Bobman cubicle bedder saves 13 hours a week on Meath dairy farm

As the saying goes ‘time is money’ - this was the outlook for Co Meath father and daughter dairy farming duo, Elaine and Kevin Keaveny when the decision was made to purchase a new Bobman Super cubicle sweeper and dispenser to cut down on labour and reduce the time spent bedding cubicles daily. Located in Robinstown, Co Meath, the Keaveny’s currently milk 400 cows in a mixed spring and autumn calving system.

During the housed period this sees over 310 cubicles in need of being cleaned and bedded twice daily. Before the arrival of the Bobman in 2022, a push-along Ag Maxi lime and sawdust dispenser was used for three years.

Before this cubicles were beeded by hand using a bucket and a scoop.

“The Ag Maxi was a good machine for bedding and bet having to carry 15kg buckets of lime and sawdust between sheds.

However, the cubicles still needed to be scraped down manually prior to bedding. Typically, milking was finished by the time all scraping and bedding was done,” Kevin outlined.

After a good year in 2022, the Keavenys decided it was time to upgrade to a ride-on machine with a built-in brush and dispenser.

Having looked at a number of brands on the market, Kevin settled on the Bobman Super based on a number of factors including price and build quality.

Fast forward three winters with 319 hours now clocked up, the Bobman has been a game changer and described along with the farms Kubota RTV as the best machines in the yard.

Running gear

Music to the ears of most dairy farmers, all Bobman machines are simple and practical in design. Within the portfolio, Danish manufacturer Jydeland offers five different Bobman models to suit varying farmers’ needs, from its compact tool carriers to its largest self-loading bedders.

The most popular model sold by Irish distributors, Moreway Ltd to date has been the Super which sees itself positioned somewhere in the middle of the range.

It is available with either a 10hp single-cylinder Hatz diesel engine or since 2020 a 4kW battery-powered electric motor. In the interest of keeping things simple, the Keavenys opted for the diesel model.

Coupled directly with the engine is the hydraulic pump which looks after the drive to the wheels, blower, agitator and brush. Standard specification for the Irish market is the ‘double-pump’ hydraulics whereby the wheels are driven via a separate circuit.

According to Moreway Ltd, switchable front and rear wheel drive (3WD) is also standard specifcation for the Irish market. However, Jeydeland do offer a single-pump’ and 1WD which is available here upon request.

Models equipped with 3WD see a hydraulic motor on each of the three wheels.

A centrally positioned lever valve directs oil to the front wheels motors if 3WD has been selected. Kevin pointed out that 1WD works best when bedding as it turns on its own wheelbase within the passageways.

If 3WD drive is selected when trying to perform a tight turn it will see both front wheels fighting to go straight forward.

Upfront, the brush system features a parallel linkage which adjusts to different cubicle heights without affecting the sweeping angle.

“The brush will clean the dirtiest 75cm of the cubicle. The fact that it rotates means that all dirt is lifted. Before, we would have used a hand-held scraper which often smeared the dirt as opposed to removing it,” Kevin pointed out.

Controls and capacity

No matter of the user, the entire team find the controls simple. Forward and reverse travel is precisely controlled by the right-hand foot pedal.

A left-hand foot pedal controls the brush, pushing down to lower and engage drive and lifting to raise and disengage drive.

After that, there are three handles, one lowers and lifts the 1m wide front scraper, the second operates the blower and auger hopper and the third opens and closes the hopper shutter to control the discharge of material.

“The control layout leaves it simple to use. It’s a machine anyone can get up on and operate. It just takes a while longer to get a feel for the right application rate and learning the tricks of bedding corner cubicles and things like that,” Kevin outlined.

The hopper has a 500l capacity which generally tends to carry enough hydrated lime and sawdust mix to bed 600 cubicles but again this can vary slightly between users, he said. Kevin and the team find that in comparison to bedding cubicles manually, the bedding is much more evenly spread and offers the potential to save lime more easily.

Running costs

Kevin said that the Bobman is an absolute miser on fuel.

Depending on the operator, one 5l tank of diesel will last four days, bedding of 2,400 cubicles. At current diesel prices, it is taking around €5.37 to fill the tank which therefore means €2.24 will bed 1,000 cubicles.

Aside from replacing the air filter, diesel filter and engine oil every 200 hours, service costs are minimal Kevin pointed out.

The Hatz engine does not require an oil filter instead it is fitted with an oil screen that requires cleaning every 1,000 hours. A standard service kit will cost in the region of €75 including VAT.

Other than that, the only other running cost encountered was the replacement of engine mounts at €16.50 including VAT each which were easily replaced, Kevin said.

Verdict

Now in their third winter with 319 hours clocked up the Keavenys believe that being able to clean, sweep and bed cubicles in one pass has been a real game changer.

“Years ago, it would have taken us 2.5 hours to clean and bed 620 cubicles daily. Now we can bed the same number of cubicles in 40 minutes including loading and moving between sheds.

If a price is put on the time saved, it would pay for the machine alone.

Mateusz, a long term employee of farm, fitted an LED light on the hopper and a flashing strobe on the rear to improve visibility while bedding at dawn or dusk which was a great addition from a safety point of view.”

The only minor negative the lads could point out was that the Bobman can be very light on the rear end when the hopper is full, and crossing a kerb or similar. However, leaning back in these situations helps.

“They’re a simple machine to work and maintain which is important. But most importantly, it’s the time that has been saved that can be spent at other jobs.

Bedding cubicles has gone from a job everyone shied away from at one stage to now a job everyone is happy to do. Kevin summarised.”

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