A liner that fits is a cow that milks out calmly.

Category 01 of 102,500 milkings silicone1,200 milkings rubberFreight and sales tax extra

A cow that stands still through milking is the best liner test there is. Kicking units off usually starts at the mouthpiece.

Four silicone milking liners laid on a wooden counter

Item 01 · Liners

Silicone round-bore liners

Silicone liners last about 2,500 milkings. Rubber, about 1,200. Change them on the count, not when they split.

Silicone holds its shape longer because it doesn't absorb butterfat the way nitrile rubber does, so the barrel stays open and the collapse against the teat stays the same from week one to week twenty. It costs roughly twice as much a set, and on a two-times-a-day herd it lasts roughly twice as long, so the per-milking figure ends up close. Where silicone wins is consistency. Where rubber wins is a small herd that wants a lower bill today and changes on schedule anyway.

We match liners by the mouthpiece bore and the barrel, not by the colour of the box. Send us the bore in millimetres and the shell you run them in. If you are switching from rubber to silicone, tell us, because a few shells need a different length to get the same tension.

Price basisPer set of 4 · silicone $62–88 · rubber $28–42

Liner specification
Material	Food-grade silicone; nitrile rubber also stocked
Bore profile	Round bore
Matched by	Mouthpiece bore, mm · barrel length · shell
Service life	Silicone ≈2,500 milkings · rubber ≈1,200
Sold as	Set of 4, one cluster

Ask about this part Price a set in the estimator

Milking claw with a clear bowl on a steel bench

Item 02 · Claws

Milk claws, 300 cc and 450 cc

The bowl volume is chosen by peak flow. A 450 cc claw suits high producers.

A claw that is too small for the cow floods at peak flow. Milk backs up into the short milk tubes, vacuum at the teat end drops and swings, and the liner starts to slip. You hear it before you see it. On a herd averaging well over 80 lb a day, or with a lot of fast-milking cows, the 450 cc bowl buys headroom. On a smaller or lower-yielding herd the 300 cc claw is lighter on the udder and hangs straighter.

Both sizes have a clear bowl so the milker can see flow, and a stainless top. Tell us the OD of your short milk tube nipples and the long milk tube size, and whether your current claw has an air bleed. We won't sell you a claw that won't take your liners, so we'll ask about those too.

Price basisPer unit · quoted on inquiry by size and nipple

Claw specification
Bowl volume	300 cc · 450 cc
Construction	Clear bowl, stainless top
Chosen by	Peak flow of the herd; 450 cc for high producers
Matched by	Short tube nipple OD · long tube ID · air bleed
Sold as	Single unit; spare bowls and gaskets on request

Ask about this part

When to change liners, in days

Count milkings, not weeks. Take the rated life, divide by milkings per day, divide by the cows per unit. The table does that arithmetic for common setups.

Days between changes, one set of liners per milking unit
Cows per unit	Milkings a day	Rubber, 1,200	Silicone, 2,500
6	2×	100 days	208 days
6	3×	67 days	139 days
8	2×	75 days	156 days
8	3×	50 days	104 days
10	2×	60 days	125 days
10	3×	40 days	83 days
12	3×	33 days	69 days

Worked example: 8 cows through each unit, milked twice a day, is 16 milkings a unit a day. 1,200 ÷ 16 = 75 days for rubber. Write the change date on the parlour wall.

From your photo to the parlour

Send the bore
Mouthpiece bore in mm, the shell you run, and how many units. A photo of the mouthpiece end-on against a ruler works.
The desk matches
Same working day, usually. Our parlour technician checks anything the photo leaves open, like a length change on a material switch.
You confirm
Stock, price and lead time in writing. Nothing ships until you say yes.
Ships in sets
Bagged per unit so the parlour changes one cluster at a time. Confirmed by early afternoon, it usually leaves that day.

Straight answers

Used or reconditioned liners
Never. Rubber has already taken the set it's going to take, and a tired liner costs you in milk-out and teat ends long before it splits.
Guessing from the colour
Two liners the same shade of grey can differ by 2 mm at the bore. We'll ask for the number.
Not for full cluster installs
If you are changing the whole milking system, talk to an installer first. Once it runs, we can keep it in liners.

Other parts on the same unit: pulsators and vacuum regulators, clear milk tubing and claw brushes.

Liners and claws

Ask about liners or claws

Put the bore and shell in the first field. If you run more than one parlour or more than one liner, list them. The desk answers with stock, an indicative price and a lead time.

Or ring (608) 355-8791