^^^g^mmmm 



"^•h^^ ^ 



«v^-«uMdlK'<c^ ■^iisfi^-^.ef^Xti^ia^sa^ 



Fig. 38. 



This homemade barn cleaner dumps the manure on a concrete ma- 

 nure pit floor some distance from the barn. Under favorable con- 

 ditions the operator can clean his stable in 11 minutes. He can load 

 directly into the spreader but prefers to let it pile up and use tractor 

 loader and spreaders in the spring and late fall. 



gency, the operator is not completely 



helpless. But the young man devel- 

 oping a farm cannot have everything 

 at once. He must give careful con- 

 sideration to other needs before in- 

 vesting in a barn cleaner. 



Hoe to Guf-f-er 



The soiling of the platform and the 

 need to hoe down to the gutter varies 

 greatly from farm to farm. Ar- 

 rangement of stanchions and size of 

 stalls are a factor. Cow^s apparently 

 vary in their habits. Some are very 

 clean. Occasionally a group of cows 

 are very dirty in this respect. 



On some farms the operator made 

 the rounds quickly twice a day, and 

 very little attention was given at other 

 times. On other farms the task was 

 done frequently. The total time va- 

 ried from 1.7 to 18.7 man minutes ad- 

 justed to a 40-cow basis. The total 

 time may not be important but often 

 other chores were interrupted. 



Deep, wide gutters and proper ad- 

 justment of stalls to the size of cows 

 are aids in keeping platforms clean. 

 There is some evidence that cows 

 can be trained to take a position in 

 the stall which results in less soil 

 on the platform. One operator had 



43 



