At Least 18,000 Diary Cows Killed in Texas Panhandle Explosion

[red dirt shootist]

In the case at the heat treat furnace, there was a fan belt from the motor to the fan blade. The belt failed to heat issues and probably slipped in the pulleys causing it to break. When that happens, the motor current goes from normal run current to almost zero.
The hi/lo motor current trip alarm allows a bandwidth to be set for low conditions signifying a problem as well as an overcurrent that signals the motor is failing and drawing too much current. Either situation shuts the system down.

That is interesting, I'm impressed. But why didn't OSHA catch that?

 

[red dirt shootist]

I had a cousin that owned a small dairy farm close to Ada. he milked 180 cows, 6 at a time, twice a day for 25 years. Cleaning barn, calving, doctoring, fixing fence and farming hay, in between.

Manure vacuum? More of a super duper pooper scooper.

The mighty scoop shovel would be first choice as well, the learning curve isn't all that steep, and you won't blow up any cows.

 

[mike miller]

Methane gas from manure collector or pits could create a horrendous explosion.
Milk loss would be over 18,000 gallons a day.

 

[trekrok]

I hope Braums has their methane under control.

 

[1mathom1]

It's easy to imagine the size of the operation and the amount of methane that could build up.
The Faria Brothers dairy between Etter and Dalhart is easily that big...if not bigger.

 

[turkeyrun]

The manure collection methane off gas is more than you would think.

Back in the 70s, Popular Mechanics wrote about a dairy farmer. He had built a pit where he collected the manure. The pit had a domed top. At the top was a duct that connected to the carburetor of a 6 cyl Chevy. He had mounted 6-8 hi Amp alternators on the motor, running to a bank of batteries to an inverter and operated the entire farm electrical needs.

He had fabricated a gated Y that mounted 2 oil filters. He would switch the Y, change out the old filter and add a qt of oil. He claimed the motor had run non-stop for 6 years.

The concept fascinated me. When I started fishing on the beach, I mounted an alternator on an old lawn edger. I mounted auto headlights on poles and lit up my camp and the water.

 

[SoonerP226]

How about that one on N. May, close to Britton? Do I need to get out more?

You mean the Homeland at May and Britton? Yeah, you might need to get out more.

 

[jeromebill7718]

I wonder where all the methane came from, What animal makes a lot of methane besides humans? Hmmm, headscratcher. It isn't just the manure it is tha farts.

They are turning grass into energy, It takes so much time that they have multiple chambbers in their sttomaches that people refer to as stomaches to break it down, Their food is so nutrient poor that you can actually see the straw in their poop. People actually mix the poop with clay mud because it has so much straw in it. Their diet is usually nothing but fiber

 

[OKRuss]

I commented earlier about this like I didn't believe it, and I still don't, but I have seen the news, and I still don't believe it. About 45 years ago I worked on a dairy for a short period. We milked about 200 cows, and it was an ass busting job. If you think milk comes from Safeway, it doesn't. You get up about 3 AM, the cows are starting to bunch up and some want to be milked and some don't, you get everything clean and running and start letting the cows in. Then some go right into the little stall and immediately take a huge dump, and it's pretty liquid so it goes everywhere, then they start swishing their tail and you get covered, some of the others stand in the way to block other cows and you gotta go up a level and move them through. Every cow has a personality, and you have to deal with it because Bessy or #185 has got all day, they only do 3 things, eat, get milked, and poop. And you can't believe the amount of poop. When you're done with milking and everything is clean, you fire up the tractor and start scraping the poop out, then get the poop into the spreader, and you know what's next, it's all about poop. And on those below zero nights when you're dead in the sheets, there's a knock on the door and you gotta go pull a calf, and you're going to fall down in the corral in poop 1 foot deep. Milk does not come from Safeway.

Didn't you leave out putting feed out after the cows are all rounded up and in the pen for their turn? Best friend's family growing up had a dairy in Newcastle. I HATED doing a sleepover with him because of EXACTLY what you mentioned above. We'd get the cows in then go get a load of alfalfa/hay on the flatbed then drive around to all the feeders in the pasture. By time done, they'd be about done milking so you could go scrape.

Then, you end all that work with a hearty breakfast and a big ol' glass of fresh, WARM milk! Might be why I don't drink much milk.

 

[trekrok]

Wouldn't a place like that have to trap the methane somehow? Seems like gov would force that.