Fullwood Merlin Milking Robots
The Merlin 2+ is the robot you would get if you ordered one today — planned into your shed, installed, commissioned and serviced by our own engineers, across the whole of Scotland.
Fullwood build the Merlin. McCaskie is their exclusive dealer for Scotland — the only company here that can sell one, install it, commission it and service it.
The Merlin Range, One Dealer
Order a Fullwood robot today and you get the Merlin 2+ — the M²erlin. For herds milked in batches rather than on free cow traffic, there is the Merlin Meridian.
The people who quote you a robot are the people who design the system around your shed, install it, commission it and answer the phone when it stops at five in the morning. There is nobody to be passed on to, and no quota to hit — which is also why we will tell you when a robot is the wrong answer for your building.
Merlin 2+
The robot you would get if you ordered one today. Features and benefits
Merlin Meridian
Batch milking — robots milking groups rather than cows coming when they like. Features and benefits
Not sure which suits?
That is what the site visit is for. An engineer looks at the building, the herd and the way you work before anything is drawn or priced. Arrange a site visit
What a Milking Actually Looks Like
The cow decides when. She walks in, is identified, fed, prepared, milked quarter by quarter and let out the other side.
Yield goes through an ICAR-approved milk meter and every quarter is checked at each milking, not the udder as a whole. That is how a robot spots mastitis in one quarter before the average has moved.
Electric, and Quiet Enough to Stand Beside
The arm runs on electricity rather than compressed air — a quieter box, calmer cows, and no air line to service.
It can also reattach to the rear teats without first letting go of the front, so one knocked cluster does not cost a whole attachment. For heifers and excitable cows that quietness is worth more than any figure on a spec sheet.
Features, and What They Mean on a Farm
The M²erlin: an open stainless box, a whisper-quiet electric arm, and twin entry and exit.
| Feature | What it means on your farm |
|---|---|
| Twin entry and twin exit | Straight-ahead entry, side entry, or a combination — and the same choice on the way out. Shorter queues, a quicker turnaround, and the box doubles as its own separation unit: cows can be sent straight on or sideways to a different group or the straw pen without a separate gate. It is also why a Merlin drops into sheds other robots cannot, and it allows tandem or checkout set-ups. |
| Tilting feed trough | The trough only tilts for the cow being milked, then tilts away to let her out. She leaves sooner, straight ahead or sideways, so the box gets through more milkings in a day. |
| Whisper-quiet electric arm | Electric throughout rather than compressed air. It can reattach to the rear teats without first letting go of the front, so one knocked cluster does not cost a whole attachment. |
| Streampulse milking | A longer milk flow than conventional pulsation, with less vacuum on the teat during rest phases. The teat gets more rest and the udder milks out more completely. Fullwood put around half the yield in the first two minutes of milking. |
| 3D camera positioning | The arm finds the teats by camera rather than by memory alone, which is what keeps attachment quick on an awkward or a freshly calved udder. |
| FULLSENSE software, as standard | The robot's data turned into a list of jobs rather than a wall of numbers, with an app for the phone in your pocket. The list you walk in to in the morning is the one the robot made overnight. |
| Smart sensors, if you want them | AfiCollar for activity, feeding and rumination; AfiTag III on the leg for health and oestrus; FarmCan4QC reading conductivity quarter by quarter for early mastitis; FullCount for cell counts; Inline MilkLab measuring fat, protein and lactose in the milk flow at every milking. None is compulsory, and we will say which are worth it for your herd. |
| Your choice of cow ID | The Merlin works with more than one identification system, so it can usually read the tags or collars your herd already wears. |
| Full stainless-steel construction | It washes down, it stands up to the shed, and an engineer can get at it without stripping half of it down. |
Feature descriptions and figures from Fullwood's Merlin 2+ brochure and product literature; the farm-side reading is ours.
A Longer Flow, and a Teat That Gets a Rest
Streampulse keeps the milk flowing for longer and drops the vacuum on the teat between pulses, so the udder milks out more completely and the teat comes to less harm doing it.
Fullwood number the comparison one to four: a longer milk flow, a more relaxed teat, faster milking, and more milk in the jar at the end of it. In every panel the conventional machine is drawn on the left and Streampulse on the right. The one that earns its keep in the shed is the second — vacuum off the teat for longer is what keeps teat ends in condition through a long lactation.
Diagram and comparison from Fullwood's Merlin 2+ brochure; the farm-side reading is ours.
Why Twin Entry and Exit Matters
This is the part farmers underestimate, and it is the reason a Merlin fits sheds other robots cannot.
Why She Leaves Sooner
The trough tilts only for the cow being milked, then tilts away to let her out.
She is not standing about clearing feed while the next cow waits, and she can leave straight ahead or sideways. Over a day that is more milkings through the same box — which is the number that decides how many boxes your herd needs.
The Merlin 2+ Numbers, as Fullwood Publish Them
| Merlin 2+ | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 0.015–0.020 kWh per kg of milk |
| Water | 150–200 litres hot, 200–250 litres cold |
| Machine, L × W × H | 3,537 × 2,284 × 2,150 mm |
| Space required | 5,000 × 2,700 mm |
| Weight | 1,200 kg |
| Standard equipment | Stainless-steel build, electric arm, FULLSENSE and app, ICAR milk meter, per-quarter mastitis detection, Streampulse, three-bucket separation |
Figures as Fullwood publish them, September 2026 — their water figures carry no period, so neither do ours. How many cows one box will milk depends on yield, milking frequency and cow traffic in your shed, which is why we start with a visit rather than a number.
Batch Milking, Without the Labour
Not every farm wants free cow traffic, and not every farm should have it.
The Meridian is a semi-circular layout with the inner circle as the waiting area, so a cow walks straight to a robot instead of turning left or right at the entrance. The robots milk the batch without anybody standing over them, and you bring the next group in. It is the consistency and routine of conventional milking with the labour saving of a robot — through the same Scottish dealership and the same engineers.
What Batch Milking Changes
Milking keeps the shape of your day
Groups are milked at the times you choose rather than cows coming when they like.
Nobody stands over it
The batch is milked unsupervised; you bring the next group forward.
A moving drive gate
Cows are moved up without a person pushing them. Fullwood say no cow spends more than an hour in the waiting area.
For farms weighing up a rotary
If a rotary or a big parlour is on the table against robots, this is the one to look at before anything is drawn.
Feature descriptions from Fullwood's Merlin Meridian literature; the farm-side reading is ours.
We Still Service the Merlin 2, as Usual
The robots in this shed are an earlier Merlin. McCaskie put them in, and McCaskie still service them.
A newer model coming out changes nothing for you and moves nobody down the list. The engineers commissioning a 2+ this year are the same ones looking after the Merlins already milking on Scottish farms, whatever the model, with the same parts and the same out-of-hours number.
That is the argument for buying a robot from a dealer with its own engineering department rather than from a catalogue.
A Robot Is Only as Good as the People Behind It
A milking robot is a fifteen-year decision, and most of what makes it a good one happens before and after the machine arrives.
Where it sits, how cows reach it, who commissions it, who answers the phone. McCaskie has been a Scottish family business since 1957 and has worked with Fullwood for more than ten years, putting in more than 90 Merlin robots in that time. Eight engineers work from Springkerse in Stirling, and the call-out runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
It is also why the answer is sometimes no. Not every shed suits a robot, and being the only Fullwood dealer in Scotland is exactly what lets us say so.
Questions We Are Asked Most
How many cows can one Merlin 2+ milk?
It depends on yield, milking frequency and how cows move in your shed, so we will not quote a number off a page. An engineer comes out and works it through with you before anything is ordered.
Can a Merlin 2+ go into the shed I already have?
Usually, yes. The robot takes straight or side entry and straight or side exit in any combination, so it can sit where other robots cannot, and it can be set up tandem, checkout or head to head. We draw the layout with you first.
I already have a Merlin. Do I need to change it?
No. A new model coming out does not make yours obsolete, and it does not change how it is looked after. McCaskie service the Merlins already working on Scottish farms whatever the model, from the same base, with the same parts and the same out-of-hours number.
What does the robot record at each milking?
Yield through an ICAR-approved milk meter, and a mastitis check on each quarter rather than the udder as a whole. Health, fertility and milk quality sensors can be added, but none of them is compulsory.
Who installs and services Fullwood robots in Scotland?
McCaskie, and only McCaskie — we are Fullwood's exclusive Scottish dealer. Eight engineers at Springkerse in Stirling design the system, install it, commission it and service it afterwards, across the whole of Scotland. More than ten years with Fullwood and more than 90 Merlin robots installed.
What if I would rather milk in groups than let cows come when they like?
Then the Merlin Meridian is the one to look at — Fullwood's rotary, robots milking in groups with a central waiting area. Same dealership, same engineers.
Arrange a Site Visit
McCaskie Engineering — 01786 474 481 · info@mccaskie.co.uk
4 Munro Road, Springkerse Industrial Estate, Stirling FK7 7UU · Monday–Friday 8am–5pm, and on call outside those hours.