Washfold Farm, Leyburn, North Yorkshire
- Dairy Farm, milking 1,300 pedigree Holsteins
- The farm has 965 metres of feed fence, over six feed passageways, with 12 dead ends that also require cleaning every day
Background:
Cleaning the feed passage was a labour intensive process requiring a bucket, at the end of each passage leftovers were shovelled into the bucket manually by a team of men.
The award-winning farmer knew eliminating feed wastage plays a key part in driving cost and operational efficiencies. He approached us to come-up with a solution. Using 3D computer aided modelling we designed and built the Silo Crab.
Solution & Results:
- Silo Crab saves 45 minutes per day in man-power
- At a cost of £35 / hr for a loader and operator, the Silo Crab results in a total dairy shed labour saving of £9581.00 per year.
The Silo Crab was delivered on March 18th, 2020 and has been used every day since, so by September 6th, 2020 the Silo Crab had collected waste feed from 164.63km of feed fence. This meant that within six months it paid for itself (purchase price ‘v’ manual collection costs).
Quote from Philip Metcalfe, Director of Metcalfe Farms:
The Silo Crab has been a really good investment for several reasons. It has saved time and been good for staff morale, we’re saving diesel because the loader does not need to run for as long and the high capacity of the bucket allows TMR to be weighed more conveniently with no spillage.
In addition, the Silo Crab features bars to prevent curious cows reaching through and potentially getting trapped, and its wide reach keeps the loader well away from the feed fence. So from a cow welfare and a health and safety perspective it’s of benefit, too.
