Below are the 2 most recent journal entries recorded in amilo89parone's InsaneJournal:

Saturday, April 10th, 2010
2:49 am	small milk pumps We just recently went to a 30 gal pasteurizer with a gravity outlet to feed calves. After a long discussion about how to load the tank to take the milk to the calf barn, the cheap dad (me) won out and we ended up using 5 gal pails with lids. We took a cart frame and made a pail cart to pull behind the 4 wheeler. We were pailing off the milk from the tank to feed calves before anyway. Someday maybe a pump. Keep it cheap and easy to fix. Have a backup plan even if it is a bucket. If electric is a good option, simply get a commonly available milk transfer pump like used on a receiver of a pipeline. Half HP should be plenty but more importantly, get one your dealer stocks parts on. You should be able to find a good used one, or two. Then get or make a simple spray ball as long as you have the pump and use it to wash the system. Even if you add and drain water manually it is nice to have a pump and spray ball to do the washing. Dairy Farming We needed portability so we use a Honda pump purchased from Fleet Farm for a little over $400. We actually keep about 3 of them around plus some parts. We have that mounted on a frame with a 200 gallon tank in a JD Gator and transport as well as feed with it. I have it rigged up with Banjo type fittings and a spray ball in the pasteurizer as well as the tank on the Gator. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, April 9th, 2010
2:41 am	Useful info about dairy farming Manure spreaders have been used by generation of farmers around the world in order to properly manage and maintain their organic fertilizer systems. Since crop rotation and the mechanized devices such as tractors invaded the family farm, growing crops has never been the same. This article will attempt to explain some of the history of manure spreaders and how this simple machine changed history. History of Manure Spreaders It was during the Industrial Revolution that two farmers turned inventors from Ohio, USA developed the first working mechanical manure spreaders. Joseph Oppenheim and Henry Synck's new farming devices were so popular that they built a successful manufacturing company around it called the New Idea Spreader Works. The New Idea Company (under various owners and names) has made manure spreaders and other mechanized farming machines ever since and recently celebrated its 100 year old anniversary in 1999 as a division of the AGCO Corporation. Slurry or mucks normally come from swine or dairy farm operation where the livestock is housed over slatted floors and all animal wastes are washed down through the floors into holding pits. The pits are then pumped and slurry was then sprayed from manure spreader tankers with nozzles on back. Ironically called "honey wagons" by friends and enemies alike, these liquid manure spreaders are still being used for medium and large scale commercial farming operations. This manure spreader is a very high tech version of the old "spray and hope it stays" equipment of the past. Solid waste muck spreaders have either side or rear holding bins. Using a mechanical "shredder and spreader" device, manure is picked up from inside the holding bin, separated into smaller pieces and flung into the air to land on the surrounding ground. How Manure Spreaders Are Powered A tractor with a PTO uses a specially designed driveshaft to provide mechanical power for an attachment or separate farm machine. Ground-driven manure spreaders use a beater-driver that rolls along the surface of the ground and uses the momentum of the ATV or tractor to distribute the dried or partially dried manure. (Comment on this)