Farm Master Belly Milker

We have an Antique Farm Master Belly Milker that we use to milk Jersey Girl.  You can find these online and buy replacement parts at the Dairy Supply Stores and Hardware stores for the tubing.  Ours uses 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch tubes on the sleeves.  Each sleeve has two tubes.  The set of 4 rubber cups were $15 and the rubber gasket was $5.   The Farm Master Belly Milker with Pulse Unit and 4 Sleeves was $75.  It is very heavy and holds 5 gallons of milk.

We have the complete set of 4 cups but we only use 2 when we milk.  2 is easier to handle and we only have the one Jersey to milk twice a day.  When one teat is empty you can move it to another teat.  With 4 cups, all 4 have to be on a teat working to have the unit milk.  If one is off, it will not work.

We use the Brake Booster on the Pickup Truck for the vacuum to make the milker work.  Portable vacuums are very expensive even if you make one yourself.  I had read on Countryside Forum (now Homesteading Today) a few years ago about a guy who used his truck to milk his goats, and I searched until I found the article.  Portable Milker  A friend of ours said the Brake Booster would be just about perfect, so that is what we use.  We bought a T and a cap to put in the vacuum line.  The truck is running about 10 minutes while we milk.  Here are some pictures below.

The little cow barn is close to the house and right in the front yard so it is easy to get the truck right up close only using 20 feet of vacuum line from the truck to the stall. The vacuum line is 1/2 inch with a 3/8 connector and line to the Booster.

Jersey Girl is waiting for her wheat bread and to be milked.  She gets 4 loaves of wheat bread morning and night, plus some dairy mix mornings for her vitamins and minerals.

We start the truck and get her in her stall eating her bread before taking the milker into the barn.  She was hand milked before getting the milker and the milker didn't bother her one bit when we first used it.  She likes it.  It is very quiet using the truck as a vacuum.

Using only 2 teat cups is so much easier to handle and not drop.  When washing the unit, be sure to take off the Pulse on the lid first.  You can not get that wet.  The small lines on the cups are only air and do not get wet either.  Email us if you need help or have any questions and we will help.