Can definitely see a difference in the floor cleanness. The difference between new and 2nd hand is everything works and if it doesn't it's up to the firm to fix. I wonder if you pressure wash the floor 1st so the holes were at there maximum opening on the slates and then left the bots to clean from then on?
That spray is about normal on the older ones. That newer one should spray a little bit harder but, it depends how long it knows its out to dump most of all out.
I recon once it's done a few rounds with the water it'll need less water anyway (the current spray), as all the dry baked on turds will of broken up more, and eventually it'll just be the fresh stuff needing wet a little to be wiped off easier.
A Roomba for the barn! Like the feed pushers I am sure they will do all sorts of things you would not expect them to do. I don’t know if you plan on naming them but if so I suggest Itchy and Scratchy.
10:53 "...I don't know, electrician stuff..." Spoken like a cold, tired man who is way past done and wants to be in bed asleep! Love it. Good job editing. Video flowed smoothly and was interesting.
Edit was wonderful. Robots seem really good. My concern with them and cows retracted. Cows adjust pretty well to them and just move over. Some cows very intrigued with yalls work and wanna help! Enjoyed
Tech savvy farmer! I am always impressed with the milking parlour … clean floor, walls, ceiling, milking equip etc. shows consistent good management and attention to detail.
Seeing the random footage is just as entertaining and informative. It's your 'out takes and bloopers' reel. Those robots are intriguing and the cows seemed to have gotten used to them and I've seen skittish cows run from anything different in their pen. So healthier, happier cows, and while some people think that automation reduces work load that's not true on a farm, there is always work on a farm.
We had a similar generator setup on our farm back in the early 70s. We could power the barn, silos, and house with it. When you gotta milk, you gotta milk.
I appreciate that your video titles are straightforward descriptions of the content. As opposed to “Robot PROBLEMS ALREADY! POWER OUT DURING MILKING!!” It’s a nice change from the clickbait titles that seem more and more common.
Totally agree. His titles are always so positive. I have never seen one of his even the slightest bit clickbaitish. I believe that is why his channel is so successful. Honest and humble Family?
Well, you did a pretty good job at editing this video Eric. I'm retired and I'm bored 88 percent of the time the other 12 percent I'm watching your channel. Saskdutch kids channel and dairy on the prairie channel's. Thank you Eric Aloha 🤙🏼
One of the best channels on CZcams. It’s genuine and shows good honest hard work. What a blessing it must be for you and your dad to work with each other everyday. Keep up the great videos!!
Put on a magnetic latch thats on a lot of household side gates. Their pretty tough and easy to install. And could be wired directly into the existing switches.
My thoughts exactly. Universities use them to lock doors and they're pretty much impossible to open unless they're unlocked. Shouldn't be any harder than running a wire from the existing air switch. I'd imagine they'd need power though. Not entirely sure.
Farmers work is never done. Always something to do and not enough hours in the day to do them. Great content. Really enjoyed watching the upgrade to help keep things clean and more comfortable for the cows AND you guys!
This channel is one of very few I hit the thumbs up before I get 10 seconds in to the video. I wish I knew my dad like this and he taught me anything. This is a wonderful thing you have. Your child hopefully is the 11th generation.
you are a certified stud homey. i know you were raised on the farm and its been your life since you can remember, but for those of us old folks who lost a lot of hope for the future of work ethics among the younger people, you hold a lot of hope and promise. the world needs people like you and your family. your everyday effort and the contribution you make to your regional foodways will not go unnoticed as long as you keep sharing on these platforms. honest peaceful folk making their way as their family has for generations. and congrats for bringing more technology to the milking barn. i know the cows will notice the difference too. get some rest and eat a sandwich.
That's why I like it! And I thought it was my interest in dairy farming from a retired carpenters view. It is, but I too have come to enjoy Eric and his family as the heartbeat of America. As a Canadian we have Sasdutchkid and few others sharing their farming life online accurately without added nonsense. Cheers 🇨🇦
Absolutely!! He gives me hope as well. Id just about written this younger generation off...so many lazy, entitled, spoiled, etc...my dream would be to send them to work on the farms in this country for a year, mandatory!
@@mllee2008 1.3% thats the amount of americans that are farmers. stupid and unrealistic dream. The older generations are mainly ignorant about the world we live in today. ya'll like to pretend we are still in the 50s when you could get a 9-5 factory job and be middle class while supporting a family of five. the world doesn't work like that anymore. i could rant about the generational divide and the decline of the job market all day but i'll see what you do with your reply first. :)
Tim from Ontario Canada suggestions for you on your manure robot.. maybe take it outside and pressure wash it.. make sure you get underneath there it might be just builds up overtime spraying it down might help you and getting it going again it might be you just need to wash.. The undercarriage of the robots
Glad to see that you’re safety conscious (wearing eye & ear protection) “Safety First” you’re becoming “Eric of all trades” You’re making great progress in getting the Robot Scrapers tweaked & working well. You & your dad are a great team.
Great editing job as aways! It is always a challange getting the “kinks” worked out of new equipment installations. But it is looking like you are getting the robots or “alley cats” trained to do their job. Isn’t it amazing how fast the electric comes back on once you have spent an hour hooking up your generator! Oh well whatever it takes right? Thanks for all work and patience putting together the video!
Eric, I think you did a great job with the editing and on the robots. Hang in there big man .you will get it all going right soon. Thank you so very much for the great video
Hi Eric, I like how you explain everything it helps me understand Better and I Appreciate that and I Enjoy how you and your Father share the work and work together! Keep up the good work!
You Could set it to go every 2 hours. There is a Dairy Farm that I sometimes will visit and help out a Friend when a couple worker calls out sick. They have something similar to your scrapers. not positive on like make model but its all automatic. They have 4 of them. They have around 400 dairy cows. But with their Scrapers it does runs ever 2 hours. But each one will do 3 different lanes. Think it takes around hour and half to complete and do the round trip. Theirs does not do water. But, they will spray the floor off with hoses every other day. it works for them.
I teach country kids robotics, and having not been to many dairy farms videos like this really help me understand how I can make my lessons more relevant to their lives. thanks for the uploads.
Edit was great. On that air gate I would suggest maybe adding a air latch that releases when the actuator for the gate starts. Not a farmer but I am a diesel technician on school buses and you could add a relay to the air gate that releases the latch at the same time the gate is activated. That’s how most of the safety features on a school bus operate.
I had never seen these floor scrapers & I think they are great. It is great hearing you explain how they operate, their functions, minor hiccups. They truly are a win-win for you & the 🐮🐮
Use a Electromagnetic Lock and connect it with an air controlled switch. Pretty cheap and it will last forever. Totally sealed. You can pick the amount of hold that it has. Great series, just subscribed. I used to do Critical Temp, Security and control systems for Hog and Chix farms. Love your inventiveness! Good luck!
Always enjoy your videos!!!! Never worry about putting out a bad video because we appreciate you taking your time out of your busy schedule to make videos for us to enjoy!!!! God bless your family for dairy farming!!!
With the air operated gate, have you checked to make sure the air is swapping correctly on the solenoid from air open to close? If it is maybe there's a way for you to raise the air pressure so it holds the gate closed with more force. You can buy inline air boosters SMC make good ones but that may not be practical for you. Or a adjustment of the flow control fittings under the caps on the cylinder in and out might help.
Looks good to me on the editing, also looks like you have the robots working good, just a few things to fix to make them work fine. I'm glad to see that the power outage was taken care of relatively quickly. I appreciate you sharing your time and video with us, thanks. Have a great week!
When you said that you were " 41% sure you had cured the programming problem".... I'll be honest, I am not doubting you because I think you are an honest person, but you only looked 37% sure to me. If you wouldn't mind, would you check your math and get back to us on that?
Hey man! Thanks for another great video. I discovered that you don’t live too far from me. I’m in NEPA. Maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to drive by your farm. Have a great week buddy!
Nice! Those robots are like a roomba on steroids 😎 looks like they are already making a difference. The down crack me up with how curious they are. That boot wash station thing is pretty cool too! Also, had no idea it was filmed over 4 days except when you said it was the next day. Smooth edit skills… nice work.
Electro magnets… have you considered using an electromagnetic lock for that gate? Turn off the magnet with the same switch that opens the gate. It should be easy enough to get a strong magnet the cows cannot push through.
Options for the gate. 1. Install a larger diameter cylinder for more force. 2. Install a solenoid locking valve+check valve on the Close side air line. 3. Magnetic latch on the gate post, as someone else mentioned. If you switch to a larger cylinder it will move a little slower because more air has to flow, and it will also increase the forces on everything, so I would actually set it up so that the cylinder is fully extended when the gate is closed, so the cylinder is holding the force, not the lever arm on the gate. Leave an inch gap to the gate post or whatever. I can't promise how much it will help, but if you put a valve on the Close port of the cylinder so that when the gate was closed no air could leave the cylinder, it would be compressing the air inside the cylinder and rapidly increase the force needed to move the piston. Right now I imagine that it has pressure applied anytime the gate is closed, meaning that when force is applied to the piston it just pushes air back to the main air tank and the system pressure doesn't really change. If you could lock that pressure in the cylinder itself, the pressure would go up very quickly. You can get air solenoid valves pretty cheap, but I am sure you have sources if you are running air powered equipment there. I would put the valve directly on the cylinder so you minimize the hose length and thus volume. I would also put a one way check valve in parallel with the solenoid valve so that CLOSE air pressure can always get into the cylinder through the check valve, but it can't leave the cylinder unless the solenoid valve opens. If you add the check valve, then you just wire the locking valve in to the Open solenoid valve, so it only unlocks when you want the gate to open, and as soon as it starts to shut it locks again, and the air goes through the check valve to close the gate. It would be easy to test this theory by installing a ball valve on the cylinder, put pressure to it to close, and then close the ball valve and see if you get enough force to stop the cows. And actually, if you have a hard air line or like air brake hose, you might be able to get away with having the lock solenoid back at the control rack. Maybe try the ball valve test with the valve back there. Make sure you have the line and cylinder fully pressurized when you do the test. I think that the locking solenoid valve is the one I would test first, it's probably the cheapest and easiest solution, if it works as I imagine. And the magnetic latch would be pretty secure, and I am sure you can get harsh environment waterproof models, though probably pretty expensive. You would need to do a bit of fabrication and run 110 volt out to the gate post, and keep things adjusted and clean, but it would probably be more reliable than a mechanical latch. And I love the videos, though I wish you would show more of the robot control dongles and programming lol (industrial automation tech and diesel/industrial mechanic here, so I love such things, though those are slightly crappier than I generally work with!)
For the door we used to use a metal latch that was un a upside down u with a piece of metal on the side so you could push the door against the latch and it goes a bit up and then locks on the door, for the release we used a, always extended piston with a very thin metal wire (any wire would do) and once the door opener pushed to open that piston pulled the latch up to release it
Awesome video and editing bud. Haha The electrician stuff, and the small army of robot comments were pretty funny. It's gonna be a scary day when you get out to the barn and the feed pusher and the two manure scrapers are sitting in a line facing you lol
Just discovered this channel, thanks for sharing. My grandfather was a dairyman, Upstate NY, and a big shot in NYS 4-H as a young man, and my memories of helping him back in the 1960's are fading. Your channel kind of brings some back. But Grandpa didn't have any robots. Wonder what he'd think?
The editing is great. Thanks for explaining for us city folk. As with any used item there will be hiccups. But all will work out great. This should keep your hoof issues to a minimum.
For the gate latch you could probably use a heavy duty gate latch and tie it onto the same signal as the cylinder or use a separate signal depending on the way the logic works (assuming you’re using a form of controller). Otherwise you could just tee off the cylinder and use its lines to control a small air cylinder to use as a lock
Again, the difference is phenomenal and I'm quite sure you will have less cows slipping and/or doing the splits because you can clearly see the grippiness (probably not a word) of the floor after the scraper passes. Should increase hoof health as well. Will be very interesting to see the difference over say a 6 month period. Keep up the wonderful work you're doing for cow health & happiness improvement! 😍🐂🐃🐄🥰🐮
Looks a lot better and keeps the cows from slipping going to have to invest in those machines . But will wait and make sure yours work fully. But it does look nice keeps cows hoofs and bedding clean.
I thought this was a very interesting video with the robot scrapers, good job editing all those days of filming your frustrating issues, and sorry to hear that the storm caused problems. We had terrible winds in upstate New York also.
They make electromagnetic door holders for commercial buildings. That may help hold your gate shut when you want it shut. I couldn't find a good example but the "2510 Electromagnetic Door Holder" is rated for 300lbs of force. I think they make even stronger ones if memory serves correct.
Very organised work eric,your every video is interesting to watch. I also pick some tech from your work to use in my small setup of dairy farming hear in central kenya
For the air gate latch: you could theoretically use a normal door handle mechanism, and a rotary air actuator that replaces the door handle turning. It automatically latches when in the "door handle not depressed" orientation, and releases when depressed. May need some lubrication so it can "open the latch" while the door is already being forced open by the door-swinging cylinder. But if the door swinging cylinder doesn't need nearly this much force to operate the door, you could just reduce it's leverage again so it doesn't cause too much friction for that door latch. Also, a simple door latch should be fairly cheap; in your situation I'd likely mount the latch on the doorframe, and the cutout that it hooks into on the door itself.
on the gates you could put a magnetic lock that is controlled by a sensor in the air line so when you try using the air to open the gate it cuts the power the magnet allowing the gate to open, very few moving parts and can hold a lot of force they are pretty common for those reasons with security doors that have key cards
stick an air ram on the end of the gate with a pin to stop the push though. then you just need a piece of angel on the end of the gate so it has an eye to grab. you're going to want a bushing or something on the eye though, because the cows rattling it will start to wear though unless it's stout enough
I'd recommend if you have the ability to do so is take the fire hose from the parlor clean all the slats up. This way the robots have a fresh start on cleaning and keeping it kept up. Obviously I'd recommend maybe twice a year. Once in spring once in the fall. Maybe during the time that your doing the regular pumping from the pit at that time. It may help as well with keeping the wear and tare down on the machines. Plus maybe could extend the cleaning to every 2 hours depending on build up. Those have for sure made the barn nicer for the cows and your ability to walk safer as well.
Maybe a magnet lock that's tied to the same switch for some part for the pneumatics through a relay? As in a switch from the gate turns, that would then at the same time toggle the magnet lock. No programing needed
I built that PTO Generator! I still work for the company your dad bought it from. Glad it's still working good!
Can definitely see a difference in the floor cleanness. The difference between new and 2nd hand is everything works and if it doesn't it's up to the firm to fix.
I wonder if you pressure wash the floor 1st so the holes were at there maximum opening on the slates and then left the bots to clean from then on?
I was thinking the exact same 2 thoughts :D
Pressure wash videos are the best anyway so thats a win win.
@@McKarpfen Yeah I bet pressure washing a floor this filthy would more than pay for itself in views even if it ended up being unnecessary
That spray is about normal on the older ones. That newer one should spray a little bit harder but, it depends how long it knows its out to dump most of all out.
I recon once it's done a few rounds with the water it'll need less water anyway (the current spray), as all the dry baked on turds will of broken up more, and eventually it'll just be the fresh stuff needing wet a little to be wiped off easier.
A Roomba for the barn! Like the feed pushers I am sure they will do all sorts of things you would not expect them to do. I don’t know if you plan on naming them but if so I suggest Itchy and Scratchy.
With all the beeping at the cows all the time I was going to suggest, "glock-and-spiel "!
10:53 "...I don't know, electrician stuff..." Spoken like a cold, tired man who is way past done and wants to be in bed asleep! Love it. Good job editing. Video flowed smoothly and was interesting.
Edit was wonderful. Robots seem really good. My concern with them and cows retracted. Cows adjust pretty well to them and just move over. Some cows very intrigued with yalls work and wanna help! Enjoyed
Tech savvy farmer! I am always impressed with the milking parlour … clean floor, walls, ceiling, milking equip etc. shows consistent good management and attention to detail.
Seeing the random footage is just as entertaining and informative. It's your 'out takes and bloopers' reel. Those robots are intriguing and the cows seemed to have gotten used to them and I've seen skittish cows run from anything different in their pen. So healthier, happier cows, and while some people think that automation reduces work load that's not true on a farm, there is always work on a farm.
We had a similar generator setup on our farm back in the early 70s. We could power the barn, silos, and house with it. When you gotta milk, you gotta milk.
I appreciate that your video titles are straightforward descriptions of the content. As opposed to “Robot PROBLEMS ALREADY! POWER OUT DURING MILKING!!” It’s a nice change from the clickbait titles that seem more and more common.
Totally agree. His titles are always so positive. I have never seen one of his even the slightest bit clickbaitish. I believe that is why his channel is so successful. Honest and humble Family?
Well, you did a pretty good job at editing this video Eric. I'm retired and I'm bored 88 percent of the time the other 12 percent I'm watching your channel. Saskdutch kids channel and dairy on the prairie channel's.
Thank you Eric Aloha 🤙🏼
One of the best channels on CZcams. It’s genuine and shows good honest hard work. What a blessing it must be for you and your dad to work with each other everyday. Keep up the great videos!!
Put on a magnetic latch thats on a lot of household side gates. Their pretty tough and easy to install. And could be wired directly into the existing switches.
My thoughts exactly. Universities use them to lock doors and they're pretty much impossible to open unless they're unlocked. Shouldn't be any harder than running a wire from the existing air switch. I'd imagine they'd need power though. Not entirely sure.
Small Pneumatic piston on a standard gate latch would work, even if it works off of a button press.
@@SpadeNya this would be a good idea too.
Farmers work is never done. Always something to do and not enough hours in the day to do them. Great content. Really enjoyed watching the upgrade to help keep things clean and more comfortable for the cows AND you guys!
This channel is one of very few I hit the thumbs up before I get 10 seconds in to the video. I wish I knew my dad like this and he taught me anything. This is a wonderful thing you have. Your child hopefully is the 11th generation.
you are a certified stud homey. i know you were raised on the farm and its been your life since you can remember, but for those of us old folks who lost a lot of hope for the future of work ethics among the younger people, you hold a lot of hope and promise. the world needs people like you and your family. your everyday effort and the contribution you make to your regional foodways will not go unnoticed as long as you keep sharing on these platforms. honest peaceful folk making their way as their family has for generations. and congrats for bringing more technology to the milking barn. i know the cows will notice the difference too. get some rest and eat a sandwich.
That's why I like it! And I thought it was my interest in dairy farming from a retired carpenters view. It is, but I too have come to enjoy Eric and his family as the heartbeat of America. As a Canadian we have Sasdutchkid and few others sharing their farming life online accurately without added nonsense. Cheers 🇨🇦
@@jamesmisener3006 don't forget Dairy on the Prairie his sister the cow Whisperers Channel.!.!
Absolutely!! He gives me hope as well. Id just about written this younger generation off...so many lazy, entitled, spoiled, etc...my dream would be to send them to work on the farms in this country for a year, mandatory!
@@mllee2008 1.3% thats the amount of americans that are farmers. stupid and unrealistic dream. The older generations are mainly ignorant about the world we live in today. ya'll like to pretend we are still in the 50s when you could get a 9-5 factory job and be middle class while supporting a family of five. the world doesn't work like that anymore.
i could rant about the generational divide and the decline of the job market all day but i'll see what you do with your reply first. :)
Tim from Ontario Canada suggestions for you on your manure robot.. maybe take it outside and pressure wash it.. make sure you get underneath there it might be just builds up overtime spraying it down might help you and getting it going again it might be you just need to wash.. The undercarriage of the robots
Glad to see that you’re safety conscious (wearing eye & ear protection) “Safety First” you’re becoming “Eric of all trades” You’re making great progress in getting the Robot Scrapers tweaked & working well. You & your dad are a great team.
Great editing job as aways! It is always a challange getting the “kinks” worked out of new equipment installations. But it is looking like you are getting the robots or “alley cats” trained to do their job. Isn’t it amazing how fast the electric comes back on once you have spent an hour hooking up your generator! Oh well whatever it takes right? Thanks for all work and patience putting together the video!
I can tell a big difference from before you had the scrapers and after. Looks so much better. Thanks for the video.
I like the robots when they work! Seems like they have a lot of issues. Hope their worth the time and money.
Eric, I think you did a great job with the editing and on the robots. Hang in there big man .you will get it all going right soon. Thank you so very much for the great video
Hi Eric, I like how you explain everything it helps me understand Better and I Appreciate that and I Enjoy how you and your Father share the work and work together! Keep up the good work!
You Could set it to go every 2 hours. There is a Dairy Farm that I sometimes will visit and help out a Friend when a couple worker calls out sick. They have something similar to your scrapers. not positive on like make model but its all automatic. They have 4 of them. They have around 400 dairy cows. But with their Scrapers it does runs ever 2 hours. But each one will do 3 different lanes. Think it takes around hour and half to complete and do the round trip. Theirs does not do water. But, they will spray the floor off with hoses every other day. it works for them.
I teach country kids robotics, and having not been to many dairy farms videos like this really help me understand how I can make my lessons more relevant to their lives. thanks for the uploads.
It's starting to look like 'The Jetsons' Farm... I'm loving it. The more tools to make the cows happy, the better! Just needs some fine tuning
Edit was great. On that air gate I would suggest maybe adding a air latch that releases when the actuator for the gate starts. Not a farmer but I am a diesel technician on school buses and you could add a relay to the air gate that releases the latch at the same time the gate is activated. That’s how most of the safety features on a school bus operate.
I had never seen these floor scrapers & I think they are great. It is great hearing you explain how they operate, their functions, minor hiccups. They truly are a win-win for you & the 🐮🐮
Use a Electromagnetic Lock and connect it with an air controlled switch. Pretty cheap and it will last forever. Totally sealed. You can pick the amount of hold that it has.
Great series, just subscribed. I used to do Critical Temp, Security and control systems for Hog and Chix farms. Love your inventiveness! Good luck!
Those slats are looking nice and clean with the robots at work, increased grip for the cows too!
We have two of those discoveries where I work and that’s around the power that the water comes out for ours.
It’s cool seeing you and your dad work together. You are doing great. I love the videos.
Holy smoke that is some hard work. My grandparents milked 500 head everyday. Only one or 2 helpers. Did it till 86 years old
Always enjoy your videos!!!! Never worry about putting out a bad video because we appreciate you taking your time out of your busy schedule to make videos for us to enjoy!!!! God bless your family for dairy farming!!!
Eric, you have been one very busy farmer. You seem to love what you do and I can't tell you how important that is. Best wishes!!!
Thanks for making this video. They’re really good to watch. Your Dad is awesome.
With the air operated gate, have you checked to make sure the air is swapping correctly on the solenoid from air open to close?
If it is maybe there's a way for you to raise the air pressure so it holds the gate closed with more force. You can buy inline air boosters SMC make good ones but that may not be practical for you.
Or a adjustment of the flow control fittings under the caps on the cylinder in and out might help.
Looks good to me on the editing, also looks like you have the robots working good, just a few things to fix to make them work fine. I'm glad to see that the power outage was taken care of relatively quickly. I appreciate you sharing your time and video with us, thanks. Have a great week!
Water refilling is like a navy fighter jet doing airborne refueling with probe and drogue.
The difference these make for barn and parlour hygiene is amazing!
When you said that you were " 41% sure you had cured the programming problem".... I'll be honest, I am not doubting you because I think you are an honest person, but you only looked 37% sure to me. If you wouldn't mind, would you check your math and get back to us on that?
Another fantastic video! Crazy to see your farms improvements over thr years
Hey man! Thanks for another great video. I discovered that you don’t live too far from me. I’m in NEPA. Maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to drive by your farm. Have a great week buddy!
Barns look great,,,and we love how the cows follow the red bugger roboty. .your calf's look healthy Eric,,,
Nice! Those robots are like a roomba on steroids 😎 looks like they are already making a difference. The down crack me up with how curious they are. That boot wash station thing is pretty cool too! Also, had no idea it was filmed over 4 days except when you said it was the next day. Smooth edit skills… nice work.
Electro magnets… have you considered using an electromagnetic lock for that gate? Turn off the magnet with the same switch that opens the gate. It should be easy enough to get a strong magnet the cows cannot push through.
Options for the gate. 1. Install a larger diameter cylinder for more force. 2. Install a solenoid locking valve+check valve on the Close side air line. 3. Magnetic latch on the gate post, as someone else mentioned.
If you switch to a larger cylinder it will move a little slower because more air has to flow, and it will also increase the forces on everything, so I would actually set it up so that the cylinder is fully extended when the gate is closed, so the cylinder is holding the force, not the lever arm on the gate. Leave an inch gap to the gate post or whatever.
I can't promise how much it will help, but if you put a valve on the Close port of the cylinder so that when the gate was closed no air could leave the cylinder, it would be compressing the air inside the cylinder and rapidly increase the force needed to move the piston.
Right now I imagine that it has pressure applied anytime the gate is closed, meaning that when force is applied to the piston it just pushes air back to the main air tank and the system pressure doesn't really change.
If you could lock that pressure in the cylinder itself, the pressure would go up very quickly.
You can get air solenoid valves pretty cheap, but I am sure you have sources if you are running air powered equipment there.
I would put the valve directly on the cylinder so you minimize the hose length and thus volume.
I would also put a one way check valve in parallel with the solenoid valve so that CLOSE air pressure can always get into the cylinder through the check valve, but it can't leave the cylinder unless the solenoid valve opens.
If you add the check valve, then you just wire the locking valve in to the Open solenoid valve, so it only unlocks when you want the gate to open, and as soon as it starts to shut it locks again, and the air goes through the check valve to close the gate.
It would be easy to test this theory by installing a ball valve on the cylinder, put pressure to it to close, and then close the ball valve and see if you get enough force to stop the cows.
And actually, if you have a hard air line or like air brake hose, you might be able to get away with having the lock solenoid back at the control rack. Maybe try the ball valve test with the valve back there. Make sure you have the line and cylinder fully pressurized when you do the test.
I think that the locking solenoid valve is the one I would test first, it's probably the cheapest and easiest solution, if it works as I imagine.
And the magnetic latch would be pretty secure, and I am sure you can get harsh environment waterproof models, though probably pretty expensive.
You would need to do a bit of fabrication and run 110 volt out to the gate post, and keep things adjusted and clean, but it would probably be more reliable than a mechanical latch.
And I love the videos, though I wish you would show more of the robot control dongles and programming lol
(industrial automation tech and diesel/industrial mechanic here, so I love such things, though those are slightly crappier than I generally work with!)
👍👌👍 glad to see they have cleaned up the floors nice. Water seems like it should be harder than that maybe not idk. Great work. 🙏
“Electrician Stuff”.😂😂😂
Those guys will need names!
It'll get cleaner over time I reckon. Brilliant video 💪🏻 🏴
Great video. Love the robots. Barn looks so much cleaner now. I'm sure the cows sense a difference too. You're certainly upping your game Eric.
For the door we used to use a metal latch that was un a upside down u with a piece of metal on the side so you could push the door against the latch and it goes a bit up and then locks on the door, for the release we used a, always extended piston with a very thin metal wire (any wire would do) and once the door opener pushed to open that piston pulled the latch up to release it
Awesome video and editing bud. Haha The electrician stuff, and the small army of robot comments were pretty funny. It's gonna be a scary day when you get out to the barn and the feed pusher and the two manure scrapers are sitting in a line facing you lol
TIM from Canada weather check. 20.F . Fahrenheit is - 6.7 C . Celsius Spring day in Canada
Just discovered this channel, thanks for sharing.
My grandfather was a dairyman, Upstate NY, and a big shot in NYS 4-H as a young man, and my memories of helping him back in the 1960's are fading. Your channel kind of brings some back.
But Grandpa didn't have any robots. Wonder what he'd think?
Nice goings on over there. Now don't forget to let us know every once in a while how Jack and Evelyn are getting along in this our strange world.
The editing is great. Thanks for explaining for us city folk. As with any used item there will be hiccups. But all will work out great. This should keep your hoof issues to a minimum.
Love it. So satisfying seeing stuff working properly. Every video you produce is interesting to me.
Thanks for the great content mate 👍
For the gate latch you could probably use a heavy duty gate latch and tie it onto the same signal as the cylinder or use a separate signal depending on the way the logic works (assuming you’re using a form of controller). Otherwise you could just tee off the cylinder and use its lines to control a small air cylinder to use as a lock
Again, the difference is phenomenal and I'm quite sure you will have less cows slipping and/or doing the splits because you can clearly see the grippiness (probably not a word) of the floor after the scraper passes. Should increase hoof health as well. Will be very interesting to see the difference over say a 6 month period. Keep up the wonderful work you're doing for cow health & happiness improvement! 😍🐂🐃🐄🥰🐮
awsome as alwas, robots are great, cant wait too see what type of robots the 11th gen dairyman will be using
Looks a lot better and keeps the cows from slipping going to have to invest in those machines . But will wait and make sure yours work fully. But it does look nice keeps cows hoofs and bedding clean.
Awesome Video and Much Love as Always 🐄 Man!!!
i liked how this video was a bit of everything each day here and there
It's interesting how curious cows are. They're like dogs!
Love how the cows went from TF is this to get out of the way the beeping bug is coming around
I don't even have a pitt but now I know where all my 10mm sockets went.
It is amazing that the cows accept the machines. They don’t seam to mind them at all. 😊😊😊
I thought this was a very interesting video with the robot scrapers, good job editing all those days of filming your frustrating issues, and sorry to hear that the storm caused problems. We had terrible winds in upstate New York also.
They make electromagnetic door holders for commercial buildings. That may help hold your gate shut when you want it shut. I couldn't find a good example but the "2510 Electromagnetic Door Holder" is rated for 300lbs of force. I think they make even stronger ones if memory serves correct.
Very organised work eric,your every video is interesting to watch. I also pick some tech from your work to use in my small setup of dairy farming hear in central kenya
For the air gate latch: you could theoretically use a normal door handle mechanism, and a rotary air actuator that replaces the door handle turning. It automatically latches when in the "door handle not depressed" orientation, and releases when depressed. May need some lubrication so it can "open the latch" while the door is already being forced open by the door-swinging cylinder. But if the door swinging cylinder doesn't need nearly this much force to operate the door, you could just reduce it's leverage again so it doesn't cause too much friction for that door latch.
Also, a simple door latch should be fairly cheap; in your situation I'd likely mount the latch on the doorframe, and the cutout that it hooks into on the door itself.
You can add a closing spring to the gate to increase the resistance. Should be no problem for the air cylinder
on the gates you could put a magnetic lock that is controlled by a sensor in the air line so when you try using the air to open the gate it cuts the power the magnet allowing the gate to open, very few moving parts and can hold a lot of force they are pretty common for those reasons with security doors that have key cards
Hey man love the videos can't want till the mass demo
stick an air ram on the end of the gate with a pin to stop the push though. then you just need a piece of angel on the end of the gate so it has an eye to grab. you're going to want a bushing or something on the eye though, because the cows rattling it will start to wear though unless it's stout enough
If the robots start to make a move on you at least they are pretty slow you should be able to out run them.
I thoroughly enjoyed the vid!! I miss working with cows; brings me closer to earth
I'd recommend if you have the ability to do so is take the fire hose from the parlor clean all the slats up. This way the robots have a fresh start on cleaning and keeping it kept up. Obviously I'd recommend maybe twice a year. Once in spring once in the fall. Maybe during the time that your doing the regular pumping from the pit at that time. It may help as well with keeping the wear and tare down on the machines. Plus maybe could extend the cleaning to every 2 hours depending on build up. Those have for sure made the barn nicer for the cows and your ability to walk safer as well.
I'm sure you'll get the kinks worked out of them. Definitely looks much cleaner already.
I thought the beeping was excessive as well!
Those robots are really cool! Saving you some time and work for sure.
Eric, in our swing parlor with a single gate like this we have our air ram on the gate instead of above it. Might be a option.
you have on cilider air mounts you can adjust the speed with screwdriver or allen key both small ps open and close
Hi Eric and dad awesome video lots of work and as always you and your families all be safe 🇺🇸🇺🇸
As long as the little army is on your side all well.
Amazing video!! Can’t wait for the next one. Amazing job editing
I did enjoy it. Those robots are going to make a world of difference.
Those scrappers are pretty awesome. Good helpers
Just wait until the cows figure out they can push that thing in for the robot, and have fresh and cold water come spraying out at them. LOL.
Great content and editing here Eric 👍
Those cows are all so relaxed.
The Robots are coming for you! Look pretty slick with the water in the summer time should keep slats much cleaner.
You can increase the power given to the nozzle.
Maybe a magnet lock that's tied to the same switch for some part for the pneumatics through a relay? As in a switch from the gate turns, that would then at the same time toggle the magnet lock. No programing needed
Every episode is one step closer to wall-e. Can’t wait until there is an 11th generation dairy robot!
I love how the cows acted just like cats and started sniffing it.
On that gate, use a spring loaded latch that releases with air pressure, like the brakes of a semi truck.
Most interesting. Clearly edited. Good report. Keep them coming as you have time.
Love to see a young guy working hard great stuff man