The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: nihicib2 on February 02, 2011, 08:40:44 am
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Hi all
Im looking to buy a second hand portable milking machine for my goats, which could in the future be used for a cow, just wondering if any of you could give me some advice as to what to buy and more importantly where to get one. I have seen ones on ebay but a lot of them are for collection only in England and as I live in Ireland this is impossible. I have seen a site on ebay where there are ones being sold from the Ukraine by an American based seller. I know this sounds dodgy but the seller has been on ebay since 2003 and has 100% feedback but still Im a bit wary about purchasing from them.
Any advice on any of the above would be great, thanks in advance
Brid :goat:
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In my opinion, best bet is to buy as close to home as possible. Ideally, the seller should be someone willing to show you the particulars of the machine as each has it's oddities (they're often modified by handy farmers). In a perfect world, you could call upon this ideal seller if you have any questions about maintenance or repairs further down the line. At the very least have them switch the thing on in your presence so you know it works before you hand over the cash. Noise and exhaust are things to keep in mind, depending on how confined your parlor/intended parlor is. Goats in particular are sensitive to loud noise. Used stainless milk jugs, pots, etc. are good buys if you can find them, as they don't degrade much in quality over time and are super expensive new. Any plastics (hoses, inflations, etc.) are best bought new as they need replacing every season or two anyhow. As far as being interchangeable between cows and goats, there are a couple issues you might run into. Many pumps have a fixed pulsation ratio (milking phase/rest phase). You'll need an adjustable one in order to milk both cows and goats. You'll also need a slightly larger (and thus pricier) machine to milk cows with, if I'm not mistaken (I only have personal experience with goats). The claw apparatus for milking cows is also much more expensive than the inflation/shell setup for goat milking.
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That's true- you would need to get a four cluster set as well as a set of two clusters. I haven't heard of machines that easily adapt.
I would definitely recommend getting a milking machine though- a great bonus, and it means someone would might not be able to milk can look after your goats if you have to go away.
Beth
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You brought up a good talking point there. How many animals do you think are needed to justify buying a machine? I don't think I'd consider purchasing one for milking less than a dozen or so does; otherwise, the time spent cleaning and sanitizing the equipment before and after milking effectively negates any time spared vs. milking by hand.
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You brought up a good talking point there. How many animals do you think are needed to justify buying a machine? I don't think I'd consider purchasing one for milking less than a dozen or so does; otherwise, the time spent cleaning and sanitizing the equipment before and after milking effectively negates any time spared vs. milking by hand.
That maybe depends on other factors as well. We don't normally have as many as a dozen milkers, will have 10 this year I think. But, if you are going out to work every day and need to be out by a certain time a milking machine really helps. Also- it depends how much milk your goats are giving. Most of goats give between 5 and 7 litres, and that on a dozen goats is a lot to milk!
Cleaning the machine doesn't take too long on a daily basis, but I give it a more thorough clean once a week or so.
Beth
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Hi,
In my view you need to buy from as close to home as possible - you may need spares in the future !
Also its a case of you get what you pay for with regards to reliability and length of life.
Take a look at the one we offer - may be beyond your current budget, but UK made and high quality.
https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/single-cluster-portable-milking-machine-new-model-p-533.html?vat_disp=1 (https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/single-cluster-portable-milking-machine-new-model-p-533.html?vat_disp=1)
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You brought up a good talking point there. How many animals do you think are needed to justify buying a machine? I don't think I'd consider purchasing one for milking less than a dozen or so does; otherwise, the time spent cleaning and sanitizing the equipment before and after milking effectively negates any time spared vs. milking by hand.
Actually they take very little time to clean. We have a portable machine and milk between one and three cows. I wouldn't be without it. A lot of dairy farms have a portable machine kicking about in case they have a cow that can't get up after calving that they need to get the milk out of.
Also it is very easy to change from a goat to cow cluster.
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Hi all, thanks for all the advice and unfortunately 'supplies for smallholders' your machines look great but are over my budget, I have taken the plunge and bought one on ebay, hopefully all will be well :hshoe: , should be here in the next week or so and I can get milking. At the moment we plan to milk four goats and if the milk yield is anything last last years then we should be getting around five litres a day from each goat (thats a lot of milking by hand ), it is a lot of money but I'm looking at it as an investment, I make cheese and yogurt and hopefully will start making soap from the milk as well, all for ourselves and for friends but you never know where it might lead to.
We are involved in the WWOOF programme and as I work full time and am the milkmaid :farmer: then the machine will come in handy as some of the people who come to us have never milked before and therefore the machine will make things a lot easier.
As for using the machine for milking cows, when I posted the initial post about milking machines, buying a cow was a long way away, however my OH made two phone calls and last Sat we went and put a deposit on our first cow, a short legged Dexter called Duchess due to calf in four months time. AS I have often said we have no sense but sure tis great craic ;D
Bríd
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Be interested to know what the Ukranian stuff is like - they have a lot of other dairy equipment on ebay as well
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We bought a cream separator from one of the Ukraine sellers on ebay. It works fine and was a fraction of the price of a british based one. The only worry I have is if we need spares, but fingers crossed all is well at the moment.
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HOW IS THE UKRAINE MILKER WORKING FOR YOU? i'M IN THE SAME BOAT TRYING TO SOURCE A PORTABLE MILKER, BUT £1000+ JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE FOR THE NUMBER OF COWS I WILL USE IT ON.
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if its not too cheeky to ask - how much was the Ukraine one?
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Hello,
For anyone interested there is a portable milking machine on the Goat Nutrition Website.
£850 I think, second hand but never been used.
:wave:
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Hi all unfortunately the Ukraine one didnt work out, it was badly packaged and when it arrived it was damaged so couldnt use it, the seller was great refunded all including postage etc. its a pity because it seemed like an ok one for the price 500 sterling but hard to know if it would be any good for milking without actually trying, the seller let me keep the bucket and clusters for free so if I get a portable milker for a cow it will be wasy to use it on the goats as well,
Thanks McRennet but the one on GN website is just too far past my budget, by the time I convert my euros to pounds and with VAT and postage it would be far to expensive,
again if anyone hears of one for sale at a reasonable price, let me know
Go raibh maith agaibh (thanks all) :goat: :bouquet:
Brid
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Another thought is to look into the Udderly Ez. There are differing thoughts on this in terms of damaging the teat due to the vacuum but I believe as long as you are sensible and create a ridiculously strong vac then you should be ok. All I know is that I would be lost without mine. I only have two girls producing milk at the mo but I can milk them quickly, they also got used to it very quickly too. The milk goes straight into the bottle so no straw or dust in the milk.
You can have a look online but there is a guy over here who sells them and the extra bottles.
One of my girls was only letting her kids drink from the one side and if we hadn't got in there and milked her out it could have easily turned to mastitis. I should say that she loathes being hand milked, so being able to put a cluster on kept her calmer that having me on there.
Like I say, just a thought and not to everyones taste but an option nonetheless.
McR :wave:
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Thanks for that McRennet, :bouquet: but to be honest after looking at the videos of the EZ and also the Henry Milker, I probably would be quicker milking by hand, all of mine are relatively quiet to hand milk (bar the odd kick). I suppose these devices would be handy in case I wasn't around but I'm still kinda set on a portable milker, there are ones now and again on ebay but its usually pick up only and me being in Donegal in Ireland means Im kinda scuppered :-\
Brid
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Still looking to find anyone who had the little Portable milking machine that Jon Norrris made in the 70's,so amall so simple and so useful