Efficient shed cleaning and waste management are vital to animal health, worker safety and overall productivity on a dairy farm. Traditional cleaning methods around the farm, such as manual scraping and hosing, can be time-consuming and inconsistent. This is where Westermann’s innovative farm scrapers come in: the Westermann Walk Behind WS800 Vario Electric Farm Scraper and the Westermann CM2 Ride-On PRO.
Whether you're looking for an alternative to manual scraping, a backup for if your tractor system is out for maintenance or for those awkward places where your robot scraper can’t reach, a Westermann is for you. Both machines are uniquely equipped to transform how dairy farmers manage mucking out and shed maintenance, so let’s explore their many uses.
Why invest in a Westermann Farm Scraper for your dairy farm?
On a dairy farm, you’re responsible for the cleanliness of three main areas: the milking parlour, the feeding passages and the cubicles. Cleaning each area regularly, thoroughly and keeping up high standards of hygiene is incredibly important for both herd health and milk quality. Cleanliness affects udder health, keeping feed clean and accessible optimises intake and dry, clean bedding reduces the risk of mastitis and improves cow comfort.
Both Westermann scrapers are engineered to save time, reduce manual labour and improve overall herd health.
Cleaning the milking parlour
The milking parlour is the heart of the dairy shed, but also one of the dirtiest places. Manure can easily build up on flooring, and it needs cleaning out regularly and sanitising twice a day. A wet, dirty floor can be a breeding ground for harmful bacteria that can risk contamination and poor cow health, become a slip hazard, and is also a time-sensitive job between milking sessions.
Both the Westermann WS800 Walk-Behind Electric Scraper and CM2 Ride-On PRO have highly effective and durable rubber waste scraper attachments with a working width of 800mm for deep cleaning in narrow passages to easily remove manure buildup from the area without excessive water. The milking parlour will still need hosing down and sanitising regularly, but by introducing a Westermann into your parlour cleaning routine you can quickly remove the manure before going in with your regular disinfectant routine to save water. Tackling it this way will also help lessen the spread of those manure particles through splashback from the hose, contributing to a cleaner space overall and a faster turnaround between milkings.
Keeping feeding passages clean and silage accessible
Feeding passages must be kept free of manure to keep feed clean and accessible. Contamination can lead to reduced feed intake, health problems and a decrease in milk quality.
Both the WS800 Walk Behind and CM2 PRO Ride-on machines can be used to scrape waste out of the feeding passage with their respective scraper attachments to keep the area clean. They’re also able to push feed back towards the cubicles with the correct attachment, too.
The Feed Shield attachment for the walk-behind farm scraper is an articulated 800mm scraper that’s designed to clean along feed troughs and around awkward barn structures. Perfect for manoeuvring feed into tight corners or around obstacles, it pivots through 260 degrees with a simple bolt adjustment to give ultimate flexibility and control when repositioning silage or other materials.
For the Westermann Ride-on, the Feed Auger attachment aerates and mixes animal feed while pushing feed back towards stalls to keep silage fresher for longer. This attachment takes the backache out of manually forking in silage, reducing the physical strain on farm workers. Its open coil design preserves the feed’s essential fibre and protein content that’s crucial for animal health, and prevents it from drying out to maintain its nutritional value for better feed efficiency and more cost-effective farming.
Our friends at Machinery Nation have tested out the Westermann CM2 Cubicle Brush and Silage Auger attachments to show you just how effectively they work.
Cow cubicle maintenance
Cubicles are where your cows rest, and comfort here translates directly into milk production. Manure and urine can track in and lead to wet bedding and bacteria can easily build up as a result. Keeping cubicles cleaner encourages cows to spend more time lying peacefully - happier cows = better milk yields.
The ride-on waste scraper attachment is also available with the addition of a side sweeper brush for cleaning along the cubicle as you go. Combine this with the Lime and Feed Spreader attachment to also spread lime as you go to kill bacteria and neutralise acidity near the udders within the cubicle. The ultimate set-up for taking care of three jobs all at once!
As well as the aforementioned scraper attachments, both the WS800 and CM2 Pro have Pushing Shield attachments for cleaning wider spaces and larger volumes of material, such as manure or straw. It has an adjustable working width of 800mm-1600mm that’s easily adaptable with its simple bolt mechanism. Ideal for both handling large volumes quickly or working in confined spaces, it’s the perfect attachment for maximum versatility working across slatted and unslatted floor areas in cubicle sheds and varied dairy barn layouts. It glides through the cattle shed, leaving only the satisfying scrape of clean floors behind.
Investing in an efficient farm scraper like the Westermann Walk Behind WS800 or the CM2 Ride-On PRO pays off quickly in labour savings, cleaner sheds and happier cows. Whether you’re looking to modernise your farm maintenance or trying to reduce manual labour, a Westermann Farm Scraper offers serious advantages across the board for milking parlour hygiene, feeding passage upkeep and cubicle care.
And as you can see from the video below, the cows don’t seem to mind having them around either.
If you’re interested in knowing more about how the Westermann WS800 Farm Scraper works and want to see it in action, check out this video from the folks at Machinery Nation who break down everything you need to know about the machine.
Contact us
If you’re looking for new livestock farming machines, here at SPA Power Machinery we stock a range of Westermann equipment, from ride-on brushes to scrapers and silage pushers, that are ready to get the job done.
If you’d like to know more about using Westermann machinery for agricultural purposes, please get in touch with us via the contact form on our website, or you can call us on +44 (0)114 2699 119 or email info@spapowermachinery.com.