Author Topic: Milking machine for goats  (Read 16128 times)

Offline george13

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Milking machine for goats
« on: February 14, 2011, 09:01:31 PM »
I have read some of the earlier posts regarding milking machines for goats, and I was wondering if there are some recent recommendations as to which machines are recommended for milking two goats at a time.  I would prefer a portable unit that runs on electric.  I am located in New York, if anyone has more local details.
thanks

Oberhasli

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Re: Milking machine for goats
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2011, 12:37:08 AM »
Hi George,

I milk my goats by hand, but there are a couple of goat supply places such as Hoegger's and Caprine Supply that do sell machines for milking two at a time. I have dealt with both companies over the years and they are very friendly and helpful to talk to.  The two goat bucket assembly from Caprine looked interesting and was more affordable.   Maybe you could find a goat dairy in your area that uses milking machines and see if they would give you some advice on what they use. 

Good Luck.

Bonnie

saanengirl

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Re: Milking machine for goats
« Reply #2 on: April 04, 2011, 06:18:22 PM »
The Hoegger machine may be more expensive, but it is the easiest machine to use, particularly for clean-up. The Hoegger machine can be set up to milk one or two goats at a time. It is designed as a belly pail so there are essentially no lines to clean. The pail is small enough to fit in a kitchen dishwasher. It is designed to be machine washable, making it much more user friendly. It is also very light-weight and portable. You can view the machine here: http://www.hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=3600&cat=184&page=1

JAyton

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Re: Milking machine for goats
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2011, 08:09:55 PM »
Hi, I am milking 12 does in our dairy and we LOVE the Hoeggers 2 goat machine. We started with another machine that just couldn't do the work (used). Hoeggers has awesome customer service and I would recommend this machine to anyone.
For us, we have to empty the pails every 2nd goat but it's not difficult. It cleans up every well and our mandatory bacteria counts (monthly) are better than excellent.
It is expensive but if you are using it twice a day, every day, the quality is worth it.
Jaki

Offline george13

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Re: Milking machine for goats
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2011, 01:07:41 AM »
Just out of curiosity, if you are using a two goat machine, do you need a double milking stand, or do you milk on the ground.
Thanks

jackdag

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Re: Milking machine for goats
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2011, 10:36:19 AM »
Visit us at www.triplejmanufacturing.com we have goat milking machine

Milk Made Farm

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Re: Milking machine for goats
« Reply #6 on: June 03, 2012, 12:36:43 PM »
Parts Dept online makes great machines.  I had a hoeggers and while it was great for a few goats once we got past that number it was a pain in the butt.

TraditionalGoats

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Re: Milking machine for goats
« Reply #7 on: June 03, 2012, 02:48:23 PM »
Hi,

I have a Babson/Surge vac system.  I use belly milkers and can milk 2 goats into 1 bucket.  I can set up a total of 6 goats to be milked on this system. 

It can be built with used equipment pretty easily although I would recommend goat shells and liners if possible. 

I can't post pics of what I have since I have temporally lost my camera cable to the computer but here are some pics and you can probably find what you need pretty easily:

Here is a link to the basic system I have:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPLETE-PORTABLE-MILKER-BUCKET-DUAL-GOAT-SHEEP-MILKING-MACHINE-PUMP-MILK-COW-/251074462828?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7534446c#ht_1826wt_698

This person lives near me so I brought up my parts and he set everything up. 

I bought a vac pump and had it put on wheels.  It was in good condition, heavy but it does move!  It is a 3/4 hp machine.  That was $250 locally--didn't have to ship it!

I use the Surge belly milkers, you can probably find them on craigslist or on some old dairy farms.  Here I can get them for about $35 each.  You may need to buy lids and pulsators, not sure how much they are.  A rebuild kit is $45 for each milker.  I have the instructions to rebuild if you need them.  I can copy and send them to you.

Milk line and air line can be bought at most fleet farm stores or dairy supplies.

My milkers have shut off valves on the hoses, like in the second pic on the ebay ad. 

The main reason I chose this set up over the others is that it allowed me to milk more than 2 animals at a time (although my goats have not yet agreed to this set up so we are at 2 animals at a time), and I can also milk my cows and sheep on it without having to do much, just different belly milker pails for the different animals.

I am changing over to the tall bucket system until I can one day get a real dairy parlor and pipe system.  In the winter it is difficult to carry the belly buckets over the snow drifts!

It is easy to clean up and all in all I have liked it.  Since I had everything from the start, it cost about $500 to get the thing put together--pump on wheels, cleaned, and set up properly, all milker buckets cleaned, rebuilt pulsators, new lines, airhoses, inflations. 

Tracy

PS:  If you do get belly milkers, make sure you don't have the kind that have a seam in them. They can collect more dirt and yuck and are in general, not safe.

TraditionalGoats

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Re: Milking machine for goats
« Reply #8 on: June 03, 2012, 02:52:50 PM »
Forgot to add:

I am upgrading what I have with this unit:

http://goatsupplies.netfirms.com/milking%20supplies.html

Claw, Classic ITP205 

And I prefer the silicone liners over the rubber ones. 

Inflations, #300 Silicone--normal goat size, get smaller if you milk dwarf or sheep

You can use these shells but I stuck with the stainless ones:  Shell, Clear Plastic
#302

Tracy

rlampton

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Re: Milking machine for goats
« Reply #9 on: June 11, 2012, 07:56:57 PM »
I just listed an electric goat milker that I made...on Ebay.

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/160822002598?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

just copy and paste this link.

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Milking machine for goats
« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2012, 05:53:53 PM »
I was referred to a farmer in PA who said he got some sort of electric controller for the pulsator and sets it differently for goats.  He said that although most pulsators are set for 40-60 pulses per minute (calf speed)that if you watched a kid suckle you'd see more like 90 sucks per minute.  They set the pulsator for 90 /min and lower the suction down to 7 or 9.  ( I can't remember which now). He says it works much better for goats to do it this way.