Milking 600 cows in one hour
King Country farmer Shane Ardern has never been afraid to be a bit different.
So says the maker, GEA Technology.
The company cites the example of farmers Trevor and Harriet Hamilton who own and manage T H Enterprises Ltd, with five dairy farms in Canterbury and four in the North Island. Their farm conversions total 3000ha and 9000 cows on nine farms, and they have a 570ha drystock unit.
Hamilton's first experience with GEA Milfos was 11 years ago, when he had a 60-point rotary installed at Dunsandel, Canterbury.
"At that time, we had Stockers (the GEA Milfos service partner in Canterbury) servicing our other rotary dairies and I was happy with their service so went with their recommendation. But this platform had steel rollers with a steel wear strip.
"Two years ago, we chose the iFlow for a 60-point in Darfield and have since added an 80-point on our farm in Hawke's Bay milking 1550 cows.
"I went with iFlow because it was designed with low maintenance running components. I liked how quietly it ran and also was impressed by the reduced point loading offered by the multiple nylon rollers in the double beam carriage system."
iFlow consists of a reinforced concrete deck on a raised plinth. The milking machine is mounted under the platform, physically protected and easily accessible for maintenance, GEA Milfoss says.
Under the platform is a double beam carriage roller system. Heavy duty nylon rollers sit between the upper and lower beams of the concrete platform, with tensioners maintaining correct roller alignment. One roller every 600mm ensures even distribution of the platform weight.
The use of nylon rollers means no wear strip is required and lubrication is automatic.
Hamilton says he understands the iFlow platform has the least loading per roller by far.
"This, with the no-bearing nylon roller system guarantees many years use with little wear. I recommend it based on [it needing] a lot less maintenance, no steel-on-steel wear, no oily mess and no bearings. And we like the reduced point-loading roller design.
"We've had no issues with the iFlow to date. We have the basic system with no automation. Yet, it runs quietly and is pretty much trouble-free compared to our other steel-on-steel platforms which suffer heavy wear and tear even when well oiled."
