Stories

I simply forgot to turn on the vat, it was raining really heavily, I pulled up, jumped off of the quad and ran into the shed. I milked, washed and then went to set up the paddock for the next morning. About three hours later I realised that I had forgotten to switch on the vat. I shot back to the shed but found it already on and the milk cold. I’m glad we hand one installed. It saved my milk and my butt. - Kevin, Heard manager - Bulls

The initial query came from the tanker driver as he had arrived to pick up the milk and discovered the vat controller was switched off however the thermostat was on along with the agitator and displayed the milk temperature at 4’c. After confirming the milk was ok to pick up it turns out the owner had gone away for the weekend and left the staff to it. 16000L of milk went out the gate, staff had inadvertently not turned on the vat cooling but thanks to SMART-START everything had fired up and the milk was chilled to the correct temperatures. It has provided good security.

We were down a staff member for the week and I asked my wife if she could cover the milking’s. Everything went well until the tanker driver at pick up queried the milk temperatures. As it turned out, the colostrum vat had been switched on instead of the main vat. If it wasn’t for SMART-START we would have had to put it down the drain. 21000 liters went out the gate and SMART-START saved the day. It has been a bloody good investment.

After installing Smart-start into their new shed the operations manager was asked for his thoughts on how SMART-START has been working. “At first, when we initially installed them, I thought they were a waste of money however I now see the value as we have two 30,000-liter vats and SMART-START has saved the day on three separate occasions. With staff coming and going it was inevitable that someone wasn’t going to turn on the vat. I didn’t realise the value of SMART-START and that It had now happened three times. SMART-START has saved us every time. They have easily paid for themselves. I would recommend them to any farm that has staff.

During the severe weather storm, we had a massive power surge. It took out milking plant equipment and what I first thought was the vat controller. However, I was able to call and get assistance from Smart start. We simply activated the bypass switch. The vat turned on and was refrigerated. Smart start had protected the vat controller and got every thing running. Another unit turned up two days later and the electrician had it changed in five minutes. It has done everything it said it would do. Also having the vat turn on when you start milking is perfect.
- Dairy Farmer Dannevirke