POO SUCKER 5000
March 16th 2008 21:08
Is what I call my manure machine. Its correct name is a Greystone Yard Vac and it sucks up the alpaca poo out in the paddocks.
Alpacas poo in piles. The boys are very neat about it and you’ll have a few piles strategically placed around their paddocks. The girls are less fastidious - near enough is good enough for them and they have poo ‘areas’ instead which are take over a larger area.
Anyway, the poo sucker is essentially a Honda motor and a hose, attached to a bin on wheels. You push it out to where you want to clean up, suck up the poo, then tip it in the garden or compost.
The model I have is the smallest in the range. You can buy much bigger ones that are towed around with an ATV or tractor, but that’s overkill for my little herd. And they’re expensive machines.
Shovelling it up with a spade is a much cheaper option and almost as effective. I say almost, because alpaca poo is little pellets, like sheep poo and it’s a bit like trying to shovel marbles, you can never get the lot. The poo sucker gets more of it up and faster. It’s more effective if you’re picking up from long grass too.
I’ve had a few problems with the poo sucker. The handles on the hose came loose and had to be replaced. The engine also overheats and shuts itself down quite a lot which is very annoying. I took it in to get that looked at, but they couldn’t find any problem (always the way!). The thing’s really heavy to push when it’s full too, especially if you pick up after rain when it’s still wet. It has no brakes so I wouldn’t like to be using it on a hill.
Sometimes I don’t pick up the poo but spread it around the paddock as fertiliser. That’s good fun, seeing how far you can kick it. You need to rest that paddock then until the poo breaks down as alpacas don’t much like to eat where the poo is (can’t blame them). They can also pick up parasites (worms) from the poo piles and that’s something best avoided.
I bought the poo sucker to see if it would be a better option than shovelling by hand. For the price of it (and the hassles I’ve had with my machine), I’d say probably not, unless you have a large herd of alpacas. OK it gets more up, but then, the small stuff you leave behind will eventually break down anyway. It’s faster than picking up by hand, but that’s probably the only benefit.
Yard Vac
Alpacas poo in piles. The boys are very neat about it and you’ll have a few piles strategically placed around their paddocks. The girls are less fastidious - near enough is good enough for them and they have poo ‘areas’ instead which are take over a larger area.
Anyway, the poo sucker is essentially a Honda motor and a hose, attached to a bin on wheels. You push it out to where you want to clean up, suck up the poo, then tip it in the garden or compost.
The model I have is the smallest in the range. You can buy much bigger ones that are towed around with an ATV or tractor, but that’s overkill for my little herd. And they’re expensive machines.
Shovelling it up with a spade is a much cheaper option and almost as effective. I say almost, because alpaca poo is little pellets, like sheep poo and it’s a bit like trying to shovel marbles, you can never get the lot. The poo sucker gets more of it up and faster. It’s more effective if you’re picking up from long grass too.
I’ve had a few problems with the poo sucker. The handles on the hose came loose and had to be replaced. The engine also overheats and shuts itself down quite a lot which is very annoying. I took it in to get that looked at, but they couldn’t find any problem (always the way!). The thing’s really heavy to push when it’s full too, especially if you pick up after rain when it’s still wet. It has no brakes so I wouldn’t like to be using it on a hill.
Paca poo, ready to compost
Sometimes I don’t pick up the poo but spread it around the paddock as fertiliser. That’s good fun, seeing how far you can kick it. You need to rest that paddock then until the poo breaks down as alpacas don’t much like to eat where the poo is (can’t blame them). They can also pick up parasites (worms) from the poo piles and that’s something best avoided.
I bought the poo sucker to see if it would be a better option than shovelling by hand. For the price of it (and the hassles I’ve had with my machine), I’d say probably not, unless you have a large herd of alpacas. OK it gets more up, but then, the small stuff you leave behind will eventually break down anyway. It’s faster than picking up by hand, but that’s probably the only benefit.
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Comment by katyzzz
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Comment by Rosemary
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Not the most fun part for sure, but put the stuff in the garden and you get the best tasting veggies!
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Comment by Rosemary
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They are used for sucking water, sawdust and picking walnuts off trees too apparently. Cheers.
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Comment by Rosemary
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It needs to be improved a lot though before I would say it's worthwhile. Too many things about it which crap me off (no pun intended
Comment by Anonymous