Machine and manual working actions for different manure removing technologies

Abstract

Technologies for the removal of manure from cowsheds and paddocks have been investigated by video recording with the following timing and estimation of absolute and specific costs of working actions, time and resources. The comparative estimation of different technologies for manure removing was performed: by delta-scraper equipment from a manure passage; by wheeled tractor with a bulldozer attachment from a manure passage; by bulldozer from a cowshed for housing on deep litter; by wheeled tractor with frontal loader attachment from a cowshed for housing on deep litter; by perimeter gutter cleaner in tie-stall cowshed; by bulldozer from the big paddock outdoor; manually from small paddock with replaceable litter in a cowshed on a pile near the feed passage. It was established that the influences of the method of manure removing on the specific costs of working actions, time and resources per 1 centner of removed manure are significant (p<0.001 for the vast majority of these final characteristics) The measures of influence η2 are within the range from 0.279 to 0.789. The mechanized removing of manure from the manure passage using a delta-scraper in the cowshed with free-stall housing is the most ergonomical among the methods studied. This equipment works at least semi-automatic and performs on average only 0.92 working actions with a duration of 155.1 s for the removing of 1 centner of manure, which worth around 1.08 UAH. Its functioning is characterized by a complete lack of working actions of adaptive type, while the remaining methods of manure removing require at least a quarter of such hard-to-perform and long actions. The accompanying manual labor actions of the personnel for cleaning of boxes from manure at manure removing by a delta scraper or a tractor with a bulldozer attachment are 10.33 labor actions with a total duration of 12.44 s per 1 cow per day. The removal of manure by the perimeter gutter cleaner has the worst (except the fully manual method) ratio between the number of mechanized and manual working actions €“ 558 manual actions per each machine action.