“I finally found a good use for the empty Slurrystore on our farm that we haven’t used for more than 20 years,” says Minnesotan Denny Skaro.

   Skaro’s deep blue 20-ft. tall by 52-ft. dia. Slurrystore now holds a regulation-size Pickleball court, with line markings painted onto the concrete floor inside the steel circular walls. “The solid walls make it a little noisy when people start complaining about missed shots or losing a game,” Skaro says. “On the other hand, if we have music playing the walls give us perfect surround sound.”

   Skaro’s Slurrystore stands next to the dairy barn where he and his family milked more than 100 cows. To convert the structure, he removed two steel panels to create a 9 1/2-ft. wide opening. “There were probably 300 3/4-in. bolts holding the panels in place, and it took me almost a full day to get them all out,” Skaro says. He used his tractor loader to lift the 800-lb. panels away. He says the floor of the tank had about 1/2-in. of dirt and sediment that had collected over the years.

   Skaro pressure-washed the walls and floor and he says “now the inside is as clean as new. I marked the court lines, set up the posts and net, and we were ready to play. It’s not quite as roomy as an outside court with a wire fence, but it works just fine for us. We never have to walk very far to retrieve a ball that’s out of play.”

   Skaro says when they used the tank for liquid manure it held more than 400,000 gal. from their dairy herd. “We had it full several times, but those days are over now. I thought about making it into equipment storage, but adding a roof was way more expensive than building a new shed. The court is more practical and a lot of fun.”

   Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Denny Skaro, 39999 County 1 Blvd., Dennison, Minn. 55018.