“Bin Bar” Big Hit At On-Farm Wedding
North Dakota farm girl Chelsey Zeltinger’s wedding this past August was extra special. You might have even heard about it because a picture of a “bin bar” the family made out of an old 1,000-bu. Butler grain bin became famous on Facebook and was seen by hundreds of thousands of people. We saw the photo and decided to get more information.
“I knew right when I got engaged that I wanted something like it at my wedding, so I kept bugging my dad, brother and fiancé to make it. They also thought it would be a cool idea but weren’t thrilled that they would have to make it,” says Chelsey.
Her father, Stu Richter, admits that he was hoping Chelsey would forget about this idea, “but being the persistent one, she doesn’t forget,” he jokes.
Only a few weeks before the wedding, during a wet spell, Stu, his son Brady, groom-to-be Michael Zeltinger, and a co-worker, Neil Backman, began the project.
“They surprised me by doing it while I was away from home and feeling pretty stressed. The sentimental value of them doing this for me made it even more important and special,” Chelsey explains.
According to Stu, the small bin is probably 50 years old and hadn’t been used for at least 30 years. It was just sitting out in the pasture.
“We brought it home with a tractor loader and set it down in the shop. We started by suspending the bin 6 in. off the ground and using a Makita grinder with a cutting blade to remove the bottom foot because it was rusty.”
After setting the bin on solid ground again, the team used their grinder to cut the wall half way up, and all the way around, effectively dividing the bin into a top and bottom section. They left a 36-in. opening by using five 8-ft. sections of sucker rod as pillars.
“We welded 3 brackets to each of the sucker rod bottoms, and 3 more to their tops, then bolted them to the inside of the bin. We had an ample supply of sucker rod because we also use it for our feedlot fencing,” Stu explains. “While installing the sucker rod braces, we had to do a little door work and physically push the lower wall back into the round position because it was egg-shaped by that time. Then, for extra reinforcement inside the bin, both on the top and bottom, we welded more sections of sucker rod horizontally, between the upright wall braces, forming pentagons. After setting the building on a level gravel base, we covered the bottom braces with gravel so no one would trip.”
At this point, it was time to install a counter top so the bin could be used as a bar. The group did this by mounting scrap 2 by 6-in. boards all around the top edge of the building’s bottom half, using 4-in. shelving brackets.
The final touch was stringing lights around the top and bottom of the opening. The family then used an old, empty electrical spool as a table for the bartenders to mix drinks on, and put a couple of big coolers inside for beverage storage.
“The bar was the talk of the wedding,” Stu says. “Everyone was commenting on how cool and great it was. It also turned out to be a fun family project that means a lot to Chelsey. My wife, Vicky, wants to do some landscaping around it and use it as a gazebo, and Chelsey wants one for her house, too, so I guess we might have to make at least one more. It would be a good winter time project. We might even make them for sale.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Chelsey Zeltinger, 7330 - 17th St. N.E., New Rockford, N. Dak. 58356 (ph 701 302-0444; richterc07@gmail.com) or Stu Richter, 106 Riverview Court, New Rockford, N. Dak. 58356 (ph 701 302-0319; srichter@gondtc.com).
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“Bin Bar” Big Hit At On-Farm Wedding FARM HOME Miscellaneous North Dakota farm girl Chelsey Zeltinger’s wedding this past August was extra special You might have even heard about it because a picture of a “bin bar” the family made out of an old 1 000-bu Butler grain bin became famous on Facebook and was seen by hundreds of thousands of people We saw the photo and decided to get more information
“I knew right when I got engaged that I wanted something like it at my wedding so I kept bugging my dad brother and fiancé to make it They also thought it would be a cool idea but weren’t thrilled that
they would have to make it ” says Chelsey Her father Stu Richter admits that he was hoping Chelsey would forget about this idea “but being the persistent one she doesn’t forget ” he jokes
Only a few weeks before the wedding during a wet spell Stu his son Brady groom-to-be Michael Zeltinger and a co-worker Neil Backman began the project
“They surprised me by doing it while I was away from home and feeling pretty stressed The sentimental value of them doing this for me made it even more important and special ” Chelsey explains
According to Stu the small bin is probably 50 years old and hadn’t been used for at least 30 years It was just sitting out in the pasture
“We brought it home with a tractor loader and set it down in the shop We started by suspending the bin 6 in off the ground and using a Makita grinder with a cutting blade to remove the bottom foot because it was rusty ”
After setting the bin on solid ground again the team used their grinder to cut the wall half way up and all the way around effectively dividing the bin into a top and bottom section They left a 36-in opening by using five 8-ft sections of sucker rod as pillars
“We welded 3 brackets to each of the sucker rod bottoms and 3 more to their tops then bolted them to the inside of the bin We had an ample supply of sucker rod because we also use it for our feedlot fencing ” Stu explains “While installing the sucker rod braces we had to do a little door work and physically push the lower wall back into the round position because it was egg-shaped by that time Then for extra reinforcement inside the bin both on the top and bottom we welded more sections of sucker rod horizontally between the upright wall braces forming pentagons After setting the building on a level gravel base we covered the bottom braces with gravel so no one would trip ”
At this point it was time to install a counter top so the bin could be used as a bar The group did this by mounting scrap 2 by 6-in boards all around the top edge of the building’s bottom half using 4-in shelving brackets
The final touch was stringing lights around the top and bottom of the opening The family then used an old empty electrical spool as a table for the bartenders to mix drinks on and put a couple of big coolers inside for beverage storage
“The bar was the talk of the wedding ” Stu says “Everyone was commenting on how cool and great it was It also turned out to be a fun family project that means a lot to Chelsey My wife Vicky wants to do some landscaping around it and use it as a gazebo and Chelsey wants one for her house too so I guess we might have to make at least one more It would be a good winter time project We might even make them for sale ”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Chelsey Zeltinger 7330 - 17th St N E New Rockford N Dak 58356 ph 701 302-0444; richterc07@gmail com or Stu Richter 106 Riverview Court New Rockford N Dak 58356 ph 701 302-0319; srichter@gondtc com
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