Extending the Life of Rotary Parlours
For dairy farmers, a reliable milking rotary is central to everyday operations. As equipment ages and herds grow, maintaining that reliability can become more demanding. Wear, rising maintenance costs and longer milking hours leave many farmers asking: how can we get more value from the rotary we already have?
Fabrinox’s Heavy Maintenance offering, the first of its kind in South Africa, provides specialist support to help farmers maintain, upgrade and extend the service life of their existing rotary systems.
Developed through engagement with DeLaval, its dealer network and farmers, the offering responds to a practical need: access to the technical knowledge, tools and maintenance solutions required to keep existing rotaries working effectively.
Working alongside DeLaval and its dealers
Our partnership with DeLaval is central to this offering. By combining Fabrinox’s manufacturing and heavy maintenance capabilities with DeLaval’s rotary expertise and local dealer support, we aim to give farmers a clearer path from identifying a problem to selecting a suitable solution.
For DeLaval agents and technicians, this means access to specialist assistance for work beyond routine servicing. For farmers, it means their local dealer can connect them with additional technical support when assessing the condition and future needs of their rotary.
Specialist support for existing rotaries
The Heavy Maintenance offering supports PR1100, PR2100, PR2250, PR3100 and HBR rotaries, with maintenance and upgrade recommendations based on the condition of each installation.
Services include:
- Rotary evaluations and condition reporting.
- Rotary servicing.
- Grinding and replacement of wear strips.
- Wheel replacements.
- Beam upgrades and replacements.
- Top-section upgrades, including the possibility of an E100 top section where suitable.
A structured assessment helps establish what work is required and which maintenance or upgrade options are appropriate. This gives farmers a better basis for planning expenditure and discussing the next steps with their dealer.
RotoCage Reboot: upgrading the structure beneath your rotary table
For some installations, individual repairs may only form part of the solution. The supporting structure beneath the rotary may also need attention.
Fabrinox’s RotoCage Reboot programme has been developed to address this need on existing PR1100, PR2100 and PR2250 rotaries. It provides a conversion from the existing pedestal arrangement to a caged support system, helping extend rotary service life and reduce substructure maintenance requirements.
Fabrinox has already completed its first RotoCage Reboot reference-site installation in South Africa, marking an important milestone in bringing this upgrade solution to local dairy farmers.
The programme offers farmers an upgrade route to consider before committing to a completely new rotary. Suitability depends on the existing installation and requires technical assessment.
Installation is planned in stages, with much of the work taking place between milkings. Critical conversion work requires a planned shutdown window, which must be coordinated with the farmer and dealer to manage disruption to milking operations.
Better assessments, clearer maintenance decisions
Supporting the service is Fabrinox’s Rotary Heavy Maintenance App, developed specifically for the DeLaval dealer network.
The app guides agents through a consistent assessment process to evaluate rotary condition, record findings and identify potential maintenance requirements during farm visits.
For farmers, this supports clearer discussions about the condition of their equipment, preliminary maintenance recommendations and future budgeting. For agents, it provides a structured way to collect information in the field, backed by Fabrinox’s technical support.
The assessment is the starting point for determining an appropriate scope of work for each rotary.
Protecting your rotary investment
Every farm has different operating demands, and every rotary has its own maintenance history. Our focus is on helping farmers understand their options and select a practical way forward, whether that involves targeted maintenance, component replacements or a more substantial upgrade.
Through our partnership with DeLaval and its dealer network, we are building specialist support around the equipment farmers already rely on and helping them to plan ahead and get lasting value from their rotary investment.
To find out more about Fabrinox’s Heavy Maintenance offering or RotoCage Reboot programme, contact your local DeLaval Dealer or Fabrinox by emailing Charl van Rooyen on [email protected].
