homemade grain silo

[farmerbrowne]

howdy yall,
Im looking at different was to store my chicken grains as i buy roughly 600lb every month or so.. Has anyone ever made a silo like item to store feed in? I was thinking of a 2 foot diameter culvert about 6 feet tall. thing is how do I make the cone top and the bottom with a sliding open for dispensing grain?
I am currently using two chest freezers, but in the spring I plan on getting a couple of goats therefore because of the difference in protein content needed, i need a separate storage

 

[jthornton]

Making a cone is not a beginning sheet metal project, a square top would be much simpler to make. Loading will be a problem unless you have a screw elevator. 6' + 3' under is pretty tall. I think if I was trying buy 600lbs of feed at one time I'd want a square bin with a sloping bottom to one side and a hinged sloping roof. Of course I just thought that perhaps the feed store is delivering it with one of those silo filling trucks the height would not be a problem. However stability would be a problem with a tall skinny silo with 600lbs of grain in it.

Jet my 2 cents
JT

 

[farmerbrowne]

Making a cone is not a beginning sheet metal project, a square top would be much simpler to make. Loading will be a problem unless you have a screw elevator. 6' + 3' under is pretty tall. I think if I was trying buy 600lbs of feed at one time I'd want a square bin with a sloping bottom to one side and a hinged sloping roof. Of course I just thought that perhaps the feed store is delivering it with one of those silo filling trucks the height would not be a problem. However stability would be a problem with a tall skinny silo with 600lbs of grain in it.

Jet my 2 cents
JT

I like your idea... now to figure out how to make one with a sloping side. No I dont have the ability to have it delivered as Im not ordering enough

 

[jthornton]

My rough idea is like this drawing.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi.
I would say please look heavily into the silo idea during your design process. I have discovered a MAJOR problem would be sweating on the inside which could cause your feed to mold and defeats the purpose of being able to store large quantities.

Unless your goats are for milking maybe they don't need grain? At least I know whethers don't.

Good luck.

 

[jthornton]

+1 on the metal sweating unless you live in the desert, I had to put a plastic bucket with a hole in the bottom in my metal deer feeder to stop the corn from getting wet.

JT

 

[farmerbrowne]

Hmm good point in the sweating. Makes me wonder how the big metal silos keep moisture down

 

[Folly's place]

Storing grain is tricky, and silos are built with that in mind. It's not just a metal tube! How about adding another chest freezer? Mary

 

[The Moonshiner]

Following.....
I've been curious about this subject for a while now.
We use 55 gallon plastic barrels to store our feed and it works great. But I get feed once a week and go through 100 lbs give or take per day. It would be great to get a months supply at a time and have it delivered.

 

[jthornton]

Hmm good point in the sweating. Makes me wonder how the big metal silos keep moisture down

They have a screen floor and a fan that blows air under the floor and up through the grain.
JT