Pumping out the lagoon

Last month we looked at the equipment that can be used on dairy displays.   There are plenty of choices for haying, feeding and spreading.  Once you have acquired a dairy line up it is important to display the equipment in a realistic way. 

On a dairy farm two of the big operations are daily feeding and cleaning.  Items like TMR's, telehandlers, wheels loaders, grinders, manure pumps and liquid spreaders are a big part of these jobs.

Tim Grube sent in pictures of his Udder Chaos dairy display and off Bill Eberle's dairy display for this article.

Manure spreading is a key feature of any dairy display.  Big dairy farm displays like Bill Eberle's have a liquid manure lagoon.  All of the manure from the dairy cows is transferred from the barns to the lagoon.  Bill built a realistic lagoon to display his Houle manure equipment from Scratch Cast.  Having interesting and detailed equipment like the 1/64 Houle models below is nice, but having a detailed display to support the pieces is all the better.

Manure Pump House	Houle Manure Pump/Aggitator
Houle Pump System	Houle Spreader
Every dairy displayer wants a 1/64 tele-handler.  Hopefully Ertl will offer a 1/64 tele-handler down the road.  Until then displayers like Tim Grube and Bill Eberle relay on custom and scratch builders.  A tele-handler is a handy tool on a dairy farm for feeding.  If you add one to your dairy display make the most of this custom.  You can use to load feed from the bunk, silage pile or hay stack.  Tele-handlers do several chores in a day.  Having this type of model also helps show off other customs like TMR's and tub grinders.
Feed	Moving Bales
Loading Feed	Grinding Big Bales

Use your dairy customs to put your display to work.  The great thing about replicating a dairy farm is all the action.  On a grain farm there is normally one operation going on and the rest of the equipment sits.  The month of June offers several operation choices to use your customs.  You can have haying going on in the field, manure handling in the field and on the farm and of course the daily feeding chores on the farm.

Pumping out the manure pit	Chopping Hay   Hay Operation Packing the pile
Transferring manure in the field
Feed Area