A UNIQUE MILKING MACHINE.

Shannon News, 9 October 1923, Page 3

A UNIQUE MILKING MACHINE.

CAN DEAL WITH FORTY-EIGHT COWS AT ONCE.

INSTALLED AT THE BOYS’ TRAINING FARM. W<lnai< is said to be the largest milking plant south o! the line has recently been installed at the Boys’ Training Farm, Weraroa, in a “Unity”, machine, which by a special extension, is capable oi' milking 48 cows a. one time, land which has a total length of 210 it.

, R is the intention at the Training Farm in i'utuire to milk between fifty and sixty cows, summer and winter, and during the winter - months these cows, which can be all bailed at once in the splendid concrete milking shed, will be led in the bails.. The object of the newly installed machines i s to permit of this being done satisfactorily, without it being necessary as it would be with a smaller plant, to turn thei cows out of the bail before they could complete their feed.' The principle of the installation, the idea of which was conceived by the ActingManager, Mr J. O’Donohue,, is simply an extension of the vacuum pipes and pulsator attachment of an ordinary six-cow plant, so .that when that nummer of cows at the top of the shec have been milked, the rubber pipes can be shifted along and a further six milked.

A bucket- plant will'be used as it is fbe intension, to weigh each cow’s milk separately for the purpose 01 herd . testing, and although, , : as has been mentioned, only six cows will he milked at-a time, the 3£ horsepower Anderson engine from which the motive power is derived is capable of operating the whole plant at once, it being only necessary to provide extra buckets if that is desired. In order to' save wear and tear on the working parts an arrangement of twoway cocks is provided which enables one half of the plant to be ptft out of operation as soon as the cows in that section are milked.

The plant which was installed by The Auckland Farmers’ Trading Co ; , is a remarkably simple and well-made piece of work. An inch and a-quarter heavy nickel-plated drawn-brass vacuum pipe runs the whole length of the shed, with the ordinary pulsator attnc.lmients between each two cows. Above this vacuum pipe is another hollow brass rod, also nickel plated operated from a central shaft with eccentric action. This rod operates sliding plates above the bucket attachment on the vacuum; tube and so- creates the 'pulstion which is- one of the principal features of up-to-date milking machines. With the exception of the central driving shaft every portion of the plant is made of nickel plateo brass and presents a. very handsotne and well-finished appearance.. The installation of a plant of this size has naturally created considerable interest locally, the Farm having been visited during the past, few days by numbers of local farmers. At the conclusion of the stud stock sale at the Central Development Farm a large number of visiting farmers and breeders also paid a visit of inspection, to the- Training Farm, for the special purpose of inspecting a plant- which in its way, is unique in the country. They were much impressed by what they saw. ■