reconditioned surge belly milker (pics)

If I get a chance to score the parts cheap I might just do that thanks for the idea! As it is the mason jar is working~ it's not a standard mason jar it's a 1/2 gallon jar~ and the mason jar didn't cost me anything. I have so many projects I need to do and while it may not be that much more it's just not a priority right now.

Bessie DID leave a deposit on the driveway once so far~ but luckily only the one time so far. And luckily the weather has been cooperating for me to do the milking out in the driveway so far. I need a stanchion but thats another thing I'm going to have to build. Another member here offered to sell me one for a very reasonable price but thats another thing I need but am going to have to figure out how to do on the cheap.

I built mine for the cost of two 2x6x8' boards and a 2x4x8', plus 8 lag screws, 2 long bolts with nuts, and 2 more long bolts with or without nuts. I already had poles to attach it to in my barn. This won't be my forever stanchion, but for right now, it's serving its purpose.

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it's me!

I don't have a barn. And I'm incredibly jealous of yours! I do have a barn like building I put up~ but no power or water out there~ just a shelter for the chickens and goats. Nothing as nice as your pic!

I currently keep my goat stand on my front porch and milk there. I'm planning to build a portable stanchion on skids with a small roof for the cows. I'm thinking 6'X3' and 6'tall. Topside (member name) offered to sell me a pretty nice one that I could have put a roof on several months ago and I really wanted it~ but I broke my hip and somehow getting a stanchion wasn't so important to me. Hip surgery is expensive even with insurance so now I'm trying to pinch every penny~ so I'm thinking of building one myself now. I'm thinking with something like his, with skids and a roof, I could move it around the property until I find the perfect spot for it. Right now I'm thinking that might be off the far side of my porch~ wouldn't be too visibly in the way over there, I would have access to the covered porch for my things, electricity for the pump and water for clean up when needed. If I build it on skids then I can change my mind and move it if that proves to not be an easy spot to work in.

Mine didn't start out as a barn, but just a roof with a bunch of junk left by the previous owners. If you want to see the before and after pics, I posted it on BYC. Right now I have cattle panel in front of the double doors and the side door, but the chickies will need their coop back in the next week or so, so I have to build some stalls in there for the moos. It has been empty for a few weeks in an attempt to eradicate frickin' mycoplasma. Having NPIP come after we put the new chicks in there, and if any test positive, I'm culling completely. (BTW, I absolutely LOVE our state vet labs, the people that work at them are fantastic in my experience!)

The stanchion i posted is temporary, it may even come down next week when I put the stalls in, depending on whether hubby balks at me closing in that much of it for the cow(s). I was really frustrated with my girl's horns, and I really wanted to get a halter on her, so I built that so I could take care of those things ASAP. My grass is getting pretty deep, so i want to get her trained to lead (I think we've got her trained to electric now, she literally runs when she sees the polywire in our hands) so I can start moving her around the front yard to mow, while I let the fertilizer in the backyard work in.

I am planning to build something like Topside's stanchion for in the future, but higher off the ground. I may put something like mower wheels on it so it's mobile, but that may be beyond my limited realm of expertise LOL. Right now, i milk the goat (WHEN I milk her) on a PVC stanchion on the back porch. Once I get a milk machine, though, I plan to do it all in the shed, unless DH is calm about me putting a huge stanchion on the back porch. I figure on windy winter days, though, the shed will be a bit warmer.

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it's me!

Wow, a milking machine AND concrete? Tres chic!

I just milk by hand in the pasture. Thinking of tying my Jersey up at the wash rack we made for the horses. That way when she gets antsy and starts to paw with her front feet, she won't be able to kick dust all over her freshly washed udder.

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"Perhaps I'll have them string a clothesline from the hearse I am in, with my underwear waving in the breeze, as we drive to the cemetary. People worry about the dumbest things!"
by Wendy

Isn't it amazing how much manure those little ladies can make when they get antsy while waiting on you to finish up. You either keep shoveling that high-dollar feed to them or get quacomole on the floor and ground all around you.

Great looking milk setup!

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Francismilker

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" James 5:16