Making a Handheld Milking Machine
A Perfect Fit
The kids, mainly the girls, are our best milkers. They usually take turns from one day to the next milking the goats. But when all the kids are away, Gary and I panic. Who’s going to milk the goats? Unfortunately, milking goats require a few minor skills of which neither Gary or I posses. We could ask the kids to stay home but we want farm life to add, not take away from their lives. When we stumbled across this handheld milking idea, it was the perfect solution.
Why Buy DIY
I wanted to buy it online but the boys were already designing plans to make one. The project took longer than we expected. We learned which vacuums don’t work before discovering which one does.
Watch:
Materials
Mason Jar with Metal Lid - Wide Mouth Quart or Half Gallon Jar
Small oil Funnels or syringes
2 Rubber 1/4” Gaskets with a built in groove
6 ‘ of 1/4” food grade Vinyl tubing
Plastic “t”
Piston Vacuum Pump
Here are a couple links to vacuums:
Reynolds Handi-Vac Vacuum
Additional Notes
Not shown in the video is the cleaning of the goat utter and one milk squirt from each teat before we hook up the milk cups.
Because the milk goes directly into the jar, we no longer have to filter the milk. To clean the tube, we soak it in soapy water and rinse using boiling water from our tea kettle.
Also, we found as the goats milk sack shrinks, the teat cups lose suction. We have to strip out by hand the last bit of milk. It goes in a different bowl and served to the happy chickens.
The vacuum runs off of batteries. We rotate two sets of rechargeable batteries in it and use our solar recharger to reenergize them.
One More Thing
Youtuber, Submanca, left a comment on ways to improve this system:
I love it!!! It will work much better if you alternate the sucking from side to side. Store bought milking machines do this with a valve switching the suction from teat to teat two and back over and over. Simply sucking on both at the same time doesn't work very well. This also double the suction because all of the suction is only on one teat at a time. Also if you use larger hoses this suction will be better.
Thank You Submanca!
Milking Skills NOT Required!
This little vacuum machine allows for Gary and I to be less dependent on our capable children :)
Shelly
March 2014
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Resources
www.greenhomebuilding.com/adobe.htm
www.earthbagbuilding.com/articles.htm
www.earthbagplans.wordpress.com
We moved from the city to the country in 2005. Since then, we have been building structures, raising livestock and growing some of our own foods. We are crazy about family, nutrition and want the best for our growing family.
