A Goat-milking Stand

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Now slip both stanchion bars (A, drilled) over the two 3/4' dowels (protruding from E), smear the dowel ends with glue, and slide the stanchion crosspiece (C, drilled 3/4") over these dowels and nail it to the stanchion legs.

To complete the stanchion assembly, mark a line 5-1/2 inches down from the top of each stanchion leg, position the upper edge of one of the stanchion crosspieces (C, drilled 3/8") on this line, and nail it in place.

Using the holes in this crosspiece as a guide, adjust the stanchion bars so they line up with the bores and drill a 3/8" hole through each Part A to match the openings in Part C. Then slide the two 3/8" X 6" dowels through the new holes in the stanchion bars and into the already secured stanchion crosspiece. Now to assure proper alignment of the last crosspiece-slide this final cross-member (C, drilled 3/8") onto the dowels and attach it to the stanchion legs. With that done, remove the 3/8" X 6" dowels, apply glue to one end of each piece, and insert them into their stanchion locking pin handles (H). (These "grips" will enable you to remove the upper dowels and awing the stanchion bars apart to accommodate your nanny's neck.)

Finally, install the four lower angled leg braces, set the flooring in place with the roofing nails, and then add the two upper leg braces. That's all there is to it!

FEEDBOX

To help keep your goat occupied while you're milking or otherwise tending to the critter, why not build this simple grain box with a removable floor? Just lay out the four precut 1" X 6" boards, and draw a line-1/2 inch from the lower edge-the entire length of each piece. Then tack two finishing nails on this line in each feedbox end (evenly spaced, of course), and hammer four more finishing nails into each feedbox side (again, set a common distance apart). Finally, nail the four boards together as shown, slip the floor into place on the protruding nail supports, and attach the completed feedbox to the milking stand by tacking the grain bin in place with a few medium (2-1/4") spikes.

GOT MY GOAT

Once I finished designing the stand, the actual construction took only a little over two hours. Now-when I sit back to consider the low cost of my device, the time it took to build the stand, and the fact that the finished product is exactly what I wanted-I'm more convinced than ever that "the best way to do it is to do it yourself"!

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