Alfa leval update

Henry3901

New Member
hi we've got a 20 year old Alfa 5/10 swing over , we're thinking about doubling it up to make a 10/10 to save time milking . ideally we'd like to find a used similar parlour to uses as a donor , does anyone know where the best place to source one would be ?
 
Benn there, done that, well, sort of.

We had a 6:12 with enough length to put an extra unit in, we doubled up to a 14:14 but it never lived up to expectations.
We have since put a new 16:32 parlour in which will milk twice as quick as the 14:14 but does take a bit longer to wash down.

Anyway, my advice from experience is that if at all possible go longer rather than double up, I know exactly how you feel right now, you're hoping to reduce milking time for little cost and disturbance. It won't cost you a lot to do what you want but I don't think it will gain you a lot either, it depends what your long term plans are.

Best place to find second hand parlours advertised is Farmers Guardian although finding an exact match for what you want may take a while.
 
Benn there, done that, well, sort of.

We had a 6:12 with enough length to put an extra unit in, we doubled up to a 14:14 but it never lived up to expectations.
We have since put a new 16:32 parlour in which will milk twice as quick as the 14:14 but does take a bit longer to wash down.

Anyway, my advice from experience is that if at all possible go longer rather than double up, I know exactly how you feel right now, you're hoping to reduce milking time for little cost and disturbance. It won't cost you a lot to do what you want but I don't think it will gain you a lot either, it depends what your long term plans are.
.

I never understand why doubling up doesn't save time? Surely it must? Any idea how much you did save per milking when you did do it. The logic I suppose is you could double up to 10/10 then you just need the stallwork to move up to a 10/20 in th future, therefore spreading the cost with a half way house on the way? Or is it the cost of installation that makes that expensive?
 

ste

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Derbyshire
I never understand why doubling up doesn't save time? Surely it must? Any idea how much you did save per milking when you did do it. The logic I suppose is you could double up to 10/10 then you just need the stallwork to move up to a 10/20 in th future, therefore spreading the cost with a half way house on the way? Or is it the cost of installation that makes that expensive?

Think its down to the actual prep and dip time, plus the time taken to get the cows in and out, that takes the same whether you double the units or not. At least in a say 16/32 your clusters are in use while the other side is dipped, replaced and prep'd
 
I never understand why doubling up doesn't save time? Surely it must? Any idea how much you did save per milking when you did do it. The logic I suppose is you could double up to 10/10 then you just need the stallwork to move up to a 10/20 in th future, therefore spreading the cost with a half way house on the way? Or is it the cost of installation that makes that expensive?
In a swing over as soon as a cluster comes off its available to go on a cow on the other side.
In a double up you have to wait for every cow in the row to finish milking and exit the parlour before you can let another row in.
Doubling up will save some time but no where near as much as people hope,
 

Scholsey

Member
Location
Herefordshire
hi we've got a 20 year old Alfa 5/10 swing over , we're thinking about doubling it up to make a 10/10 to save time milking . ideally we'd like to find a used similar parlour to uses as a donor , does anyone know where the best place to source one would be ?

where are you? got a alfa 16/16 sat gathering dust.
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
hi we've got a 20 year old Alfa 5/10 swing over , we're thinking about doubling it up to make a 10/10 to save time milking . ideally we'd like to find a used similar parlour to uses as a donor , does anyone know where the best place to source one would be ?

How many cows could you milk with the acres you have.
How many cows do you see yourself milking in 10 years time?
How much room do you to fit a parlour in?
Are you high yielding low yielding
Grazing or housed
2x or 3x a day milking.

So many questions before making any decsions or commitments to "ripping" anything out.
 

Henry3901

New Member
I'd love to say rip it out and put a new one in , but we are currently milking 80 cows and just doesn't seem viable taking up a big investment like a parlour on the current climate, we've got room to put an extra unit in , so we could got to a 12/12 , but lengthening it anymore would mean a lot more work eg moving walls ect . I agree that doubling up doesn't save a great deal of time , but It will surely at least quater are milking time ? We are based in Devon
 

Henry3901

New Member
Unfortunately when the old man put the parlour in he didn't think of the future , but after having to buy milk quota , didn't have the cash to go bigger !! Yeah well this is the problem we will never be able to milk more than 100 without renting land in , it not just the parlour if we were to go bigger than that it would mean spending money else where lagoon exstention , more cubicles ect so a big investment seems stupid to me , were 2 times a day on average yield .
 

awkward

Member
Location
kerry ireland
fooled around here for years with small parlour. wasted many hours thinking we couldn't afford it. look around pick ur site and build shed and collecton yard second hand parlours are plentyfull. extra time then to improve management and other jobs getting overlooked
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
Unfortunately when the old man put the parlour in he didn't think of the future , but after having to buy milk quota , didn't have the cash to go bigger !! Yeah well this is the problem we will never be able to milk more than 100 without renting land in , it not just the parlour if we were to go bigger than that it would mean spending money else where lagoon exstention , more cubicles ect so a big investment seems stupid to me , were 2 times a day on average yield .

He's not the only one.
 

awkward

Member
Location
kerry ireland
fooled around here for years with small parlour. wasted many hours thinking we couldn't afford it. look around pick ur site and build shed and collecton yard second hand parlours are plentyfull. extra time then to improve management and other jobs being overlooked


edit. the beauty of slow internet
 
Last edited:

jimmer

Member
Location
East Devon
are you side leg milking ?

we were side leg milking 10 aside , we had room to bring the cows around a bit and got 12 in each

if you say you have room for another on the back , have a look and see if you have room for another on the front , if you can angle them a bit and back leg milk you could nearly get 9 or 10 a side , an 8/16 would see you milk and wash up in an hour and a half (y)
 

Henry3901

New Member
yeah we are side leg milking , and there could be space for one extra unit upfront , might have to consider the options abit more before jumping in
 

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