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Anyone use or build silo jacks?

G

Garwood

Diamond
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Location
Oregon
I need to move a couple 21' 5000 bushel grain silos. I've never seen a set of jacks in this area to rent or borrow so I'm planning to make them.

The panels are 44" wide (5 high) so I guess I need about 48" of travel minimum.

What are your guys thoughts on hydraulics VS mechanical, cable winches, other?

I'd like to use just 3 jacks. Is that enough for this size bin?
 
Reach out to companies that build grain silos. They will surely be happy to help you. Moving one of those can be dangerous without the proper tools and experience. Especially an old one with potential unknown structural weakness
 
I've wondered for awhile now what happens to your bin,
when on the jacks, if the wind picks up ?

From what I have seen around here, you could
improve them greatly with a little design work.

BTW the neighbors bin has a warning about emptying evenly.
Apparently emptying one side (thru the floor drain auger)
And not the other, can leave a large "wall" of grain, causing
the bin to roll over.
 
Interesting. In this area they move bins by leaning them over onto a truck and then standing them back up.

I'd think you could just hire a crane to pick it from the top. They don't weigh that much.
 
You want grain bin jacks. There was a hydraulic scaffolding system for relining a concrete silo that was referred to as a silo jack. Different beast entirely as what you are talking.

5000 bu bin 21 ft. dia. is not very big so the load is not too bad. I would use more then 3 though, maybe 5.

We always used cable winch style jacks as that is what the bin dealer had. The big thing is that you want enough jacks so that in the event that one jack fails, the others can handle and maintain stability of the bin until you can either lower it or get enough sheets in to be stable and safe.

Weather is a key factor in if you work or not. We always worked in the early morning and or late afternoon when the wind was calm. If it was going to be a breezy day, we did not work on bin erection.

Another thing to think about is the support jack for holding up the center ring when you get down to the last ring of sheets. The roof will probably be as much labor as the sidewalls.

You should probably mark your sheets also as the do change in length and the bolt hole spacing also changes.
 
ewlsey said:
Interesting. In this area they move bins by leaning them over onto a truck and then standing them back up.

I'd think you could just hire a crane to pick it from the top. They don't weigh that much.
Click to expand...

Besides the complications of moving something that big and flimsy in one piece the power lines over my driveway are not high enough.
 
digger doug said:
From what I have seen around here, you could
improve them greatly with a little design work.
Click to expand...

How would you improve the jacks?

I have 2 WWII bomb hoists. I think I find a couple more and weld some stuff together with a rod attached to a concrete turnbuckle for the outrigger and I might have something.
 
Garwood said:
Besides the complications of moving something that big and flimsy in one piece the power lines over my driveway are not high enough.
Click to expand...

They run cross cables inside the bin in an X pattern. Keeps the bin round while laying over onto the side.

If you have only a short distance to go this is the easiest and quickest method.

Sometimes building a temporary road is also a cheap way around an obstacle.
 
Garwood said:
How would you improve the jacks?
Click to expand...

The aforementioned in-ability to maintain hold down
forces during the process.

Remote control of all of them from one point, safety locks
(simple pin in hole, or more elaborate rail grabbing ratchet)
so your not relying on that cable all the time. (2 sources of safety)
 
We moved 2 10,000 bu. bins about a hundred yards by crane one hop at a time. They are 25 & 27 foot diameter.
a55555f43c8b53255f78b37d1e15b7d4.jpg

3d7c29d0273500df50c2e57ed7b7f659.jpg

How far do you need to move? Can you take a few rings off then haul the rest.

I’d agree 3 jacks is not enough.

Scott


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Find someone with a big gin pole truck. Put a tire a rim in the bin. Cable down through the middle and attach to rim. You can pick up the bin, take off a few rings for height and drive er down the road.
 
Aejgx6 said:
Find someone with a big gin pole truck. Put a tire a rim in the bin. Cable down through the middle and attach to rim. You can pick up the bin, take off a few rings for height and drive er down the road.
Click to expand...

LOL. If the bin is 21' in diameter, you'd need to reach out at least 11' and up who knows how high. I've never seen a gin pole truck that was more than about 6' from the hook to the back of the deck, and maybe 18' high.

I'd be a lot more worried about height. My brother moved a corn crib a few miles. We used an all terrain forklift to pick up each side and take a few rungs out. Propped it up with wood poles. Then slipped a trailer under and set it down on the deck. It's maybe 16' tall and we moved it all on gravel roads at low speeds. No power lines in the way.
 
ewlsey said:
Interesting. In this area they move bins by leaning them over onto a truck and then standing them back up.

I'd think you could just hire a crane to pick it from the top. They don't weigh that much.
Click to expand...

My grandfather moved a few that way. He started a trucking company in 1932 at the age of 16. In the later years he had Mack R that pulled a shortish Fruehauf dump trailer that would raise to near vertical. If the move is short then dropping the wires may be cheaper than the labor to move otherwise. From what guys have told me talking them apart is easy compared to getting them to go back together right.
 
I know of a guy who specializes in moving bins. He has a trailer with a frame that lifts to vertical and he straps around the bin. Then they just lean it down and go. It's a pretty light duty trailer, the bins are not heavy. But, I'm not sure he would move a 21' diameter bin. When you get over 14-1/2 feet wide or tall, you need superload permits and escorts, over 18' requires police escorts.

Around here they move them on river barges sometimes to avoid width restrictions on the bridges.
 
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