Home-Built Bunker Silos

Home-Built Bunker Silos CROP STORAGE Bunk Silos 26-6-35 I work for a dairy farm where we built four bunker silos ourselves up to 75 ft. wide and 250 ft. long. To make the silos, we made a steel form that allows us to build 10-ft. high tapered concrete pillars, spaced 10 ft. apart. To build each pillar, we dig a 4-ft. deep hole in the ground, then set the form over it and use a mixer truck to fill both the hole and form full of concrete. Then we open up the form and use a crane to lift it off the pillar. After we finish making all the pillars, we use another form to make the walls and then tip them up against the pillars. The top part of the walls extends about 1 ft. above the pillars. The photo shows a bunker silo that's 60 ft. wide by 120 ft. long. We have our own batch plant and are able to mix the concrete right at the farm. We save a lot of money compared to the cost of hiring a contractor, and we don't have to worry about the wall falling over under the weight of the silage because the pillars are built so strong.(Ken Reynolds, 15826 Shermanville Rd., Linesville, Pa. 16424 ph 814 683-4890)

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