storing grain in a silo for your flock

[blueseal]

anyone use a grain silo for grain storage if so how much did you pay for one and how much do you pay to get it filled with grain.

 

[sweetrootfarm]

We are currently looking at building a 4 ton bin. We've seen them for about $600 here locally. I recently posted plans (we are looking at building one). Search for grain bins; since I used a link for the plans the post is awaiting moderation.

 

[Rod-T]

They also sell grain in 1000 pound totes.. might be something to look into. Instead of get a silo

 

[Rod-T]

I don't know how long a 1000 pounds will last you but you can get in a truck as often as you need

 

[sweetrootfarm]

We already get spent grain in 1000 pound totes, trucking them in ourselves from a nearby city. It takes time, and if I bring a trailer to a farm or supplier, I can pickup 3.5 tons at once, and save both money and a lot of time, even after you factor in our cost of hauling them directly farm a distant farm directly to our farm. In the summer, during the height of the growing season, we don't have time to get the 1000 pound totes every 2 - 2.5 months. We also have issues with mice and since our place is a stop by place, and it's imperative we keep mice out of crops, and any produce, we are at the point where we need a 4 ton bin. I'm still looking at building the bins from plans I found on the lasstate.edu site.

 

[sweetrootfarm]

Our totes, the ones we get, typically weigh about 1800 pounds. The last one bent our truck tailgate during a less than elegant unload. That's another reason for having a bin. With 4-5 totes, I can justify the time and trouble to borrow the neighbors forklift and load them into our bin. Our bin will need a big top, so we can just slit the bottom of the totes, but that is possible. I think with a forklift load, we can avoid having to use an auger, and just gravity feed. We may change our mind or want to change out our system, so I'm planning on building the bin with two compartments.

 

[Rod-T]

Sounds good..