Dairy equipment dealer specializes in BY WENDY WEHR PARADISE Lloyd Ranck sells bucket milkers and vacuum regulators. At least that’s what the sign says. But talk to the operator of this Paradise dairy equipment business, and you’ll find out that he specializes in “milking systems and management evaluations.” Ranck sells vacuum pumps, regulators, bucket milkers, vacuum tanks,' and all the pipe fittings that go along, but selling is not his primary concern. “I try harder, to do a little better, be a little different,” says Ranck about the dairy equipment services he provides. He believes that proper maintenance of milking equipment is a simple but often overlooked key to successful dairying. A former dairyman himself, Lloyd Ranck got into the dairy equipment business a few years ago because he saw a need, par ticularly around Lancaster County, for proper management of vacuum systems and milking equipment. When he and his family were dairying they also tested milk, having their own owner-sampler business and keeping records for up to 55 herds a month. “When we were picking up milk samples, I could see that some of the farmers were not taking care of their milking equipment, vacuum lines, regulators, pumps, and tanks,” relates Lloyd. When son Donald took over the family farm six years ago, says Ranck, “I didn’t know what I would do for an occupation.” So after about a year of volunteering 'th the ' Club, the Mi Mtf Lloyd Ranck sells more Westfalia buckets than any dairy equipment dealer in the area. A fully stocked truck allows Ranck to handle almost any repair or installation without delay. Central Committee, and elsewhere, he remembered the days when he was collecting milk samples. He began helping far mers by showing them how to clean out their vacuum lines. “Some dealers insist on washing out the lines with lye,” says Ranck, “but that deteriorates the galvanized pipes and it rusts in there. In three years time, you need a brand new set-up.” No lye or steam is needed, says Ranck, just plain good ordinary water will flush out the system. But at the same time he was helping the dairymen clean their vacuum lines, he also recom mended some changes. “Where there was an upright in the vacuum line, I insisted they had to have a dribble drain,” he explains. There were too many elbows in the line with no provision for the liquid to run out. For nearly a year he gave far mers around Lancaster County a hand with their vacuum systems “And probably hundreds in the county still need to be changed,” adds Ranck and then he began to sell some milking equipment, eventually taking on a dealership for buckets and regulators. Gradually his business ex panded, simply by referrals from relatives, feedmen, county agents, veterinarians, and other dealers. “I work probably 95 percent with the Amish and five percent with the English (as the Amish refer to the non-Amish community),” says Ranck. “I work with farmers close to six days a week, and I’tfi on call when they need me. ” In addition to working in the Lancaster and Chester County areas, several weeks a year he loads up his truck and heads to Perry County and about 10 or 12 different Amish settlements in other counties to handle requests for service. If a local dairyman calls about a mastitis problem, Ranck will try to get out to the farm as soon as possible. “I have a number of things I go over on each system,” says Ranck, as he carefully lists each item with a capital letter for easier remembering. “Vacuum, In flation, Pulsation, Regulator, Teat Dip, Paper Towels, and Dry Cow Treatment,” he lists. “And the standards I use use are in ac cordance with the National Mastitis Council,” he emphasizes. Mastitis problems or low production can be caused by a poorly functioning vacuum system, reminds Ranck. Too high a vacuum will cause irritation of the teat, and too low a vacuum could result in low production. He’s especially a stickler about a properly functioning regulator. “The regulator must always be located between the pump and the first service point, never in the diesel room and never on the vacuum tank,” he reminds. “The regulator should be very sensitive and should respond instantly, even if the vacuum change is 100 feet away at the other end of the bam.” The regulator, says Ranck, should be washed and serviced every 30 days, and some more often. “When he lets a vacuum problem get too big, a man can lose $l,OOO in a short period of time by not having the equipment right,” he warns. Ranck is firm about maintaining 13 inches of vacuum at the end of the teat. Fourteen inches in the line, he says, will give that proper vacuum at the claw. “And it’s so important to have sufficient air flow,” continues Ranck. At least 15 cubic feet per minute Z.M.E. per unit is required. And good milking practices shouldn’t be taken for granted. If you let the milker continue to squeal, says Ranck, the vacuum will keep dropping, and 7 or 8 in ches of vacuum just won’t do the job. Farmers have said to me, ‘I wish I had done this a year ago,’” says Ranck about farmers who have changed, improved or properly maintained their vacuum systems. Ranck pays attention to main tenance of the vacuum pump too. “Is it using enough oil?” he always asks. And too often he finds ac cumulated oil and dust, a sludge, at the elbow outside of the pump, so that it’s nearly three quarters closed off in some cases. bucket milking systems Along with selling bucket milkers and regulators, Ranck provides lots of advice on managing milking systems. With a piece or two of PVC and some other items from the hardware store, Ranck has made up drains and other dairy equipment parts at lower costs to the dairymen. “I’ve seen so many places taken seldom do I have to go to a supply advantage of,” says Ranck of house or hardware store in the farmers who have been sold new middle of a job,” he comments, equipment when what they really While he does handle different needed was to maintain the old. lines of equipment and bucket And even when he installs a new milkers, Ranck moves a volume of part, often it has been custom- Westfaha 60 pound and 73 pound made, saving the farmer more buckets. “I’m 100 percent sure I than a few dollars. sell more Westfalia buckets than In trying to serve the farmer, Ranck found a few parts, dribble drains and gate valves for in stance, that he could make up better and cheaper than they could be purchased from the dairy equipment companies. Where he saw a need for a part, he found the pieces and made it up himself, sometimes saving the farmer up to half of the purchase price of a company part. He makes up his own wash vats for teat-cup washers, too. And when he saw that the farmers were letting the water get too cool between the wash and rinse cycles of the washer the water tem perature has to be high enough to prevent dirt and butterfat build-up he added a chain to pull the plug on the dram. It’s a simple but sensible change that helps the dairymen take better care of their equipment. Along with savings and service, Ranck’s custom-made parts also account for safety. He’s made up Jug hangers to keep the jugs of acid and other chemicals in the milkhouse off of the floor and out of the reach of children. He also serves the farmer and himself well by having a fully equipped service truck. He carrys everything he needs tools, parts for all the major brands of dairy equipment, and even a generator for working on the job. “Very anyone around," he adds. He’s even used Westfaha claws on other buckets because he’s impressed that the vacuum closes off 100 percent. And Westfalia must be im pressed with Lloyd Ranck as well. Last year they flew him out to a dealers’ service school in Elk Grove, 111. to share his knowledge of bucket milking systems. All brands need periodic check ups and operate under the same principles, but each situation is different, too. Take inflations, for instance, says Ranck. “My dad changed inflations every two years' but then he only had a 10,000 or 11,000 pound herd average, and my son has an 18,000 or 20,000 pound average.” How much milk the cows give and how many cows are milked will determine how often the inflations should be changed. “Today a farmer can’t exist with a 13,000 pound herd average,” says Ranck. “You’ve got to treat the cows better.” Treating the cows better goes right along with treating each other better in Ranck’s business of •milking systems and management evaluations.” Why does he want to provide good service to the fanners? Ranck just says, “Oh the farmers have been good to me, so I try to take care of them.”
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