Parlor # 001 - Dbl. 6 No-Brand
$29,500 - $2,500 per stall - or less
Very Sorry - No such thing!
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Technology For Agriculture LLC
1855-A West Davenport St., Rhinelander, WI 54501 | Rolf's Mobil 715-360-3660 * Fax 715-362-7595 |
Lets talk about very low cost milking parlors
As you can imagine we get regular inquiries about parlors for $40,000 and less. Very sorry, there's no such thing. These parlors just don't exist. - unless you build your own (which is somewhat like me getting my own cow, because butter and cheese are so expensive)
Problem being that you don't just buy the parlor. You need help, support and advice for many months. That help and support translates to overhead costs for us, which are exactly the same - darn high - for a dbl. 12 at $250,000 or a dbl. 4 for 25,000. You need help with:
- Which type of parlor
- Then on which size
- Dbl X with Lo-Line? or
- Dbl. X Swing Line?
- Or single X?
- And on what should come with it - or not
- On where to put it and how it might fit into your place, i.e do facility planning
- How much of your current equipment could be re-used?
- We go and see parlors just like it, and
- Make proposals to you with any number of revisions
When you have your estimates together, you go to the bank, which promptly turns you down. Keep in mind that we have to get at least five of you to that stage, hoping that one of you gets approved. Who pays for the time we invested in the other four?
If and when you do get the loan
- We meet with your subcontractors, several times
- Then we install the parlor and work with the other contractors along the way
- And assist you with start-up of milking
- We visit with you when things don't go quite as expected - and they never do
- and look after you under a warranty of 18 months
So, what about parlors for $35,000 and less?
- Keep an ear to the ground. There are an amazing number of empty parlors out there, parlors the owners would love to sell for $10,000 or $20,000. Some of them may even give it to you for free if you were just to take it out so he can use the building for something else. Check the regional papers.
- Build your own. Hit Google with 'Low Cost Parlors" and a bunch of sites come up with just that. The U of Wis has done a lot of good work on this. So has the U of Iowa.
- And yes, we have installed (1) dbl. 6 for $24,500 for Jed Court. Hell of a nice guy, barn burnt down, no place to turn. For us this was the only project like it in 40 years. We had the materials in inventory and there were no other orders on the schedule. Jed got lucky.....
Message to Prof. Dr. Kammel, Dr. Zen Miller and many others...
...University Extension Specialists trying to help small operators in the Upper Midwest, dairies who can't go on milking cows in stantion barns and can't afford commercially available parlors.
"We hear you loud and clear - there's a need for very low-cost parlors." It's just that we can't deliver them the way parlors are normally delivered - see above.
And then again, there may be a way:
- We'll make low cost parlors available, cookie-cutter style. All the same, just different sizes.
- We'll build ten at a time in the factory, pre-installed.
- You, the extension services, provide the planning support, not one at a time, but in groups.
- Let's find a couple of builders to buy into the plan, with low-cost buildings, also cookie-cutter style
- Each Dairyman would pick up the parlor from Rhinelander and install it himself to the greatest extent. We provide help only as needed, time and material.
- Many details to be discussed - but it might solve the problem of overhead costs
a) By reducing them to begin withb) By spreading them over several projects at a time, andc) By the Extension Services providing some of the supportProducts
