Value of lely a4 robots

[Enry]

All depends on your milk speed and how many visits you want really. We run 60-65 with no problems, average 10500 litres, 2.8 milk speed, 2.8 visits and ~10% free time. Might push more litres from some shy heifers if we dropped numbers but hard to argue against milking higher numbers to dilute the cost.

what sort of daily yield is that 32-33? Guy near here averaging 50 litres apparently - 35 cows on each robot. Hard to decide the sweet spot I guess, more cows, more forage, more slurry etc, vs more concs and less cows

 

[pappuller]

All depends on your milk speed and how many visits you want really. We run 60-65 with no problems, average 10500 litres, 2.8 milk speed, 2.8 visits and ~10% free time. Might push more litres from some shy heifers if we dropped numbers but hard to argue against milking higher numbers to dilute the cost.

Are you on rubber or silicone liners ? We aim for 2000kg/robot but milkspeed is 3.2 on rubber liners, 3 robots with 140 between them high yielders and a single doing 2000kg with 65 lows.

 

[More to life]

Labour.

How long does it take to wash a bot and fetch up no shows there zero difference

 

[yin ewe]

How long does it take to wash a bot and fetch up no shows there zero difference

20 minutes here am/pm on a very bad day. Bring late cows to pen at back of robot, go scrape and bed cubicles while waiting. Out of cow shed with all chores done in 30 minutes max. I appreciate that we have only 1 robot so the more you have the more time it would take, but the same applies in a parlour set up.
Also not tied to a time, not been out of the house yet this morning, how much roaring would be going on if they'd normally been milked at 6.30?

 

[Nathan818]

Are you on rubber or silicone liners ? We aim for 2000kg/robot but milkspeed is 3.2 on rubber liners, 3 robots with 140 between them high yielders and a single doing 2000kg with 65 lows.

The ones that you don't have to change as often

 

[Nathan818]

what sort of daily yield is that 32-33? Guy near here averaging 50 litres apparently - 35 cows on each robot. Hard to decide the sweet spot I guess, more cows, more forage, more slurry etc, vs more concs and less cows

Probably average that through the year, a bit below it this year with poor silage. Calve all year round but with most calving September to April so about 60 on each bot now but will increase as the year goes on and more heifers calve in. TB doesn't help things that way

 

[Farmer Keith]

How many litres will each one milk before it’s done? 10-15 years seems like the lifespan of them by the previous posts? 5million litres per bot a reasonable guesstimate?

 

[upnortheast]

How many litres will each one milk before it’s done? 10-15 years seems like the lifespan of them by the previous posts? 5million litres per bot a reasonable guesstimate?

Our 2 been in since 2009. over 1m litres a year so each on about 7.5m litres each.
Structure is stainless so last for "ever"
Components get changed as necessary & are still readily available.
Thinking 20 years might be decision time.
just thinking -
Say cost £200,000 Produce 20 m litres
Assuming worth nowt at 20 years that works out at 1p litre depreciation.
Think I`ve got the right number of 0 in the sum ?

 

[Farmer Keith]

Our 2 been in since 2009. over 1m litres a year so each on about 7.5m litres each.
Structure is stainless so last for "ever"
Components get changed as necessary & are still readily available.
Thinking 20 years might be decision time.
just thinking -
Say cost £200,000 Produce 20 m litres
Assuming worth nowt at 20 years that works out at 1p litre depreciation.
Think I`ve got the right number of 0 in the sum ?

That’s answers my question and you’ve done the math! They’ll be almost worthless at 20 years old mind, would £300k replace them?

 

[pappuller]

The ones that you don't have to change as often

Silicone by the sounds

 

[nonemouse]

That’s answers my question and you’ve done the math! They’ll be almost worthless at 20 years old mind, would £300k replace them?

@upnortheast figures sound about right to me, not priced new robots properly for couple of years but would guess you should get 2 new ones for under £300k. Remember if upgrading to new robots some of the old robot equipment would not necessarily need swapping. Segregation gates, heat detection collars, tube/plate coolers, feed augers, maybe even compressors would move to the new robots.
The grants for robots make the maths work a lot easier. Our robot, bought 2010, cost under 60k after grant.
How much depreciation would there be on a 10 or 20 year old milking parlour?

 

[yin ewe]

@upnortheast figures sound about right to me, not priced new robots properly for couple of years but would guess you should get 2 new ones for under £300k. Remember if upgrading to new robots some of the old robot equipment would not necessarily need swapping. Segregation gates, heat detection collars, tube/plate coolers, feed augers, maybe even compressors would move to the new robots.
The grants for robots make the maths work a lot easier. Our robot, bought 2010, cost under 60k after grant.
How much depreciation would there be on a 10 or 20 year old milking parlour?

About 140k for a single robot last year so I'd say less than 250k for a double.

 

[Grassman247]

Our 2 been in since 2009. over 1m litres a year so each on about 7.5m litres each.
Structure is stainless so last for "ever"
Components get changed as necessary & are still readily available.
Thinking 20 years might be decision time.
just thinking -
Say cost £200,000 Produce 20 m litres
Assuming worth nowt at 20 years that works out at 1p litre depreciation.
Think I`ve got the right number of 0 in the sum ?

Our 20/40 swing over was so put in around 2002, done 50 million litres. Sold last year for 25k

from memory cost 250k max at the time for parlour, feeders, bin, building and concrete.
Half a penny depreciation if my maths is right. Didn’t have any breakdowns in that time either.

 

[Farmer Keith]

They’ve seem of been insulated from the inflation we’ve seen in equipment prices elsewhere to be fair, I feel like they were that kind of money 10 years ago. They will make as much sense financially as they’ve ever done given that wages have risen from £8 an hour to £15 in the same space of time?

Beauty of a 20 year old milking parlour is you could spend a little on it and it’ll have another decade or so in it without having to replace the whole thing. Refitting our 11/22 in the next few months for just over £20k. Granted I’ll still have to stand in it 2x a day.

 

[nonemouse]

They’ve seem of been insulated from the inflation we’ve seen in equipment prices elsewhere to be fair, I feel like they were that kind of money 10 years ago. They will make as much sense financially as they’ve ever done given that wages have risen from £8 an hour to £15 in the same space of time?

Beauty of a 20 year old milking parlour is you could spend a little on it and it’ll have another decade or so in it without having to replace the whole thing. Refitting our 11/22 in the next few months for just over £20k. Granted I’ll still have to stand in it 2x a day.

They are all just ways of getting milk out of cows, you pays your money and takes your choice. I like robots, but they don’t suit everybody. Everybodies situation is different. When I did the figures for putting our robot in, I was budgeting against either selling all the cows or putting robot in and keeping a few less cows. I’m pleased with how things have worked out and the cows have turned a profit despite turbulent milk prices, in the last 14 years.

 

[Farmer Keith]

They are all just ways of getting milk out of cows, you pays your money and takes your choice. I like robots, but they don’t suit everybody. Everybodies situation is different. When I did the figures for putting our robot in, I was budgeting against either selling all the cows or putting robot in and keeping a few less cows. I’m pleased with how things have worked out and the cows have turned a profit despite turbulent milk prices, in the last 14 years.

We looked into it in 2010 here and it didn’t suit the farm layout so that was that really, we could of gone all housed but a fair proportion of the land here isn’t cuttable so that wasn’t an option. I think they were talking £130k for the first one and £95k for the second at the time.

 

[In the pit]

Our 20/40 swing over was so put in around 2002, done 50 million litres. Sold last year for 25k

from memory cost 250k max at the time for parlour, feeders, bin, building and concrete.
Half a penny depreciation if my maths is right. Didn’t have any breakdowns in that time either.

So that 20/40 is still having cows milked through it then

 

[Grassman247]

So that 20/40 is still having cows milked through it then

It will be when they install in, tbh it probably would of done another 20 years was in mint condition

 

[deere 6600]

There is no question modern parlours make milking cows a lot easier and quicker and some people myself included when I did milk cows. Many years ago actually like being in the parlour plus the grazing thing is probably easier but robots defo suit some

 

[nonemouse]

Many years ago actually like being in the parlour plus the grazing thing is probably easier

Grazing can work very well with robots, it’s just you need there to access to grazing platform at all times, so can’t cope with road crossings etc