Suckler House Design

kboc

I am starting a suckler farm on land I purchased. I toyed with idea of building a slated shed but just simply couldn't afford it. It has obviously being subconsciously annoying me as I find myself researching slated sheds on internet etc.

I came across an idea on another web site. It sounds brilliantly easy! Is it too good to be true?

Dig out trenches 1 foot wide and 9 foot deep according to dimensions of slatted shed. Fill with 30N concrete and put in steel as concrete going in. Make sure tops of trenches finished cleanly for slats to sit on. Leave for a couple of weeks then dig out centre area. Pour in 12 inch floor and tie into walls with steel. One precast tank!

I did some calcs. 300mm wide (1ft) x 2700mm deep (9ft) = 0.81 cu metre
Therefore every linear metre of the tank perimeter, I will use 0.81 cubic metres of concrete.

Say tank is 40 foot long by 12 1/2 foot wide that is 12 metres x 3.75 metres. Perimeter meter age is 12 + 12 + 3.75 + 3. 75 = 31.5

I need 0.81 X 31.5 = 25.5 cubic metres for walls

I need 38 foot x 10 1/2 foot x 12 inches deep for floor.
This is 11.4 x 3.15 x 0.3 = 10.7 cubic metres for floor

I need a total of 36 metres of 30 N at £44/metres (sterling) = £1584

I have a slatted tank for £1584 + cost of slats + a bit of steel.

Digger and labour will all be free!

Am I deluding myself here?

pakalasa

Kboc,

It's a crazy thing to do.
First of all what are you saving only the cost of the shuttering. You are still going to dig out the tank afterwards.
Think of it this way, all the weight of the cattle plus the slats will be down directly on the area under the walls. This will result in massive ground pressure. If the tank don't split it could possibly sink down into the ground. It won't be practical to attach the floor to the walls afterwards. Because there is no freeboard, this will be a serious week point.
If the tanks leaks there is also the possibility of pollution and also the opposite with water filling the tank when it's empty, if the water table is high.

kfk

I don't think the concrete would dry out very well in a couple of weeks. I'm not a digger operator but wouldn't it be very tricky to dig out a one foot trench that deep? Cant see you saving anything by the time you finish.

mossfort

kboc wrote: »

I am starting a suckler farm on land I purchased. I toyed with idea of building a slated shed but just simply couldn't afford it. It has obviously being subconsciously annoying me as I find myself researching slated sheds on internet etc.

I came across an idea on another web site. It sounds brilliantly easy! Is it too good to be true?

Dig out trenches 1 foot wide and 9 foot deep according to dimensions of slatted shed. Fill with 30N concrete and put in steel as concrete going in. Make sure tops of trenches finished cleanly for slats to sit on. Leave for a couple of weeks then dig out centre area. Pour in 12 inch floor and tie into walls with steel. One precast tank!

I did some calcs. 300mm wide (1ft) x 2700mm deep (9ft) = 0.81 cu metre
Therefore every linear metre of the tank perimeter, I will use 0.81 cubic metres of concrete.

Say tank is 40 foot long by 12 1/2 foot wide that is 12 metres x 3.75 metres. Perimeter meter age is 12 + 12 + 3.75 + 3. 75 = 31.5

I need 0.81 X 31.5 = 25.5 cubic metres for walls

I need 38 foot x 10 1/2 foot x 12 inches deep for floor.
This is 11.4 x 3.15 x 0.3 = 10.7 cubic metres for floor

I need a total of 36 metres of 30 N at £44/metres (sterling) = £1584

I have a slatted tank for £1584 + cost of slats + a bit of steel.

Digger and labour will all be free!

Am I deluding myself here?

yes you are deluding yourself.

Ford4000

I have seen this done and worked perfectly, i have seen this done and the whole thing cracked, i have sen this done and the tank leaked like hell into a local fisheries waterway with v serious consequences, as some one said all you saving is the shuttering and believ me you will get lads to throw in a set of pans for dam all at the present time, plenty shutters lyin round plenty men with nothing to do ! sounds like a good idea but not a good investment at all, do it right or leve it alone ! It will only cost a bit more ( i was quoted 1500 ero for a guy to come set up the shutters put in the steel and oversee th pouring, would also come back and ake out the pans and point and seal the joins etc

jap gt

i have worked with shuttering for the last 5 years, it will be very hard to dig out the inside, but will be almost impossible to seal it as the walls will be very rough when pressed against the soil and if you have stones could leave a big hole, best plan is the dig it stand steel pour your floor, then stand shutters, it was never been cheaper to hire them out

pakalasa

Kboc,

What kind of set-up do you have at the moment. Are there any sheds and yards?
One option is to put slats down over an existing yard. I was thinking about this myself and I saw it done on the farmers journal, on a Scottish farm. The slats are raised just a few feet (say 30") of the yard and scrapers are put in under the slats.
If you have an existing yard, sheds and open slurry tank, it makes sense.

leg wax

or dont build any sheds and set kale/rape/fodder beet and strip graze it no sluury and no repayments back to bank.

John_F

true for pakalasa and kfk, twud be fair Bollicking either go and do it right or not at all, like if you get heavy rain the trenches will fall in straight away, the correct way to build a tank is to have a floor that is also the foundation on a hard surface, tanks can sink but can also float and then sink and crack! dig a tank and put in a floor and steel where the walls are to go and put up a few pans and pour away like mad, there should be either a key put in the floor or else a water bar (rubber) between the floor and wall to ensure its tight. What ever you do i wouldnt go ahead with that plan, any way you have to get some slop on the trenches so youl either have f all down the bottom or a heap of concrete on the top . . . . making me sick thinking about it, no offence. Youl be looking at that fcuking thing for the rest of your days with regret and disgust (i would anyway) not to mind if it leaked, would the 'walls' hold when you take the inside out of it like, i reckon thered be too much movement

kboc

pakalasa wrote: »

Kboc,

What kind of set-up do you have at the moment. Are there any sheds and yards?
One option is to put slats down over an existing yard. I was thinking about this myself and I saw it done on the farmers journal, on a Scottish farm. The slats are raised just a few feet (say 30") of the yard and scrapers are put in under the slats.
If you have an existing yard, sheds and open slurry tank, it makes sense.

Not a good idea to build tank like this so!

I have no sheds/tractor/cattle at all, nada, nothing. I have to invest in a lane approx 300 m long before anything is done. I have to get electrcity and water (possibly a well) connected. i am staring from bare naked land!

My long term plan is 20 breeding Limousin girls. I have put the cart before the horse, I have sourced 5 embroy transfers already from good blood lines. My plan in my head is to build a shed for cows, straw bedding and no slats. When I get a better cash flow in a few years, build a proper slatted house for 20 breeding females.

I am open to ideas and did look into out wintering to cut down costs. I did think of calving down in aug/Sept and then put out to kale until nov time, get cows back out by early march weather permitting. Sounds good, big (and successfull) in Scotland. Maybe there is no need for expensive slatted shed for such small numbers for 4 months? What do people think?

To get started I need

1. £3000 for lane
2. £4000 for elec supply
3. £3500 for well water
4. £3250 for embroyo transfer
5. £4000 for 5 cows to carry ET
6. And god knows what else

Expensive business this!

pakalasa

Why not build a stand-off pad?

Build a clay lined lagoon, if the soil type is right you can get permission for this. No need for a liner. You did say you have free use of a digger.

Then build a feed face with concrete and clean with a tractor and scraper.

Your initial costs will be lower but your maintainance costs year to year will be higher. Cost of emptying lagoon will be higher and cost of wood chippings on top of that.

They've done all this on that new TRIAL dairy farm in kilkenny.
http://www.independent.ie/farming/dairy/make-most-of-greenfield-visit-2009286.html

A lot of the pedigree guys have them. It will keep the hair long on the cattle over the winter, great if you want to sell bulls in the spring.