Eric, I’m an engineer and I LOVE this kind of thing (as many non-engineers/normal people 😂). I’m excited to watch this project take shape, and I hope hope HOPE you will get plenty of of video including time lapse video. Thanks for taking us all along!!
When I built my 24x108 it was a requirement to have a engineer sign off on the soil density. We had to dig a lot deeper than I thought we would to get soil solid enough. 132' is a really tall one. You can't short cut on the foundation.
Definitely need to get that foundation correct because nobody wants to repeat the mistakes cole the cornstar had with the contractor that didn't do the job correctly
We built a really big enclosed feeding center with stationary mixers to feed around 10,000 animals. We finished it about a year ago and did a lot of the work ourselves. I understand the financial commitment completely. Although ours is very different from yours, realizing the savings, feed shrink and herd health goals when finished is awesome. A little bit of hiccups getting it going then you will be happy. We had all kinds of goals with the project but the biggest one that we hadn’t accounted for were fuel savings by mixing with electricity instead of diesel. Almost $40,000 a month less in diesel offset with a $10,000 electric bill. A good trade off and goes a long way on taking care of the payment. We started with a footing for a 105’ tall grain leg. Breathtaking watching all that concrete just going in a hole 😅! Good luck looking forward to following your project. I see “the neighbor “ is still helping you out. Makes me smile every time you say that…..😆. From one dairyman to another, good luck sir.
Oh Eric, sorry for so many “know it all” folks giving negative comments. You just keep doing YOU. This is something you have thought about and researched for a long time…yes, there is risk and learning curves in everything new. However farmers are famous for risks as every blasted year on the farm is at the risk of mother nature!! With your strong faith you have learned to roll with the punches and keep on dairying and farmers. Prayers that this exciting year will bring great rewards. Thank you so much for sharing with us. !!!
Growing up on a 30-cow dairy in upstate NY in the Catskills, we had a silo made of redwood staves. Later my father made forms and poured 4-foot sections of concrete around it. We still had spoilage around the outside. Many hard-working memories of spreading the corn out when it was blown in. I think you are making a good decision to build. Blessings. 🙏
Dang, that was the best looking lawn on your property! Haha. Great idea. I’ve always thought that silos were a much better way to store feed. Properly installed, they have much lower spoilage and lower manhours to load vs. bunkers. Plus you don’t have to use all that bunker plastic and can stop flinging tires.
One of the things I love most about your channel, Eric, is your fearless nature in tackling the repair work. I would be so worried I would screw something up, or not be able to put it back together properly. I love how you just tackle those jobs. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Glad to see all the steel in the footer. Dave will build it right for you! The former owner Randy wouldn’t stand behind our 30x132 that didn’t have steel in the footer that we had to jack straight because the footer cracked
great video and really looking forward to progress on the new feed system including silos and feeding automation. Should be very interesting and educational. Thank you for sharing and bringing us along on your journey.
With the bit on the planter that keets breaking, if you're having it custom made, it might be worth seeing if they'll do it as a bolted assembly! Seems insane to have to take it all apart to replace the only section that isn't bolted!!! Especially as it seems to be an endemic flaw!
Exciting new changes in the works ! I really enjoy your videos and you are so talented and a hard worker. Been watching you ever since you started your site. You have done really well, and it's evident with the upgrades and improvements you have been able to make with the dairy. I know your family is very proud of you.
When you build your apron between the barn and the new silos remember to slope it to the center so that rain and snow melt has a place to go besides into the feed bunk or pooling around the new silos.
The footer is one huge mass of concrete. It should hold up the silo just fine. Glad to see planter work going on, seeds in the ground soon. Great video as always Eric. Thanks.
You should go with 24 x 108 bottom unloading ! 4 of them! We built 2 20 x 108 for a guy in Antigo Wisconsin We had 2 20x 80s on our farm plus a 20x 76 stave silo ! I agree no spoilage
It’s great to see that you are able to spend time with your dad fixing up the farm equipment and don’t have to get a dealer with a laptop to reset components like farming machinery is going to. It’s great to see the new silos starting to take shape and can’t wait to see the next stage in the build. I do have one question though and that is where is the workshop going to be as you are now converting it into the feed mixing station?
That's a lot of concrete, I guess it has to be to support the huge silo. I like watching construction so watching this is a joy, can't wait to see the outcome of the silo's. Good luck and have a nice Friday.
Great fan of your channel. As a dairy farmer wanabe, I've have planned my dream farm to use this system. Great choice! Looking forward to se this come to fruition.
I would have thought you needed to have piles driven like 20+ feet into the ground to support the footing. Hope it works out. Hate to see a "leaning tower of Eric" in the future.
Nice to see some progress. I see a lot of people concerned about the amount of rebar, but since all the load is pressure and you don't seem to have a problem with big rocks in the ground it looks solid to me. It could potentially crack if you have insane winds and the silo is empty but who knows, its cast now anyway... Keep up the good work!
Silos are awesome the only downside is climbing them, once you get over 40 years old the sore shoulders and knees start to come and you dread climbing. Telling from experience
I did watch the whole video but some how it liked to put me on another video before I can type to you. Interesting for sure I have not seen a more modern silo being built so it should be interesting. Lots of work for you and Dad getting the corn planter up and ready. Thanks for another very interesting video.
Our neighbours have a 30 X 120. There’s more concrete in the ground then what the actual silo has. They can’t start filling until moisture is at 55%. These folks will be chopping later in maturity. I like the set up and location of the silos and feed kitchen.
You guys do an awesome job maintaining your equipment. Seems it gets whatever is needed. Also, you go right to town on making capital improvements. Your dad has taught you well Eric. Hope all goes well.
I´m a contractor in Europe for 35 years now... never seen such an low ammount of rebar in a footer this size that get 1600tons on top. No sub soil preperation, no gravel, and the ammount rebar at the bottom is homeopathic. No top binding layers around the Perimeter to avoid anchorbolt blowouts nothing.. pretty sure we wont see an concrete vibrator to get the airbubbels out ... i thought the same while waching Cole the Cornstars bin builds.. and yeah i was right. His pours failed.
Planter becoming a little more work than you thought. Better to replace everything now you need to that way you’re confident everything in working order when it comes time to plant!
Always enjoy your improvements. Did you say it took 5 or 9 trucks of concrete? A whole different project, I saw a grain elevator being poured. It was on Wed afternoon. I came back by it about 1:00 am Sun morning. By this time they were a long ways up. This was in late 1970's. There were people running everywhere up there pushing wheel barrows of concrete. A rain was moving in. Lightning was really abundant. Show had to go on. Had to pour 24/7 until it finished. My plush office job in KC, MO looked pretty good about that time. Take care, always enjoy your videos
Please tell us what your plans are for the old silage arena's. With those high concrete walls you could either extend them higher and then put a roof over the top for a huge new shop. You might consider bow trusses such as are used in greenhouses and then cover them with plastic
Just wondering what type of unloader? On a 24x80 we used a Big Jim that leveled as it filled. And had a small hole in the middle formed by a tube that you open to unload in reverse. Saved a lot of climbing. Thanks so much for sharing.
Quite interesting to see how an upright Silo is constructed. Dang 90 yards of concrete is quite a lot of material. I just used 46.5 yards or concrete for a 32'x62'x6" slab and that took 4.5 trucks to produce that much concrete. Enjoyed watching the donut ring being dug out. I was wondering how the operator was going to position the excavator to disribute the weight so as not to have the center dirt cave in. Quite interesting to see the process. Have a fine weekend. 👍🏽🤠 02/09/24
Eric. You might as well change the rest of the shanks on your corn planter we had several of ours break the one year, the next spring we changed the rest.
Watching from Wisconsin. It’s going to be an exciting year for you and your family on the farm. Your dad seems very conservative. How does your dad feel about all the automation you’re getting installed?
Eric, I’m an engineer and I LOVE this kind of thing (as many non-engineers/normal people 😂). I’m excited to watch this project take shape, and I hope hope HOPE you will get plenty of of video including time lapse video. Thanks for taking us all along!!
As an engineer do you think they installed enough rebar?
What kind of engineer are you? I am studying electronic engineering and mechanical engineering combined right now
Im no engineer but it certainly does not seem sufficient
I love engineers and they love me, when I found mistakes they would fix them before we did them.
Never met an engineer that I could like. All, so far, were experts on everything; even if it was only in their minds. Hope you are different.
Eric, I wish you family well in the financial commitment that you're making for the advancement of your dairy operation!
Wow! 132' silo. I hated crawling up the 80' silos we had.
When I built my 24x108 it was a requirement to have a engineer sign off on the soil density. We had to dig a lot deeper than I thought we would to get soil solid enough. 132' is a really tall one. You can't short cut on the foundation.
Definitely need to get that foundation correct because nobody wants to repeat the mistakes cole the cornstar had with the contractor that didn't do the job correctly
You sure can short cut the foundation, as Cole The CornStar!
@@jesusisGod1434Cole the CornBall
We built a really big enclosed feeding center with stationary mixers to feed around 10,000 animals. We finished it about a year ago and did a lot of the work ourselves.
I understand the financial commitment completely. Although ours is very different from yours, realizing the savings, feed shrink and herd health goals when finished is awesome. A little bit of hiccups getting it going then you will be happy.
We had all kinds of goals with the project but the biggest one that we hadn’t accounted for were fuel savings by mixing with electricity instead of diesel. Almost $40,000 a month less in diesel offset with a $10,000 electric bill. A good trade off and goes a long way on taking care of the payment.
We started with a footing for a 105’ tall grain leg. Breathtaking watching all that concrete just going in a hole 😅!
Good luck looking forward to following your project.
I see “the neighbor “ is still helping you out. Makes me smile every time you say that…..😆.
From one dairyman to another, good luck sir.
Wow 10,000 head... that is a bit more scale than our setup. Hopefully we see good results like you did with yours. Thanks for the comment.
Oh Eric, sorry for so many “know it all” folks giving negative comments. You just keep doing YOU. This is something you have thought about and researched for a long time…yes, there is risk and learning curves in everything new. However farmers are famous for risks as every blasted year on the farm is at the risk of mother nature!! With your strong faith you have learned to roll with the punches and keep on dairying and farmers. Prayers that this exciting year will bring great rewards. Thank you so much for sharing with us. !!!
Growing up on a 30-cow dairy in upstate NY in the Catskills, we had a silo made of redwood staves. Later my father made forms and poured 4-foot sections of concrete around it. We still had spoilage around the outside. Many hard-working memories of spreading the corn out when it was blown in. I think you are making a good decision to build. Blessings. 🙏
It's great that you can do some of this prep work yourselves. Saves quite a bit of money.
Dang, that was the best looking lawn on your property! Haha. Great idea. I’ve always thought that silos were a much better way to store feed. Properly installed, they have much lower spoilage and lower manhours to load vs. bunkers. Plus you don’t have to use all that bunker plastic and can stop flinging tires.
Nice to see you make the choice for lely, makes us a little proud, thanks and greetings from a Dutch dairyfarmer
Hi Eric, lots of big things are going on at the farm. It will be fun watching it all come gather.
Can’t say I’m sorry to see silos coming back. They’re kinda iconic. 👍🏻
Iconic this is going back 40 years in time. Silos are a big pain!!!!
@@jasonreber4101how so??
We call them the "Kiss of Death". I sure hope that is not true.
vertical silos are a great way to automate the feeding process@@jasonreber4101
@@jasonreber4101Only if you can’t handle basic maintenance
One of the things I love most about your channel, Eric, is your fearless nature in tackling the repair work. I would be so worried I would screw something up, or not be able to put it back together properly. I love how you just tackle those jobs. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
I like how much thought and research you do before doing a project
This new system will be fun to watch develop!
Thanks for all your extra efforts to share your journey with us!
Glad to see all the steel in the footer. Dave will build it right for you! The former owner Randy wouldn’t stand behind our 30x132 that didn’t have steel in the footer that we had to jack straight because the footer cracked
Yeah hopefully this will do the job
great video and really looking forward to progress on the new feed system including silos and feeding automation. Should be very interesting and educational. Thank you for sharing and bringing us along on your journey.
With the bit on the planter that keets breaking, if you're having it custom made, it might be worth seeing if they'll do it as a bolted assembly! Seems insane to have to take it all apart to replace the only section that isn't bolted!!! Especially as it seems to be an endemic flaw!
Love silos! Looking forward to seeing the construction process.
Great to see you getting started on the first silo!!
Eric, nice video. It's a little surprised ring didn't call for more rebar. You and your dad work so close together.
Wow! 2024 will be a big year for you. Looking forward to seeing the process. Brilliant video 💪🏻 🏴
Exciting new changes in the works ! I really enjoy your videos and you are so talented and a hard worker. Been watching you ever since you started your site. You have done really well, and it's evident with the upgrades and improvements you have been able to make with the dairy. I know your family is very proud of you.
When you build your apron between the barn and the new silos remember to slope it to the center so that rain and snow melt has a place to go besides into the feed bunk or pooling around the new silos.
This is going to be very interesting to watch as you go along.
Man that was some beautiful grass you piled up
seems only a short since you were laying down that new grass. now digging it up. I love following this channel and developments. Thanks :)
Looking forward to seeing all the new things coming this year.
Eric, I'm a long time viewer of your channel, and this season/year might be the most exciting yet! Looking forward to seeing the farm evolve! Cheers
The footer is one huge mass of concrete. It should hold up the silo just fine. Glad to see planter work going on, seeds in the ground soon. Great video as always Eric. Thanks.
Looking forward to all the videos on the silo project.
Thanks for the update Eric I'm very excited for u guys
Exciting I've never seen a silo being built thanks for sharing
That’s a great video love to see the building of the silos and the feeding system. God bless
Consider myself so fortunate to get to see this from the beginning, awesome, hope I don't miss a thing!
Very excited for you and your family. As an engineer, this will be a fun project to follow. Good luck and keep the videos coming.
I’m glad you got good weather,it’s a big job.
You should go with 24 x 108 bottom unloading !
4 of them!
We built 2 20 x 108 for a guy in Antigo Wisconsin
We had 2 20x 80s on our farm plus a 20x 76 stave silo !
I agree no spoilage
It’s great to see that you are able to spend time with your dad fixing up the farm equipment and don’t have to get a dealer with a laptop to reset components like farming machinery is going to. It’s great to see the new silos starting to take shape and can’t wait to see the next stage in the build. I do have one question though and that is where is the workshop going to be as you are now converting it into the feed mixing station?
That's a lot of concrete, I guess it has to be to support the huge silo. I like watching construction so watching this is a joy, can't wait to see the outcome of the silo's. Good luck and have a nice Friday.
Thanks for updating 🙂
Going to a very interesting Year. Looking forward to all of the improvements.
Excited to see the silos
Great work, silo looks good so far
It’s good to see new things getting done on the farm I have been following for a while now
You definitely got a lot of farmers talking going back to silos again after having trenches we thought silos were a dying landmark😊
Wish you shipped merch to Canada… keep up the good work!
Great fan of your channel. As a dairy farmer wanabe, I've have planned my dream farm to use this system. Great choice! Looking forward to se this come to fruition.
I would have thought you needed to have piles driven like 20+ feet into the ground to support the footing. Hope it works out. Hate to see a "leaning tower of Eric" in the future.
Nice to see some progress. I see a lot of people concerned about the amount of rebar, but since all the load is pressure and you don't seem to have a problem with big rocks in the ground it looks solid to me. It could potentially crack if you have insane winds and the silo is empty but who knows, its cast now anyway... Keep up the good work!
New suscriber here from Iowa. Read all the comments...just shaking my head and grinning about what people say. Enjoyed your video. Thank you Eric!
That project should definitely bring some viewers 👍👍
Great videos Eric, very informative...
Wow! That was fast for The first silo! Interesting when all part of this invesment its done!
Thanks for the video always like watching. Where will you work on stuff once your shop is transformed into the feed area.
Upright silo and automatic feeding just goes so well together, hope you got the dual chute option on them silo I love mine with it
I always enjoy your content man... you come a long way on views and subscribers.. it's awesome watching this channel grow. 🤘👍
Silos are awesome the only downside is climbing them, once you get over 40 years old the sore shoulders and knees start to come and you dread climbing. Telling from experience
I did watch the whole video but some how it liked to put me on another video before I can type to you.
Interesting for sure I have not seen a more modern silo being built so it should be interesting.
Lots of work for you and Dad getting the corn planter up and ready. Thanks for another very interesting video.
Certainly a lot of work involved in your little project, but well worth it for the future. Great job on the video.
Planter maintenance is crucial. Lucky you and your dad found the other two broken parts. 90 yards of concrete. That's amazing. Stay safe.
You are a very hard working ambitious young man. If anyone can get it done. You will.
Our neighbours have a 30 X 120. There’s more concrete in the ground then what the actual silo has. They can’t start filling until moisture is at 55%. These folks will be chopping later in maturity. I like the set up and location of the silos and feed kitchen.
You guys do an awesome job maintaining your equipment. Seems it gets whatever is needed. Also, you go right to town on making capital improvements. Your dad has taught you well Eric. Hope all goes well.
Good video Eric. I am excited to see the feeding & silo project run its course.
Can't wait to see the construction progress for the farm update!
I’ve told like 10 people about this dairy I watch on UA-cam that’s going full robot I’m so excited to watch this
That sod was freaking BEAUTIFUL~! How about some cattle using the brushes footage???
Cool to see silos going up again
Can wait to see that new feeding system. Also that is a nice dump trailer
Great vid! Never seen how a silo is built!
Lots of excitement on the farm ,at least now the planter is in tip top shape
I hope it goes well. That’s a big silo. Hope the engineers are there often
Id love to see a timelapse of the next pour if possible!
You've come a long way baby!
I´m a contractor in Europe for 35 years now...
never seen such an low ammount of rebar in a footer this size that get 1600tons on top.
No sub soil preperation, no gravel, and the ammount rebar at the bottom is homeopathic.
No top binding layers around the Perimeter to avoid anchorbolt blowouts nothing..
pretty sure we wont see an concrete vibrator to get the airbubbels out ...
i thought the same while waching Cole the Cornstars bin builds.. and yeah i was right.
His pours failed.
So so true. This may turn out real real real bad. Hope I'm wrong😢
These guys have been building these silos in the north east for decades. They know what they are doing.
That clay is nice it holds the ground together, in our sand the sides would fall in no time
That is massive. Can’t wait to see the size of even one silo in comparison to the rest of the operation.
wow, you & your Dad have made a lot of improvements in recent years.
That is beautiful topsoil.
Planter becoming a little more work than you thought. Better to replace everything now you need to that way you’re confident everything in working order when it comes time to plant!
Good bit of nice dirt there I must say.
Mechanical systems always break down and always at the most inconvenient time. At least with the bunks you have access to the food.
Always enjoy your improvements. Did you say it took 5 or 9 trucks of concrete? A whole different project, I saw a grain elevator being poured. It was on Wed afternoon. I came back
by it about 1:00 am Sun morning. By this time they were a long ways up. This was in late 1970's. There were people running everywhere up there pushing wheel barrows of concrete. A rain was moving in. Lightning was really abundant. Show had to go on. Had to pour 24/7 until it finished. My plush office job in KC, MO looked pretty good about that time.
Take care, always enjoy your videos
He said 9 trucks, but earlier mentioned 90 yds of concrete for the pour.
9 trucks. Each mixer can handle about 10 yards for legal road weight limits in PA.
Huge improvements, huge excitement, hopefully minor stress!
Please tell us what your plans are for the old silage arena's.
With those high concrete walls you could either extend them higher and then put a roof over the top for a huge new shop.
You might consider bow trusses such as are used in greenhouses and then cover them with plastic
I always watch your videos to the end and wish there were more. Not complaining. I promise. ❤❤❤❤
Great to see a big block of reinforced concrete for the base. Does that much concrete get warm to the touch while curing, even in winter?
That top layer would make great sod for someone .. lol
9 loads of cement... I can only imagine the cost.. 😮. God bless ..❤️🙏
I sure could use some of that top soil and grass in my yard!
It's nice to see the farm grow with advanced technology
Seems like those planter shanks could be welded and reinforced and kept as spares.
40 m tower silo for 1.600 t of forage is a impressive size!
Will you build a new work shop before next winter Erik? I'm very interested in the robotic feeding system. Cheers 🇨🇦
Just wondering what type of unloader? On a 24x80 we used a Big Jim that leveled as it filled. And had a small hole in the middle formed by a tube that you open to unload in reverse. Saved a lot of climbing. Thanks so much for sharing.
Quite interesting to see how an upright Silo is constructed. Dang 90 yards of concrete is quite a lot of material. I just used 46.5 yards or concrete for a 32'x62'x6" slab and that took 4.5 trucks to produce that much concrete. Enjoyed watching the donut ring being dug out. I was wondering how the operator was going to position the excavator to disribute the weight so as not to have the center dirt cave in. Quite interesting to see the process. Have a fine weekend. 👍🏽🤠 02/09/24
Eric. You might as well change the rest of the shanks on your corn planter we had several of ours break the one year, the next spring we changed the rest.
Watching from Wisconsin. It’s going to be an exciting year for you and your family on the farm. Your dad seems very conservative. How does your dad feel about all the automation you’re getting installed?
Going to be quite a project
Amazing video Eric. Thank you so much. How is your family likening their new home ?
Another Great Video 👍 Great content, keep up the great work!