In my career as a process engineer dealing with solids such as corn starch or dextrose, when I had vessels or machines that had irregular surfaces (uneven distribution of the solids) I was able to use a laser-based level sensor. It actually electronically scans the surface of the material and calculates and average level for the surface. The wavelength of the laser is not affected by dust and the lens of the laser can have a substantial dust coating before being attenuated. The sensors cost around $1000 and can be battery powered and wireless. Since you only need to measure occasionally (also programmable intervals), the battery life is not an issue.
I have to say it…how blessed you are Zach to be working with your dad…some of us don’t have that opportunity any more. You really should do an episode of just telling his history and honoring him!
In New Zealand, the Dairy industry use a milk silo monitoring system from a company called Halo. The system monitors the level of any tank ,silo with the use of a light beam, and reports to your phone.
I can recall a few Falls where we had to have a tractor in the field to pull trucks out because of too soft ground in central Indiana back in the 90's. NOT fun!!!!
A tetherball on a really long rope on a pulley dropped in from the top. Just have to remember to pull it up so it doesn't get buried. There's also pressure sensitive tape with sensors every foot. There's camera's with a rotating lens cover with a built in wiper. There lasers that have flip down dust covers, they used to measure distance. Maybe a customized fish finder with a remote screen.
Being a now retired farmer, I love watching a good day with no breakdowns. It fuels a really good vibe. I too enjoy the last day with the combine. Now you know what you’ve got.
Moline with a straight stack - priceless. Did you wall mount the ol’ bent one? Thank you ALL who continue to provide food, fiber, and shelter to the world. Also, a toast to those thumbless creatures.
I worked at a pharmaceutical plastics molding facility. We had silos for the plastic resins. 1/8" pellets. We used bindicator measurement instruments. Basically a ball on a string lowered to the material and gave us a digital readout how full the bin was. Lasers and sonics wouldn't work to measure the pellets similar to the corn and soybeans.
Zach, for that fuel pressure issue on the semi try replacing the check valves in the fuel filter housing. It keeps the fuel from running back into the tank when they sit overnight. Sometimes they will get trash in them and stick open. Can’t tell you how many I’ve replaced on c15’s that were having that same issue.
We had a truck at work that would loose prime below 1/2 tank. Come to find out the pickup tube in one of the tanks was cracked at 1/2 tank level. If they are to draw tanks, see if one tank is running lower than the other. Higher tank will be the one with the issue.
Hey, cement plants have glass narrow sight windows in the metal bins that store the the powder cement so they have three or four of them they're just long like 3 ft Long Tall rectangular Windows you can see the level of the material in the container if they could do it with that they can do it with grain
Ultrasonic level detectors would work really well for bin levels detection. I worked at a coal fired power plant as an instrument technician and that’s what they used for coal bin levels and they are pretty much foolproof. They would get power from a central panel in your moisture testing shed. Around $1k each probe plus panel.’
I worked for a Sawmill and our sawdust bins had a sensor in them to keep track of how full they were. Displayed on a monitor. Showed in percentage of how full the bin was. Can't get any dustier than dust and it work really well. I don't know where it would be made at but there are systems out there.
Zack Corn Silage in Vermont was the same thing. dry ground 1 month of dry weather and NO MUD! Very different for sure!! It went quick easy, and painless... WAY Different than last year.. Cheers!!
Best wishes from south-eastern Australia. It's sheep country around here, but also some cattle and wineries. And, kangaroos and other native critters, of course. I'll watch ANYTHING and everything you post. Thank you!
There‘s a company out there named Vega that has metering devices to check the levels grain bins and different types of tanks. I’m pretty sure they can be tied into a monitor next to your dryer controls. Used them before for liquid. It worked pretty well.
Looks like a once in a lifetime harvest as far as weather is concerned,even here in Scotland we have had our best weather of the year over past month a few showers but no heavy rain Ground still wet as been cloudy and not much wind as it has been very wet all year till a month ago ,now we have hard frost down to minus 8C last few nights some place have had snow but not us
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, ideas and videos. Always look forward to the greeting with the dogs, I think it’s my favorite part of every video. Have to second the idea of some type of sonar or radar system, a rotating lens cleaner might also work on a camera system, similar to the ones you see on ships bridge windows. I believe AVE adapted one to his automated milling machine a while back so he could look thru the observation window while it was being splashed with cutting fluid. I’ve also seen the turn key systems for monitoring water level in large tanks. Might be able to make something off the shelf like that work. Long story short, I bet you will likely make the climb so many times setting up and testing something like that that you might have less climbing with your current system. 😂 Wishing you and your family the best.
I’m a manager at an elevator in eastern ND and sonar sensors are a lifesaver. Shows you the percentage of the bin. Our newer bins we have lights that come on by the manhole cover when it gets to a certain level as well.
An old timer taught me how to gauge a tank in an oil refinery when its level gauge became inoperative. Throw a round river rock at the tank. The impact sound above the level rings like a bell, below the liquid level the sound is a dull thud. Use about a 2” smooth surface river rock so the impact won’t damage the coating. Accuracy is as good as your throwing arm.
I am not good with electricity or electronics. The key to developing a bin fill system using proximity sensors that are not optical for the last 3 rings. Anytime you get the Moline out, it makes me remember my uncle who farmed with M&M’s up thru the ‘80’s with first a U and the a 670, I believe. Lastly, I have avoided sharing this since I started watching, but I physically remind me of your Dad. Same body type, same gray hir, and dress similarly. But, he is, by far, better looking. Cheers to the rest of your season and the forthcoming holidays. Thanks for keeping this ol’ boy entertained.
A precise level indicator is a simple one, and several methods could be used, the lowest cost is laser based, less than 50 dollars per bin ( parts), interfacing with a camera can be done with no less than a camera reading values. Of course there is always the plexiglass / tempered glass windows on each ring.
Work in a grain depot back in 🇮🇪 in 2011 we had probe/sensors on a little rod down the inside of the top cap on bins similar to yours!! When it claimed to be full we’d go check and more often than not you’d squeeze just a little more in!! Nowadays a lot of grain in 🇮🇪 is stored in MASSIVE warehouses with single span roofs and they’d have conveyers dropping grain from the centre of the roof….. very easy to empty too!!!
If you have compressed air at the bin site, you could run some tubing to blow off the camera lens when it gets dirty, just put a valve on the line at ground level.
I almost bought levalerts. $150. But was told after couple years you can’t trust them. I had 14 acres left of stalk chopping and had great idea to cut weeds on edge BEFORE main field. Broke down, now rain, snow.
Zach, as you are pointing out, every harvest is different. Next year probably won’t be as quick or easy. I’m reminding myself of this also. Stay safe and happy holidays.
the best system i ever saw was sight glasses you can see when the grain is on the glass but that is about all i have seen that works reliable but i have not seen all systems
I've seen ultrasonic parking indicators used to indicate when its getting close to the top of the bin. They are unlit until it gets close to the top it turns green, yellow when its closer to the top and red to tell you its full. Visible from the ground. You can adjust the heights on the sonar too.
Ohmart make industrial level sensors that would do that job. Have used them in wood chip silos, steamy effluent tanks and all manor of industrial uses. They have a small Cs137 isotope in them that can be spanned across various widths and angles. Works on the principle of emitter and beta particle counter. Not cheap but 100% reliable and will work in any condition hot cold dusty steamy or wet. Used a lot in pulp and paper industry which is my background. They have a life span of about 30 years and are very safe to use when all safety considerations are followed. Cheers
Great to see you had a reasonably smooth harvest. Nothing wrong there for sure. The dogs are so cool and they have no idea that they get to spend there days in the presence of the celebrity Millennial Farm. Lucky dogs and they always get a lap back. Thank you.
Former electrician here that did a fair amount of work in a mod-sized MO feed mill. We used hard wired, contactless proximity sensors with pretty good success.
Next year you may be in the mud, snow, rain and breakdowns. It’s never the same every year. Where I’m at it was dry as a bone for 3 or so months. Rained a couple times in the end just enough to keep the grass from dying all together but now it’s cold, wet, windy and behind on getting things done for the winter. Forecast doesn’t look good for the next ten days either. Would be wonderful if it was weather on demand.
Haha, Illinois farming is good, but we get the weather of anything from Arizona heat to Alaska winters. It's stupid very stupid, but welcome to the Midwest I guess.
Take Quonset huts for instance; the construction of those bins is very similar. On my Quonset shed, I have sections of fiberglass to let natural light in there. When you walk in, so you can see what your gonna trip over. Sukup could do some RnD and make a translucent top section. Not all the around, just like a small 30degree piece. But I don’t know if sunlight would degrade the product or introduce condensation🤔
Hi Zack. Two years ago you had a video where you and Jim were installing clear round disks into the sides of your grain trailers so you could see how full they were. You could check if they make a similar item on the top three panels on your bins. Would work if the manufacturer made the clear disks approx 12 inches in diameter. Would should be able to see if you stood back from the bins.
After some thought I should have written, a float resting on top of the grain with the float attached to a cable going up thru the top of the bin to a pulley and then a down cable outside the bin to an indicator at eye level on the ground when the bin is almost to the top of the bin. The next thing is to figure out a float that does not get buried in the grain. $50 for each one if I get a patent-😉
You could use a high pile indicator it hangs from a wire when pile reaches the indicator it lays on its side and sends high pile alarm easy to install and never fail. We use them off stacker conveyors in hard rock mining so radial stackers know to move themselves.
I work as a summer laborer on a local dairy farm when I was a kid. They used to use ultrasonic sensors for seeing how much was in their feed bins but those bins were way smaller than your bins. Back then those sensors just output a signal which showed on a meter and you read that meter 0 - 100%. You had to calibrate those sensors several times a year and the boss always said the meter was more an estimate than a measurement. This was before smart phones though
As of November 20th here in Wisconsin we just got our first snow it's only enough to stick to the cold spots of ground and grass but I'll take that as a win
Its funny. for the first time in like 8 years i have had snow in november here. Tables have turned it seems like. Congrats of making in through harvest without any major incidents
Hey Zach, how bout a transducer. The oil company's use a transducer to measure the height of the oil in their oil storage tanks. Also works like a fish finder transducer.
As far a knowing the level of the bins goes, I would think there would be a way to put in a clear panel a few inches wide, where even completely dirty you'd still be able to see the grain if it was against it. Have them about every other ring of metal all the way to the top
Surprised one of the big bin companies haven’t come up with something similar to plexiglass, where you could put a 6-8” strip of said plexiglass or such from top to bottom for a site glass.
They have sensors that tell the level in sugar and flour tanks for commercial bakeries…. a probe put at several levels that lets you know how full it is.
I can't help but think that your new dryer looks like the Blue Cross/Blue Shield building in Chicago. Since it didn't leave nearly the amount of corn shillings underneath it this year (and for how dry yours was) I wonder if the dryer is/was more efficient than the old style 2-tier cyclone. Just the fact of the corn Plinko-ing through all the arms over distance with hot air induction probably raises the exposure to drying air forces.
Big fella. The only thing I know that reads level is x- ray. They use it in liquid can filling like beer and pop. Thank goodness as you could imagine if you got shorted. Keep doing what you do.
@MillennialFarmer I would just rig up some very light weight braided steel cable or heavy fishing line on a reel on the outside of the bin. Run it up the outside of the bin, and over a pulley setup on the top, attached to a steel weight on the inside. Leave the weight at the top of the bin, drop the weight down to measure height of the grain in the bin until full. It should be easy enough to mark the feet to the top on the line. I assume you are only really concerned with the top 10' or so, so you could easily enough mark the outside of the bin 10-15' and put a flag/marker secured with a crimped piece on the cable when the weight is at the top of the bin as zero. When it drops down to touch the grain, where the flag falls on your measuring board on the outside, you know the height. To be completely honest, I am surprised this doesn't exist already, and I am shocked I am giving someone else a product idea that is probably pretty profitable.
The sound of the gasoline Moline is sweet. I never get tired of that.
It does have that satisfying rumble to it, like muscle cars did back in the day.
Its that Waukesha engine. They all sound good.
You can get sonar level detectors for the grain bins. Just a thought.
Its amazing how well the Moline lights off
In my career as a process engineer dealing with solids such as corn starch or dextrose, when I had vessels or machines that had irregular surfaces (uneven distribution of the solids) I was able to use a laser-based level sensor. It actually electronically scans the surface of the material and calculates and average level for the surface. The wavelength of the laser is not affected by dust and the lens of the laser can have a substantial dust coating before being attenuated. The sensors cost around $1000 and can be battery powered and wireless. Since you only need to measure occasionally (also programmable intervals), the battery life is not an issue.
I was just thinking something along that line
80ghz radar sensors would have been my suggestion
@@andywolf7750 $1000 for a sensor is ridiculous.
Many sensors are useless after a while.
I was thinking IR camera. The difference between the temperature of the corn steel should be enough
What if the camera inside the bin had a little windshield wiper?
Zach, Border View Farms put proximity sensors with light out side bin.
I have to say it…how blessed you are Zach to be working with your dad…some of us don’t have that opportunity any more. You really should do an episode of just telling his history and honoring him!
Maybe not tell him what content he should make
In New Zealand, the Dairy industry use a milk silo monitoring system from a company called Halo. The system monitors the level of any tank ,silo with the use of a light beam, and reports to your phone.
Liquid is easy to gauge with a float device for tanks content
Solid isn’t that easy
Think of all the propane you saved not having to run the (brand new) dryer so much this year. Good year!
LOL @ harvest in Illinois. We have it pretty rough down here too. It even rained unplanned during harvest 3 years ago.
😂
Hope the therapy sessions went well and you're over the PTSD from that tragic event.
I can recall a few Falls where we had to have a tractor in the field to pull trucks out because of too soft ground in central Indiana back in the 90's. NOT fun!!!!
A tetherball on a really long rope on a pulley dropped in from the top. Just have to remember to pull it up so it doesn't get buried. There's also pressure sensitive tape with sensors every foot. There's camera's with a rotating lens cover with a built in wiper. There lasers that have flip down dust covers, they used to measure distance. Maybe a customized fish finder with a remote screen.
Being a now retired farmer, I love watching a good day with no breakdowns. It fuels a really good vibe. I too enjoy the last day with the combine. Now you know what you’ve got.
I'm still combining wth a JD6600 a 300 bushel truck and a couple gravity boxes. Watching the speed you can get stuff done is mind boggling.
Thanks for not sneezing on the camera today.
Come to Eastern NC to farm. Our harvest was so early that the volunteer corn that came up after harvest is silking
Moline with a straight stack - priceless. Did you wall mount the ol’ bent one? Thank you ALL who continue to provide food, fiber, and shelter to the world. Also, a toast to those thumbless creatures.
Check out the cameras rock quarries use. We had them over crushers and belts. Dust didn't stick to them for some magical reason.
They're in the open fucktatd! Smghd
I worked at a pharmaceutical plastics molding facility. We had silos for the plastic resins. 1/8" pellets. We used bindicator measurement instruments. Basically a ball on a string lowered to the material and gave us a digital readout how full the bin was. Lasers and sonics wouldn't work to measure the pellets similar to the corn and soybeans.
Zach, for that fuel pressure issue on the semi try replacing the check valves in the fuel filter housing. It keeps the fuel from running back into the tank when they sit overnight. Sometimes they will get trash in them and stick open. Can’t tell you how many I’ve replaced on c15’s that were having that same issue.
Really put 5 million miles on ci5 never had an issue
We had a truck at work that would loose prime below 1/2 tank. Come to find out the pickup tube in one of the tanks was cracked at 1/2 tank level. If they are to draw tanks, see if one tank is running lower than the other. Higher tank will be the one with the issue.
I’m not a farmer, but I am really glad it looks like you guys are having a good year, getting done without rain or snow, wonderful 😊
And without a fire, despite the dry conditions.
Hey, cement plants have glass narrow sight windows in the metal bins that store the the powder cement so they have three or four of them they're just long like 3 ft Long Tall rectangular Windows you can see the level of the material in the container if they could do it with that they can do it with grain
Ultrasonic level detectors would work really well for bin levels detection. I worked at a coal fired power plant as an instrument technician and that’s what they used for coal bin levels and they are pretty much foolproof. They would get power from a central panel in your moisture testing shed. Around $1k each probe plus panel.’
Same here in N. Missouri cut all my stuff in 28 days straight. No rain break at all...
Love the sound of 5he old MM, reminds me of my raising and running tractors in the 60’s and 70’s.
I worked for a Sawmill and our sawdust bins had a sensor in them to keep track of how full they were. Displayed on a monitor. Showed in percentage of how full the bin was. Can't get any dustier than dust and it work really well. I don't know where it would be made at but there are systems out there.
Those trailer sliding dump gate have really paid off, I remember you changing bearings on the old trailers last year about every other episode.
Zack Corn Silage in Vermont was the same thing. dry ground 1 month of dry weather and NO MUD! Very different for sure!! It went quick easy, and painless... WAY Different than last year.. Cheers!!
No stunt double? Zach hitting the big leagues… Thankyou for another video. Be safe with all the weather heading your way.
7:17 w song choice, I love metallica
Climbing bins gives you a good view of the farm. At least that is what I found.
Best wishes from south-eastern Australia. It's sheep country around here, but also some cattle and wineries. And, kangaroos and other native critters, of course. I'll watch ANYTHING and everything you post. Thank you!
There‘s a company out there named Vega that has metering devices to check the levels grain bins and different types of tanks. I’m pretty sure they can be tied into a monitor next to your dryer controls. Used them before for liquid. It worked pretty well.
Looks like a once in a lifetime harvest as far as weather is concerned,even here in Scotland we have had our best weather of the year over past month a few showers but no heavy rain Ground still wet as been cloudy and not much wind as it has been very wet all year till a month ago ,now we have hard frost down to minus 8C last few nights some place have had snow but not us
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, ideas and videos. Always look forward to the greeting with the dogs, I think it’s my favorite part of every video. Have to second the idea of some type of sonar or radar system, a rotating lens cleaner might also work on a camera system, similar to the ones you see on ships bridge windows. I believe AVE adapted one to his automated milling machine a while back so he could look thru the observation window while it was being splashed with cutting fluid. I’ve also seen the turn key systems for monitoring water level in large tanks. Might be able to make something off the shelf like that work. Long story short, I bet you will likely make the climb so many times setting up and testing something like that that you might have less climbing with your current system. 😂 Wishing you and your family the best.
Congratulations on a safe harvest. Thanks for bringing us along.
I’m a manager at an elevator in eastern ND and sonar sensors are a lifesaver. Shows you the percentage of the bin. Our newer bins we have lights that come on by the manhole cover when it gets to a certain level as well.
An old timer taught me how to gauge a tank in an oil refinery when its level gauge became inoperative. Throw a round river rock at the tank. The impact sound above the level rings like a bell, below the liquid level the sound is a dull thud. Use about a 2” smooth surface river rock so the impact won’t damage the coating. Accuracy is as good as your throwing arm.
We had an auditor show up with a baseball to check bins, his company didn’t think it was safe to climb
It's nice to see you boys catch a break. Lord knows you deserve it. God bless
Why do they deserve it?
You have pressure sensors in the combine bin to tell you when it’s getting full. They must do something similar for bulk grain bins.
I am not good with electricity or electronics. The key to developing a bin fill system using proximity sensors that are not optical for the last 3 rings. Anytime you get the Moline out, it makes me remember my uncle who farmed with M&M’s up thru the ‘80’s with first a U and the a 670, I believe. Lastly, I have avoided sharing this since I started watching, but I physically remind me of your Dad. Same body type, same gray hir, and dress similarly. But, he is, by far, better looking. Cheers to the rest of your season and the forthcoming holidays. Thanks for keeping this ol’ boy entertained.
A precise level indicator is a simple one, and several methods could be used, the lowest cost is laser based, less than 50 dollars per bin ( parts), interfacing with a camera can be done with no less than a camera reading values. Of course there is always the plexiglass / tempered glass windows on each ring.
Hey Brian knew theirs were full the other day when the fans were blowing corn out the vents on the top
Work in a grain depot back in 🇮🇪 in 2011 we had probe/sensors on a little rod down the inside of the top cap on bins similar to yours!! When it claimed to be full we’d go check and more often than not you’d squeeze just a little more in!! Nowadays a lot of grain in 🇮🇪 is stored in MASSIVE warehouses with single span roofs and they’d have conveyers dropping grain from the centre of the roof….. very easy to empty too!!!
Glad to see corn 24 in the books. Happy that you had such great weather for harvest.
AGI has BinManager that should show your levels and grain condition. Welkers run that system I believe in their new bins.
Congratulations on a great harvest, let's hope prices double.
I can’t wait to see how full the new dryer is. Been waiting on that
Bin sentry. We use them for our feed tanks and they are amazing. Look in to them.
If you have compressed air at the bin site, you could run some tubing to blow off the camera lens when it gets dirty, just put a valve on the line at ground level.
What a great feeling to be done with harvest. Hoping it was a good year for yields.
Congrats on getting your harvest in and everyone gets to go home safely ! And no injuries and a great crop ! Congrats
Yes thank you been wanting some Moline action for a while thanks!
Ask Dougo about his foolproof system. When it’s full a corn pile shows up on the ground.
I almost bought levalerts. $150. But was told after couple years you can’t trust them. I had 14 acres left of stalk chopping and had great idea to cut weeds on edge BEFORE main field. Broke down, now rain, snow.
Zach, as you are pointing out, every harvest is different. Next year probably won’t be as quick or easy. I’m reminding myself of this also. Stay safe and happy holidays.
Metallica, cause Nothing Else Matters! Hell yeah bruther!
Nate is so funny in a subtle way. Now that you have that new impact you'll never lose another disc. 🤣🤣
Y’all got through just in time! Snow in the forecast Thursday!
the best system i ever saw was sight glasses you can see when the grain is on the glass but that is about all i have seen that works reliable but i have not seen all systems
On the bright side you are getting good cardio going up the ladders. Just have to keep it up all winter long. Congrats on the harvest.
I've seen ultrasonic parking indicators used to indicate when its getting close to the top of the bin. They are unlit until it gets close to the top it turns green, yellow when its closer to the top and red to tell you its full. Visible from the ground. You can adjust the heights on the sonar too.
Glad that your harvest went smoothly. I can definitely relate to not having your lunch with you. It makes you feel so lonely without it 😂
Ohmart make industrial level sensors that would do that job. Have used them in wood chip silos, steamy effluent tanks and all manor of industrial uses.
They have a small Cs137 isotope in them that can be spanned across various widths and angles. Works on the principle of emitter and beta particle counter.
Not cheap but 100% reliable and will work in any condition hot cold dusty steamy or wet.
Used a lot in pulp and paper industry which is my background. They have a life span of about 30 years and are very safe to use when all safety considerations are followed.
Cheers
Great to see you had a reasonably smooth harvest. Nothing wrong there for sure. The dogs are so cool and they have no idea that they get to spend there days in the presence of the celebrity Millennial Farm. Lucky dogs and they always get a lap back. Thank you.
Former electrician here that did a fair amount of work in a mod-sized MO feed mill. We used hard wired, contactless proximity sensors with pretty good success.
Next year you may be in the mud, snow, rain and breakdowns. It’s never the same every year. Where I’m at it was dry as a bone for 3 or so months. Rained a couple times in the end just enough to keep the grass from dying all together but now it’s cold, wet, windy and behind on getting things done for the winter. Forecast doesn’t look good for the next ten days either. Would be wonderful if it was weather on demand.
Haha, Illinois farming is good, but we get the weather of anything from Arizona heat to Alaska winters. It's stupid very stupid, but welcome to the Midwest I guess.
Take Quonset huts for instance; the construction of those bins is very similar. On my Quonset shed, I have sections of fiberglass to let natural light in there. When you walk in, so you can see what your gonna trip over. Sukup could do some RnD and make a translucent top section. Not all the around, just like a small 30degree piece. But I don’t know if sunlight would degrade the product or introduce condensation🤔
Hi Zack.
Two years ago you had a video where you and Jim were installing clear round disks into the sides of your grain trailers so you could see how full they were. You could check if they make a similar item on the top three panels on your bins. Would work if the manufacturer made the clear disks approx 12 inches in diameter. Would should be able to see if you stood back from the bins.
A 'float' on a pulley riding on top of the grain with an external cable with an indicator on the outside of the bin might be the 'ticket'.
After some thought I should have written, a float resting on top of the grain with the float attached to a cable going up thru the top of the bin to a pulley and then a down cable outside the bin to an indicator at eye level on the ground when the bin is almost to the top of the bin.
The next thing is to figure out a float that does not get buried in the grain.
$50 for each one if I get a patent-😉
You could use a high pile indicator it hangs from a wire when pile reaches the indicator it lays on its side and sends high pile alarm easy to install and never fail. We use them off stacker conveyors in hard rock mining so radial stackers know to move themselves.
I work as a summer laborer on a local dairy farm when I was a kid. They used to use ultrasonic sensors for seeing how much was in their feed bins but those bins were way smaller than your bins. Back then those sensors just output a signal which showed on a meter and you read that meter 0 - 100%. You had to calibrate those sensors several times a year and the boss always said the meter was more an estimate than a measurement. This was before smart phones though
I've been running out of case in fargo last couple weeks, you're right about the wind
Build the bins out of transparent aluminum and it will hold a whale load of corn
Im from Canada and I work in a feed mill we have sensors that run the whole length of the bin and they are pretty accurate
As of November 20th here in Wisconsin we just got our first snow it's only enough to stick to the cold spots of ground and grass but I'll take that as a win
Use radar level transmitters in your grain tanks. They are not sensitive to dust as far as i know, ultrasonic also may be useful.
Its funny. for the first time in like 8 years i have had snow in november here. Tables have turned it seems like. Congrats of making in through harvest without any major incidents
In Southern Illinois most have been done for over 2 weeks.
Congratulations on getting it all off the fields. And now summer vacation starts too!
Yeah right. Come to Illinois and see what it’s like 😊
Hey Zach, how bout a transducer. The oil company's use a transducer to measure the height of the oil in their oil storage tanks. Also works like a fish finder transducer.
Harvest Home when it has been successful is always a lovely warm feeling. 😀👍
love that ur bumping metallica in the tractor
Nathan ,border view farms installed lights on his bins just has to look at the bins works great for him
As far a knowing the level of the bins goes, I would think there would be a way to put in a clear panel a few inches wide, where even completely dirty you'd still be able to see the grain if it was against it. Have them about every other ring of metal all the way to the top
Dad saying "then we will never lose another disc blade" was the line of the year
Maybe Simply Safe can make you some sensors for your bins 😊
Surprised one of the big bin companies haven’t come up with something similar to plexiglass, where you could put a 6-8” strip of said plexiglass or such from top to bottom for a site glass.
Nothing else matters when it’s harvest time
The bin level talk in the beginning had me rolling 😂
In my experience battery impacts variables are so wide you can't trust them low battery won't even tighten them barely at all
The view from the bin top is so cool though.
Look at border view farm bin, they have a nice detection system.
They have sensors that tell the level in sugar and flour tanks for commercial bakeries…. a probe put at several levels that lets you know how full it is.
I can't help but think that your new dryer looks like the Blue Cross/Blue Shield building in Chicago. Since it didn't leave nearly the amount of corn shillings underneath it this year (and for how dry yours was) I wonder if the dryer is/was more efficient than the old style 2-tier cyclone. Just the fact of the corn Plinko-ing through all the arms over distance with hot air induction probably raises the exposure to drying air forces.
Akin to a boiler gauge glass, a plexiglass strip an inch or so wide the height of the bin up its side wall
🚜 Zach’s blend of humor and hard work is what makes farming so relatable! Love how he bridges the gap between farmers and consumers. 🌾👏
I've heard a check valve on the fuel line helps keep the fuel from returning to the tank.
I like the way your dad thinks
Big fella. The only thing I know that reads level is x- ray. They use it in liquid can filling like beer and pop. Thank goodness as you could imagine if you got shorted. Keep doing what you do.
@MillennialFarmer I would just rig up some very light weight braided steel cable or heavy fishing line on a reel on the outside of the bin. Run it up the outside of the bin, and over a pulley setup on the top, attached to a steel weight on the inside.
Leave the weight at the top of the bin, drop the weight down to measure height of the grain in the bin until full. It should be easy enough to mark the feet to the top on the line.
I assume you are only really concerned with the top 10' or so, so you could easily enough mark the outside of the bin 10-15' and put a flag/marker secured with a crimped piece on the cable when the weight is at the top of the bin as zero. When it drops down to touch the grain, where the flag falls on your measuring board on the outside, you know the height.
To be completely honest, I am surprised this doesn't exist already, and I am shocked I am giving someone else a product idea that is probably pretty profitable.
I'm not a farmer and I'm enjoying the not so bad weather here in northern lower Michigan.