MC	Posted 07-28-2002 at 14:54:36       [Reply]  [Send Email] Is there anyone out there using an old surge bucket milker, sometimes called a belly milker to milk the family cow? I've got a few questions for you....
Donna W.	Posted 07-28-2002 at 15:10:26       [Reply]  [Send Email] I used bucket milkers for the last 5 years or so that I milked. I just recently sold them at an auction. I'll be glad to answer any questions, if I can.
MC	Posted 07-28-2002 at 16:17:45       [Reply]  [No Email] Thanks Donna...First question...Should the inflations be dismantled after each milking? How is the best way to remove the inflations from the lid? I can't believe how hard they are to remove. How often should the pulsator be oiled? Thanks for your help.
Donna W	Posted 07-28-2002 at 16:31:48       [Reply]  [Send Email] I didn't always take the inflations out of the stainless steel cups that they fit into. Have you tried putting a little cooking oil on the place where you attach the rubber? Seems like I recall doing that to make them come off easier. I agree, they do stick on that lid! I don't think I had any kind of schedule for oiling the pulsator. Maybe I should have, but I think I just oiled it "every once in awhile". I do recall that the pulsator would get sorta "draggy", and then I'd oil it and it would speed right up. We didn't really have anybody to teach us, so we learned by experience. I know you don't want to leave the milkers on the cow too long. That can cause mastitis. Remove them as soon as the cow's done milking.
JoeK	Posted 07-28-2002 at 16:51:44       [Reply]  [No Email] Technically milk sales standards would require complete dissassembly washing and sterilyzing with approved solutions.However even farmers take shortcuts at times.As I recall yrs ago,lid assemblys(less pulsators)and buckets were hot water and disinfectant rinsed after evening milking and "completely"broken down and washed/sterilyzed after morning milking.Grip inflation just beyond lid nipple and twist and pull,they will loosen up with age.Pulsators should make a rythmic,tock,tock,tock,tock sound.Anytime you notice variance such as slowing,stopping it is time to oil.Do not overoil,it will gum them up.Pop used to disassemble and clean pulsators 3-4 times a yr.They accumulate oil/dust/moisture from inside inflation shells and leakage past lid valve pin.
Jerry S	Posted 07-30-2002 at 14:32:27       [Reply]  [No Email] Not to start something but just a note, the inflations seal well enough that dismantling them isn't necessary on a daily basis. You basically don't need to take them out until they loose that seal which is easy to tell when that happens. Usually the inflation cracks from age and use so you get some milk inside the vacuum line then you need to clean it out. The land grant college I went to handled theirs on a periodic changout basis for new inflations. My parents just change them when they show wear. They have as clean of milk as anybody I know of. More notes for the original question, you want to make sure you feel the inflation below the stainless housing to tell when your milking is done. You get more milk from hindquarters than the front so keep that in mind. Overmilking doesn't cause mastitis. Mastitis is a bacterial infection of the mammary tissue but overmilking can sure pull blood into the milk making it easier to get the infection. You also should sanitize the teats with either an iodine or dilute chlorine solution before milking and iodine is best for after milking. That is to help keep the incidence of Staph or Strep from causing the mastitis plus also helps your milk last a little longer in the 'fridge. Always always get at least one strip of milk out of each quarter after you sanitize the teats before milking. That takes many of the bacteria that were in the teat out and you also know right off if you have mastitis and if you do, which quarter(s) it is. Hope this helps you.
MC	Posted 07-28-2002 at 17:08:29       [Reply]  [No Email] Thanks for your input, Joe. My thoughts and complete admiration go out to folks like your dad. I can only imagine how hard it must have been to milk a whole herd of cows with the old bucket milkers. To keep lifting and pouring those full buckets of milk into the cooling tank must have been back breaking work, to say the least!! However, I suppose it must have seemed like heaven after milking a whole herd by hand!! Hats off to your dad and all the other dairy folks of that generation!!!
JoeK	Posted 07-28-2002 at 17:49:43       [Reply]  [No Email] Back in childhood memory(60s)we milked appx 30 head twice a day with 2 Surge milkers.At that time milk was strained into 100lb milkcans which were then placed in a spring fed stone and concrete cooling tank,After following morning milking,cans(10-12) were loaded in the pickup and hauled about 3 mi to dairy and unloaded where they were emptied,cleaned,reloaded and hauled home.By the early 70s it became 40 head and 16-18 cans a day.After barn fire in 73 rebuilt with 4 Surge Units, step-saver system and bulk tank(45 head).At least with the upgrade you only handled the milk once instead of 6-7 times.
MC	Posted 07-28-2002 at 16:42:30       [Reply]  [No Email] The cooking oil is a great idea...I'll give it a try. Did you find that the milker would milk out the cow, or would you have to strip her by hand after you removed the milker? Thanks a million for your help, Donna.
Donna W	Posted 07-28-2002 at 17:05:00       [Reply]  [Send Email] I would just milk one stream from each teat when I was done, to make sure I had the cow completely milked out. The machine did the job just fine. I also always milked a stream or 2 from each teat before putting the milkers on, and after washing the udder, just to check for mastitis, and to get the cow to let down her milk.