Milking machine

[jamesfamilyfarm]

I am getting ready to start milking my first milk cow. After a great deal of searching I finally have one and she is due any time. I would like to find an economical machine milker, but I feel somewhat ignorant. I don't want some piece of junk from China that won't last the season, but I don't want to spend a fortune. I am leery of the ebay experience and there just really isn't much on line for the small homesteader. I am wondering what everybody else does. I already milk goats by hand and by summer I will milking up to ten. I would love to find a milking machine that will do both. I stopped at an Amish dairy and they use their goat milker for their cows and vice versa, yet I always see them sold seperately. Any advice or leads would be greatly appreciated. Someone also said that all you really need is an air compressor, and that you really don't need the pump unit at all. Hmmm...

[BlueHeronFarm]

You can absolutely use one milker for both. You may just need different claws.
I know a lot of people put together their own systems to save money, but we are probably going to go ahead and get a system from Caprine Supply. When we get our Dexter, we'll use it on her, too.

But if you go over to dairygoatinfo.com there are people with different systems who can probably help you.

[R.Adams]

We have a setup to milk 2 goats at once and use it on our cow as well. You won't need seperate claws if you have 4 individual ones for your goats you'll be able to do a cow quite easily. Our vacuum pump is an old surge pump about 50 years old but still works great. We bought ours off e-bay but they are getting very hard to find now days. It is very quiet and never fails us. Heres the number of a guy that puts together a nice cheap vacuum system for milking 1 cow or 2 goats at a time. His name is Chris 1-800-570-1130. If you go to this link you can see a picture of his system.

http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php?topic=108.0

[Teacupliz]

Just do not buy the hoegger system the goats tip buckets and rush the machine with milk- and it is not strong enough to do the cow buckets. I lost a lot of money on that mistake-
I got a OLD cow vaccum pump- it does have some trouble on COLD days like today
-15 but most of the time it is great. I use it for the goats also. milking about 11 cows and 16 goats this year.

Liz in NY

[savinggrace]

I started out hand milking-because I wanted to become proficient that way I would not be dependant upon a machine that may or may not fail. Plus I learned a great deal about what's normal; my cow's milk flow patterns ect.

This coming year I plan to treat myself to a reconditioned single cow set up with a portable vacuum pump. I have two extra surge buckets that way one will always be available as back up. Originally I thought I would assemble my own set up piece by piece and save money.

Hambydairysupply and portablemilkers.com both sell reconditioned set ups which have warrenties and are significantly less expensive than a brand new set up ($1800-2600!)

Best of Luck!

[Tom McLaughlin]

I've found the price a few years ago at E-Zee Milking, Gordonville, Pa. Helpful people.

[francismilker]

I can relate to you not wanting a bad ebay experience. I had one myself last year and if it weren't for the helpful advice of UpNorth and TulleyJohn, it still wouldn't work. Whatever you do, don't buy an older Universal brand milker. Mine works great, but there's virtually no parts to be found for it. On the ebay issue though, there's a seller on ebay that sells something that is labeled as a "complete portable cow milker". The guy is from Louisianna and is very friendly over the phone and has a lot of good pictures of his complete product including vacuum supply for only $695 I think.
On the issue of using on milker to milk both cows or goats. I'm sure it will work. You might want to ask some of the more experienced on the board about the amount of vacuum needed for both animal's teats. I'm pretty sure a different pressure is needed for each animal to prevent udder damage.

[sammyd]

The older Universal vacuum pumps were painted red. One of the quietest pumps ever made. But alas, no longer supported in the parts area.
The newer blue ones by masport should still have parts available. And are fairly quiet when compared to DeLaval or BouMatic.
I picked one up for 100 bucks this summer (with balance tank attatched), and a bucket with an old Universal claw for another 100. Found a newer Tidal Flow claw with shells and weights for 65. (can you tell I used to deal in Universal?)
All I need is new hoses, inflations, and bearings for the pump.
Hit those auctions!

I would normally say to run vacuum betwen 13 and 10 inches maybe for a cow on a bucket. Depends on the claw, shells, and pulsator. You might have to crank it up a bit if it's single shot pulsation where all 4 quarters milk at the same time.
I used to set up pipelines to run around 9 at the teat end during a good milk flow through the hose which usually meant 15 inches at the pump. But that is modern equipment and pulsation.

[BeltieBandit]

We bought our milking machine from a home dealer in LA, and have been very happy with it. Our milk cow died a while back, so we aren't using it at the moment. It cost around $900, and was rebuilt, with all new actuaters and rubber. I can probably dig up his number, although he is probably still on EBAY, which is where we found him.

[Rick Allen]

I built a light weight portable for myself recently. The one I built has a new 1 HP vacuum pump, aluminum vacuum tank, can be moved easily by one person, and can milk 2 cows and up to 4 goats at the same time. I'd be willing to do one for you if you're interested in one with new components. New components are more expensive then an old unit but if you're not a tinkerer its the best way to go. All you have to do is plug it in and you can expect to get years of service without any trouble. My email is utilitiesprocessing@ci.lexington.va.us
God Bless /Rick Allen

[mamalisa]

I bought a reconditioned Surge set up from portablemilkers.com. Wonderful machine, I love it!