Learning to milk again

[Jasper]

Recently while on holiday I got talking to a farmer and he’s just put a new rotary in which he’s very pleased with anyway he told me to come and have a look at milking time which I did then he said put some units on but I found it really difficult because there is a bar which the unit is attached to that comes up right behind the udder 45 years of milking cows didn’t help me at all and I really struggled he showed me how to do it and he made it look real easy he did it by putting the two front cups on at the same time and then the back two . Does it take much getting used to ?

 

[FonterraFarmer]

Recently while on holiday I got talking to a farmer and he’s just put a new rotary in which he’s very pleased with anyway he told me to come and have a look at milking time which I did then he said put some units on but I found it really difficult because there is a bar which the unit is attached to that comes up right behind the udder 45 years of milking cows didn’t help me at all and I really struggled he showed me how to do it and he made it look real easy he did it by putting the two front cups on at the same time and then the back two . Does it take much getting used to ?

I was in a similar situation a few years ago but found in my situation the original De Laval clusters were my problem and soon as they were changed I didn't have any issues.
Tangentially, I drove though Jasper today too!!!

 

[Bald Rick]

Milking cows s a young man’s/woman’s game. No one over 50 should go near a cluster especially on a rotary

Run away very fast

 

[Jdunn55]

Milking cows s a young man’s/woman’s game. No one over 50 should go near a cluster especially on a rotary

Run away very fast

Grandad milked until the cows went, would have been about 75!

 

[Wee Willy]

I knew a man who milked 500 in a h/bone until the week before he died in his 80's. He always came out of the pit with only the whites of his eyes visible as he couldn't move fast enough when cows sh!t.

 

[vantage]

I knew a man who milked 500 in a h/bone until the week before he died in his 80's. He always came out of the pit with only the whites of his eyes visible as he couldn't move fast enough when cows sh!t.

That’s really made me laugh today, well done!

 

[Conrod96]

Granda is 84 and still in the milking parlour every morning here

 

[happycows]

Milking cows s a young man’s/woman’s game. No one over 50 should go near a cluster especially on a rotary

Run away very fast

Really! After a 15 year sabbatical from putting on clusters I’m really enjoying it to the point I would rather milk than do pretty much anything else.
I’m not quite 50 yet but I’d be delighted at being left to putting on clusters for hour and half either end of the day till retirement.

 

[Keep On]

Milking cows s a young man’s/woman’s game. No one over 50 should go near a cluster especially on a rotary

Run away very fast

Nonsense! 60year old lady relief milks here no problem

 

[Blue.]

My grandad milked every morning for my uncle till he was 79,my uncle didn’t realise how good he had it,my dad’s coming up 77 and hasn’t milked for 22 years.

 

[Bald Rick]

Really! After a 15 year sabbatical from putting on clusters I’m really enjoying it to the point I would rather milk than do pretty much anything else.
I’m not quite 50 yet but I’d be delighted at being left to putting on clusters for hour and half either end of the day till retirement.

Nonsense! 60year old lady relief milks here no problem

On a rotary? Thought not …

 

[Jasper]

Milking cows s a young man’s/woman’s game. No one over 50 should go near a cluster especially on a rotary

Run away very fast

Why do you think this I’m 60 and I much prefer milking to bouncing around all day in a tractor i milk on a rotary at one farm and I don’t find it difficult at all when they’ve been busy or short staffed I’ve done three milkings in a row no problem for thee or four days but I much prefer night milking because it fits in well with my other work . The chap with the rotary puts all the old boys together when he goes away because he knows unless we die we are going to turn up. On the rotary I milk on the units go on normally no bar in the way

 

[kiwi pom]

On a rotary? Thought not …

You could argue milking a large number of cows in any parlour is a young person's job. If I had to milk a large number, I would much prefer a rotary to a herringbone though.
I can't decide whether these long milking shifts like some Americans do (there was a Scottish farm on FarmFlix recently doing the same) would be better or worse.
If it's all you did for 8-12 hours, you'd hit a realistic pace whereas when it's just another 2- or 3-hour job and off to something else you tend to rush.

Generally it's a young person's job because the older ones realise there's a better paid/easier way to make money.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Recently while on holiday I got talking to a farmer and he’s just put a new rotary in which he’s very pleased with anyway he told me to come and have a look at milking time which I did then he said put some units on but I found it really difficult because there is a bar which the unit is attached to that comes up right behind the udder 45 years of milking cows didn’t help me at all and I really struggled he showed me how to do it and he made it look real easy he did it by putting the two front cups on at the same time and then the back two . Does it take much getting used to ?

Hate that setup with a passion, as I have very little feeling in my right hand following a bad accident as a teenager, me cupping-on that way would simply be a recipe for folding over front right teats.

I wouldn't want to get used to it!

 

[Keep On]

On a rotary? Thought not …

Rotary

 

[Bald Rick]

Rotary

Fair enough

Personally I don't go within a 100 yards of the parlour .. too old, too slow and would be disruptive
Plus, my time is far better spent elsewhere

 

[Jasper]

Fair enough

Personally I don't go within a 100 yards of the parlour .. too old, too slow and would be disruptive
Plus, my time is far better spent elsewhere

I get what you’re saying 100% but unfortunately it’s the only kind of job that fits in with my other work I could get plenty of daytime work but because I’ve got my own stock to see to I would be unreliable in the evenings when mrs jasper is around to keep an eye on things it’s a different matter . And if she bloody well charged the kids board and lodgings I wouldn’t need to go milking .But that’s a different argument for another day

 

[Jdunn55]

where abouts are you? If you're near me I'll be looking for someone to do 1-3 milkings per week if you're interested. No need for any sort of rush just plod on at your own pace, as long as the cows are milked and happy, the milk is clean and the parlour is left clean I don't mind if it takes you an hour or 3

 

[FonterraFarmer]

Milking cows s a young man’s/woman’s game. No one over 50 should go near a cluster especially on a rotary

Run away very fast

Yeah nah, I actually quite enjoy it, the so called young people don't want to get their hands dirty or break a nail, and they want to rush the milking.
The secret is to slow the platform down to a comfortable speed and to tell anyone near you to feck off...
Its like the hare and tortoise, going slower gets the job done quicker.