated by the processor. Some have a rough enough deal.