Liners are the only part of machinery in direct contact with the teats, which are highly sensitive and differ widely between animals. For a perfect fit and proper massage of the teat end you would have to have a tailor-made liner for each cow. Of course it is impossible to have a different cluster for each cow but you should be careful to choose the right liners for your herd according to the shape and length of the majority of the teats. 

Which liner for which cow?

A liner is comprised of the head and the shaft.  

For a perfect fit, the mouth piece of the head should only be just wide enough to take the teat but never too small. Short teats need a specially shaped liner head, and WestfaliaSurge have suitable liners that will massage even the shortest teats effectively. For funnel shaped teats there are liners with a soft outer lip to the head to avoid strangulation and hence poor milking. 

Liners with a smaller head are extremely useful for close and short teats. Liners with larger heads don't ride up the teat as quickly at the end of milking but need longer teats with sufficient distance between.

It is completely up to you whether you prefer a three-piece liner (liner with sight glass/Vacustop and short milk tube) or a one-piece Monoblock liner (liner and short milk tube in one without sight glass). 
Ask your local WesfaliaSurge dealer to help you pick the right liner for your herd. 

WestfaliaSurge has a wide variety of black rubber liners and of silicone liners.

How long should I be using the liners?

A liner opens and closes approximately 3,600 times per hour during milking. This gives rise to mechanical stress, which is combined with the effects of milk fat, cleaning and sanitising agents and the influence of light. The elasticity and quality of the surface structure deteriorate and the liner ages. 

A liner experiences stress not only during milking but also during cleaning. This is why WestfaliaSurge measure liner life in operating hours. Black rubber liners should be changed after every 750 hours of operation, while silicone liners have double the life span of 1500 hours. Tests have proven that silicone liners had three times less germs on its surface as black rubber liners after the same time of operation.

The milking quality, milking time and milking out, and hence udder health and milk quality, are directly influenced by the right liner choice. The effects of pulsation and vacuum level are influenced by liner quality, so a change of quality requires adjustments in these areas. It is therefore very important to stay with genuine WestfaliaSurge liners.