Farm work
Dairy barn and milk house wiring
Milking, cooling and cleaning all run on the same power. We wire it so one tripped breaker doesn't stop the whole barn.
We work on tie-stall, freestall and parlor barns: milking systems, vacuum pumps, the milk house, the bulk tank, wash systems, water heaters, fans, lights, feed pushers and manure equipment.
What we do
Wiring made for wet, dusty and corrosive rooms
Outages set between milkings
A labeled panel directory when we finish
When to call
Signs the barn needs a look
Most dairy calls start with one of these.
Breakers that trip when the barn heats up
Fans, pumps and the bulk tank all pull more on a hot day. A breaker that trips then is telling you the circuit is full.
Animals that balk at one stall or waterer
Worth a voltage test at the stall, the waterer and the feeder before it becomes a herd problem.
Fans or the bulk tank that stop on hot days
A weak connection or an undersized feed shows up first when the load is highest.
Extension cords and splices holding things up
Cords are for a day. Anything that has run all season should be on its own circuit.
A milk house that outgrew its panel
A bigger tank, a new water heater or a plate cooler means a bigger panel and a new feeder.
New equipment is on the way
A robot, a pit pump or a larger tank needs its circuit planned before the delivery date.
The visit
What a dairy visit includes
We come between milkings, and we ask before we touch a switch.
- 01
Step 1: Walk the barn
We look at the panel, the grounding and the run to each building, and ask what has been tripping or acting up.
- 02
Step 2: Measure where the animals are
If animals are uneasy, we take voltage readings at the stalls, waterers and feeders.
- 03
Step 3: Write it down
The estimate names each circuit, the materials and the outage window we need.
- 04
Step 4: Work one circuit at a time
We keep milking and cooling on while we work on the rest wherever the barn allows.
- 05
Step 5: Test and label
We test each circuit with you, label the panel and leave a one-page drawing.
Pricing
What changes the price in a dairy barn
The estimate lists each of these, so you can see where the money goes.
The size of the barn and the number of circuits
A tie-stall barn with one line of fans is a different job from a freestall barn with two parlors and a robot.
A longer run or a new service
If the barn is far from the pole, the feeder and the trench are often the biggest line.
Equipment that needs three-phase power
Some pumps and compressors need it. We check what you have before we plan around it.
Questions about dairy work
Can you work between milkings?
Yes. We ask when milking starts and ends on the first call, and we plan any outage into the gap.
Do you test for stray voltage?
Yes. We measure at the stalls, waterers and feeders, and trace the reading to its source. If it comes from the utility's side, we tell you.
Can the milk house heater and the bulk tank be on a generator?
Yes, and they usually should be. See the standby power page for how we connect one.
Book a walk-through between milkings
Tell us when you milk. We'll find a time on either side of it.