David's going Dairying.

cjpm

Say my name wrote: »

Not a decision for today or tomorrow but do you think you'll have to paint the walls white now with the lack of reflection of light from the underside of those sheets?

Normal sheets have a white underside to bounce the light back down. The clear will allow the light go straight through to the international space station.
You'll be in the pit on a dark winter/spring evening and looking up at a black hole where the roof is.

Maybe it mightnt be an issue?

He's going to paint the underside of the clear sheets with white gloss. So that they let in sunlight during the day and reflect in the artificial light at night

davidk1394

Say my name wrote: »

Not a decision for today or tomorrow but do you think you'll have to paint the walls white now with the lack of reflection of light from the underside of those sheets?

Normal sheets have a white underside to bounce the light back down. The clear will allow the light go straight through to the international space station.
You'll be in the pit on a dark winter/spring evening and looking up at a black hole where the roof is.

Maybe it mightnt be an issue?

I have paint to go on the walls, I'm painting them Saturday, not going with white either. I'll be putting the lights down in the pit. Not too worried about the reflection as theres the same issue with fibre cement.

Base price

I see that the new concrete has been christened

funkey_monkey

Is this a bespoke layout or are these mostly a copy of proven designs?

staples7

Nice work, will be watching closely as we have a similar job starting next year. First time hearing of the clear roof so very interested in seeing how that works out. Are they as rigid as a normal sheet or are they closer to the old clear sheet that would be in every shed. Was there much of a price difference?

davidk1394

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Is this a bespoke layout or are these mostly a copy of proven designs?

A bit of both. The pit depth and widths are to suit me. The lay out for cow flow, shed heights and widths are from proven designs that I have worked in over a number of years. The sheeting was a last minute decision.

davidk1394

staples7 wrote: »

Nice work, will be watching closely as we have a similar job starting next year. First time hearing of the clear roof so very interested in seeing how that works out. Are they as rigid as a normal sheet or are they closer to the old clear sheet that would be in every shed. Was there much of a price difference?

Its rigid. It's 6 mm in thickness with 3 layers in it, it's heat sealed and UV resistant. There is a lighter and darker colour options I went with the middle ground. Cost about 1,500 more. The sheets were made to suit the shed.

Odelay

davidk1394 wrote: »

Its rigid. It's 6 mm in thickness with 3 layers in it, it's heat sealed and UV resistant. There is a lighter and darker colour options I went with the middle ground. Cost about 1,500 more. The sheets were made to suit the shed.

1500 more than normal clear sheeting or than 0.6mm corrugated steel cladding? If so it was a no brainier, something for me to think about. Is it resistant to condensation?

Lovely progress, well done to you.

davidk1394

Odelay wrote: »

1500 more than normal clear sheeting or than 0.6mm corrugated steel cladding? If so it was a no brainier, something for me to think about. Is it resistant to condensation?

Lovely progress, well done to you.

1500 more than the 0.6 mm. They say it is, but I'll let ye know after a few months what it's like.

Great progress being made and the weather has been good so far. I went with the people I know to get the job done well and so far that has been the case.

tanko

What will be going in the other half of the shed from the milking parlour?

Jb1989

tanko wrote: »

What will be going in the other half of the shed from the milking parlour?

Drafting area.

roosterman71

tanko wrote: »

What will be going in the other half of the shed from the milking parlour?

Sitting room including beer fridge :pac:

davidk1394

tanko wrote: »

What will be going in the other half of the shed from the milking parlour?

Handling facilities and a drafting crush in a few years.

davidk1394

roosterman71 wrote: »

Sitting room including beer fridge :pac:

I'd never have to worry about drink driving the morning after.

blue5000

roosterman71 wrote: »

Sitting room including beer fridge :pac:

Man shed?:D bit draughty though:pac: Needs a stove.

Reggie.

blue5000 wrote: »

Man shed?:D bit draughty though:pac: Needs a stove.

Could be done

davidk1394

Making good progress in the last few days

davidk1394

More images

minerleague

davidk1394 wrote: »

More images

Nice, pity to dirty it now with cows!

Reggie.

davidk1394 wrote: »

More images

Good stuff lad

Tileman

When do have it finished up for David. When is the first calving due

Are u missing the lambing this year?

farawaygrass

Tileman wrote: »

When do have it finished up for David. When is the first calving due

Are u missing the lambing this year?

Did you like the sheep David? Just too little return is it compared to dairy?

morphy87

davidk1394 wrote: »

Making good progress in the last few days

It will be some job when it’s finished

davidk1394

farawaygrass wrote: »

Did you like the sheep David? Just too little return is it compared to dairy?

I liked the sheep and I still have a handful knocking around the place. I don't think they'll never fully go ! There is 3 of working on the farm and I was contracting. It worked well because I had very little living expenses but I knew if I decided to build a house or start a family there wasn't going to be enough money there. My parents are in there early 60's and there is physical work involved in sheep even though we have good facilities. So it was on the cards something had to change.

When I came back from Australia I decided to buy heifer calves with the money I had and make a plan to go at cows and if the plan didn't work out at least I can sell the heifers. What really put the ball rolling was getting a job offer to go out to Saudi Arabia to the dairy farms. That's when we made the decision collectively that now is the time to make the change or forget about it.

My parents are a massive help throughout this project. My mother did a lot of the paper work for the land transfer, banks, changing over the herd no. My father was helping at the contracting and then day to day work, his gifted at fencing and handling stock, spotting if an animal is off form, these things all helped getting us to where we are now. I'm really looking forward to seeing the first row of cows going into the parlor.

Tonynewholland

davidk1394 wrote: »

I liked the sheep and I still have a handful knocking around the place. I don't think they'll never fully go ! There is 3 of working on the farm and I was contracting. It worked well because I had very little living expenses but I knew if I decided to build a house or start a family there wasn't going to be enough money there. My parents are in there early 60's and there is physical work involved in sheep even though we have good facilities. So it was on the cards something had to change.

When I came back from Australia I decided to buy heifer calves with the money I had and make a plan to go at cows and if the plan didn't work out at least I can sell the heifers. What really put the ball rolling was getting a job offer to go out to Saudi Arabia to the dairy farms. That's when we made the decision collectively that now is the time to make the change or forget about it.

My parents are a massive help throughout this project. My mother did a lot of the paper work for the land transfer, banks, changing over the herd no. My father was helping at the contracting and then day to day work, his gifted at fencing and handling stock, spotting if an animal is off form, these things all helped getting us to where we are now. I'm really looking forward to seeing the first row of cows going into the parlor.

Best of luck with everything in your first year milking. A good parlour makes milking a pleasure when the cows are settled and trained in. You won’t regret putting in the feeders either

davidk1394

Another important delivery today. We still have another 18 days until the first heifer is due. The parlor is installed. Wiring and plumbing is going ahead next week. The 3 phase should be installed the middle of February.

Reggie.

davidk1394 wrote: »

Another important delivery today. We still have another 18 days until the first heifer is due. The parlor is installed. Wiring and plumbing is going ahead next week. The 3 phase should be installed the middle of February.

You just have to fill it now

davidk1394

Reggie. wrote: »

You just have to fill it now

Hopefully in a few years

Bass Reeves

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/farm-fragmentation-and-lameness-pushed-me-to-go-oad-milking/

Just came across this regarding a lad OAD milking. 635 margin per cow on 4400 litres at high solids

Mooooo

An option but tad is still economically better. Know lads giving 1400 litres more on the same percentages, even here with a young herd I sent in 100kg more ms than that, costs higher but not enough to negate the extra 100kgs/ ms sold

davidk1394

Looking for a few opinions. What wash down pump do people have for washing down parlors or yards. It'll be a 40mm pipe and I have the choice of single phase or 3 phase. Would I be better off putting in a wash down pump with or without a pressure vessel ?

Say my name

davidk1394 wrote: »

Looking for a few opinions. What wash down pump do people have for washing down parlors or yards. It'll be a 40mm pipe and I have the choice of single phase or 3 phase. Would I be better off putting in a wash down pump with or without a pressure vessel ?

There's no pressure vessel on the volume washer here. Just a straight pump with a pressure switch after.
It's a single phase and I think 1.5hp. Works away fine bar you might have to press the reset button on the pressure switch an odd time and then change the capacitor whenever that goes.

Water John

A holding tank before the washer. Depends on the set up but water from a plate cooler could be reused.

The Rabbi

With a lot of natural light in the parlour you will get moss, consider adding chlorine to the wash down water.

davidk1394

The first heifer to calf and she had 2 heifer calves The parlor is nearly ready and 3 phase is going in Tuesday. A lot of time and dedication to getting to where we are today but it was worth it all.

Bass Reeves

davidk1394 wrote: »

The first heifer to calf and she had 2 heifer calves The parlor is nearly ready and 3 phase is going in Tuesday. A lot of time and dedication to getting to where we are today but it was worth it all.

Beginners luck

whelan2

Best of luck with it all

davidk1394

Thanks everyone. Hopefully the luck will continue

Mooooo

Best of luck

Base price

Delighted for you David and you have two replacement heifers already. I'm looking forward to the pics of the first row in the parlour.

davidk1394

The first morning in the parlor. Up to yesterday I was using a single unit machine in a crush to milk 15 cows. 20 calved so far with very little difficulty. Cows and calves are good and healthy. There's a few more things to finish but in 2 weeks everything should be done.

Images aren't too clear they were taken very quickly while some of the clusters stayed on

Water John

Get a doc to prescribe valium for the week, good luck.

funkey_monkey

All starts now!
Best of luck with the venture.

timple23

Give the floors/bottoms of walls a good wetting of power hose before milking, it makes washing parlour out much easier.

Reggie.

Very best of luck kid

jimmy G M

Reggie. wrote: »

Very best of luck kid

+1.

mr.stonewall

Well done David. Great to follow your journey here on boards and the best of luck in the coming years

Danzy

Well done, followed this thread from the start. Best of luck lad. It's been a great trip.

cjpm

The very best of luck Dave.

tismesoitis

Very best of luck!! Keep us up dated on how you getting on!