Albert O’Neill has won third place in the complex category.

Having invested in a new DeLaval rotary parlour last year, County Tyrone dairy farmer Albert O’Neill faced the challenge of getting cows to step onto the pristine moving platform.

Keen to avoid the manual pushing that other farmers have had to resort to for the first few milkings, he devised a nifty mechanical alternative.

See also: Northern Irish inventor reveals his best machinery creations

His so-called Moo-mover features an electro-hydraulic boom that sits alongside the 6m-long single-file race leading to the platform.

At the press of a button on a handheld wireless remote control, the arm at the end of the device pushes reluctant cows into their stalls.

Once the manoeuvre is complete, the boom tilts through 90deg, removing the arm from the race so that it can reset ready for the next act of persuasion.

Telescopic sections

One of the challenges with the build was giving the device enough travel, while ensuring it was compact enough when retracted so as not to interfere with the pre-sorting gate leading into the race.

To do this, he constructed the boom with two telescopic sections, each controlled by custom-made 3m hydraulic rams mounted in opposing directions.

A third ram takes charge of the tilting function, which is fitted with a pressure relief valve on the downward action to ensure it won’t injure a cow if the device is inadvertently lowered onto its back.

Each of the functions can be controlled from the remote, which is linked to a valve block fitted with 24V solenoids.

Now that his cows have got used to the setup, he’s considering hiring out the device to other farmers making the transition to a rotary parlour.