Mobile Milkhouse - Which one?

[TroutRiver]

OK guys. I need help choosing which camper to convert into my mobile milkhouse. I hope to get started on the project this weekend. These are my 2 choices (I can have either one for free) :

# 1



I would remove this table, and the benches would be my 2 milking stanchions.


I would build a wall on the far side of the stove to hide the vacuum pump


directly across from the stove:


What I like about this one:
all linoleum floors, no carpets.
clean, working refridgerator

What I don't like:
Door doesn't close
lower ceilings, not a lot of room to move around


# 2





3 or 4 milking stanchions would be built here, with goats facing the wall, standing on the bench


This is where the vacuum pump would be (mattress will be removed)


What I like about this one:
bigger, more spacious
capacity for more goats to be milked at once
bigger bathroom that could be used for cleaning equipment

What I don't like:
some carpets that would need to be torn out
vacuum pump would be right next to the door

So, both have their ups and downs, but right now I am leaning toward #2. What do you all think?

[mammabooh]

I really don't think either of them would be a good idea. There really is no way to sanitize them. From my experience, most campers are made out of thin plywood that will warp and rot when the least little bit of moisture is introduced. Just think of all of the crevices where mold would grow.

[Oat Bucket Farm]

As long as you put in linoleum and put up that walling they have for milk rooms and such, I think #2 would work the best.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Mammabooh, we had talked about it earlier, and I think he's lining it with washable wall board and sealing seams.

I vote for #2.

[CaliannG]

#2, definitely. Linoleum is cheap, but you can't make a small one larger.

[TroutRiver]

Unfortunately, I don't have a barn (there used to be a barn on my property, but it collapsed last winter, fortunately no animals were inside when it fell) so it's either this, or milk outside, or in a big tent (tried that last summer, did not work). Building a barn is way out of my price range right now, but we are hoping to rebuild the fallen barn in the future if we decide to stay here. Won't happen this year.

I do plan to put a drain in the floor, and any area that is likely to get wet will be waterproof and washable.

[Minelson]

Sounds like a great idea! I vote for #2 because it seems bigger is...um..better!

[Backfourty,MI.]

I vote for #2 too! You always want to go bigger cause you can always use the extra space for something later.

[TroutRiver]

Well, it's looking like I'll probably be taking #2 home on Friday morning. I do like that it's so much bigger.

Now to source cheap linoleum... and lots of it.

[Backfourty,MI.]

It will be nice for you to get it home, set up & start working on it. I bet your excited.
What about discontinued Linoleum at one of the home stores you have near you?

[TroutRiver]

Called a store yesterday and they said if I am willing to take smaller pieces (ends of rolls and such, not big enough to cover a room of a house, but probably big enough to cover sections of the camper) they will sell it super cheap. Looks like I'll be taking a trip over there this weekend

I've been looking into regulations a little more, and I think it would be very difficult (not impossible, but very difficult) to have this camper inspected as a dairy facility. I'll probably just do the best I can, and it won't be inspected. But I still want it to look clean and professional. I am very excited to get started

[Laura Workman]

From what I've seen, you could make this work as a licensed milking parlor. Maybe you could get the other one, too, and make it into the dairy.

[nehimama]

Camper as milkroom = I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!!

[Patrick]

I agree. I haven't kept up with the requirements for a grade A dairy in recent years, but I don't think that it would take much to strip the interior walls, place PVC sheets, and linoleum on the floor to make it amenable to easier disinfecting. It might be hard to get it so that you can hose it out without eventual seepage into the walls and floor, but there are other ways of cleaning and disinfecting. For a home milk room, it would be way better than the sanitary conditions in most barns. It can be heated obviously, and you already have plumbing and electricity installed. If it were on my property, I'd be concerned about it making the place look like a trailer park, but I've seen small barns made out of mobile homes that have been dressed up on the outside, and you'd never know it. You could do the same.

[Oat Bucket Farm]

I agree with Patrick. While you are giving it a facelift on the inside, don't forget to dress up the outside.

[Pony]

I love this idea! How absolutely marvelous!

Patrick and Oatie make a good point: Once you get the inside spiffed and sealed, a coat of paint for the outside would be a good idea.

Read an article a while back about a woman who read and analyzed her local health dept requirements for a licensed milking parlor. She wound up knowing the code better than the inspector, and found that it was not all that difficult to get licensed. So, if that's something you'd like down the road, you may want to look into it.

Also, have you considered what you'll use to seal? I'm wondering if a coat of Thompson's Water Seal would be helpful... Have some friends who use that stuff for just about everything (including their camping tents!) and they swear by it.

Good luck, and please share pics when you're done!

[francismilker]

I'm with mamabooth. That's gonna be a rolling case of bacteria and disease. The stuff you're talking about lining it with is called "Bath Board" or "Sanitary Board". While it works grreat in wet environments, it's not designed to take a bath everyday to properly sanitize. There's a reason the folks at the lumber yard call it "buckle board"!

To each his/her own. I just think it's a bad, bad, bad idea.