thinking of building a slatted shed

small famer

Have dry stock at the moment, but thinking of getting into Sucklers, say 20 cows, thus 20 calfs, thus another 20 weanlings.......maybe selling off the weanlings, but gauging myself to keep all stock to beef......

What size tank(s)
What design of shed?

3 or 4 bay? single or double design? size of slats, and pins and what stocking density can each pin hold.......

pakalasa

To get you started, here is a copy of the department spec on Buildings;
http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/...loads/S123.pdf

Should be other links of interest here also;
http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmer...ionspdfformat/

barryoc1

You should get an agricultural advisor to discuss this with you. They would have done the calculations before and be familiar with them and come up with a size handy enough. Once you know the size of the tank decide on the shed design. If you are good with figures you will be able do the calcs based on the post above cause all the necessary info is all in there.

Kilmac1

have you considered putting mats in?

david1992

Keep away from advisers (savage dear), 4 bay single with a creep at the back, 14'6" slat, just get a good contractor and they will design it for you, mats are a good job

cattle man

get the advisory they have have some great designs and will be able the plan what is best for your yard and your system:)

Kilmac1

easyfix are reasonably price and very good quality, we got slat mats off them as well very good job. i can give you contact details if you want them

reilig

small famer wrote: »

Have dry stock at the moment, but thinking of getting into Sucklers, say 20 cows, thus 20 calfs, thus another 20 weanlings.......maybe selling off the weanlings, but gauging myself to keep all stock to beef......

What size tank(s)
What design of shed?

3 or 4 bay? single or double design? size of slats, and pins and what stocking density can each pin hold.......

Based on personal experience and practices i'll give you some of my stocking figures. 14ft 6" slat over tank x 16ft wide pens with cubicles behind and creep areas behind that = 5 cows and 5 calves per pen. That's the equivalent of a standard 4 bay slatted shed that you would need for them.

I keep weinlings on slats with mats and don't have cubicles - it works quite well and they stay fairly clean if you have the pen full enough. In a standard 15ft 6" barrier there is space for approximately 9 weinlings to eat. Any more and the smaller animals are restricted wit the amount of feed that they get. 8 or 9 weinlings weighing from 180kg to 350kg would be the average per pen. Any less and your animals won't be as clean as they could be.

Double slatted sheds are a thing of the past IMO. They restrict airflow. They get warm and animals get sick in them. A slatted shed should be designed so that the air temperature in it is the same as the air temperature outside it. Animals have hair on them to keep them warm. They just need a roof over their head to keep them dry. So in desiging your shed I would advise that you ensure that your shed is as open as possible. Animals don't die from cold, they die from being too hot and sweating - which causes pnumonia. Ventilated sheets or spaced sheeting should also be used to allow air flow through calf creep areas.

Forget about wasting money on advisors. They know whats written in books but many have no idea of the practicalities of sheds. The best advise you will get will be free from your neighbours who already have slatted sheds. They will tell you what works and what doesn't and will be best placed to advise you on shed design.

Figerty

Watch out for the Easy Fix sales rep. He is a bit of a shark. He made promises to me and didn't live up to it after they were delivered.

Be careful with them.

Kilmac1 wrote: »

easyfix are reasonably price and very good quality, we got slat mats off them as well very good job. i can give you contact details if you want them

Figerty

I can scan and send you the drawings of the shed I did if you want.

I have about half your stock. So you could double the length of the shed. I have an open front shed and in three years I haven't had one case of pneumonia mainly due to the ventilation I think.

Plus feeding is easier, A couple of neighbours build double sheds and didn't leave enough room in the passage way for a bale either side and room for the tractor to go down them middle.. An extra to feet would have sorted it.

small famer wrote: »

Have dry stock at the moment, but thinking of getting into Sucklers, say 20 cows, thus 20 calfs, thus another 20 weanlings.......maybe selling off the weanlings, but gauging myself to keep all stock to beef......

What size tank(s)
What design of shed?

3 or 4 bay? single or double design? size of slats, and pins and what stocking density can each pin hold.......

leoch

kilmac u sound like a n agent for the mats wouldi be right sam

Kilmac1

nope im not leoch. Small dairy and beef farmer in Limerick

blue5000

Shop around for slats etc, I built in 09 and there was a huge variation in price, went for croom concrete in the end.

There could be lots of re-bars, roofing and timber left in builders yards too that are slow to move. Good luck with it.

Tora Bora

Kilmac1 wrote: »

nope im not leoch. Small dairy and beef farmer in Limerick

I did one pen with mats. Before the cows calved I got a fit to open the gate going back into the creep area.
I put no straw on it, just bare concrete. Most of the cows go back to the creep to lie down:rolleyes: Particularly at night, when the lie for longer spells.

That said, now they are locked into the slats, I'd say the mats are a help to them.

Kilmac1

We built ours in 09 aswell and we priced around mcgraths were the cheapest for concrete and creagh concrete were the best for slats. croom concrete buy their cattle slats off creagh concrete.

Pharaoh1

small famer wrote: »

Have dry stock at the moment, but thinking of getting into Sucklers, say 20 cows, thus 20 calfs, thus another 20 weanlings.......maybe selling off the weanlings, but gauging myself to keep all stock to beef......

What size tank(s)
What design of shed?

3 or 4 bay? single or double design? size of slats, and pins and what stocking density can each pin hold.......

I've thought about doing something like this in the past but when I sat down with advisor to do the figures they didn't stack up in so far as there wouldn't be the additional profit in the enterprise to pay for the investment over say 5-7 years.
Just interested to know if things have changed much in the last year or two and if it might be time to look at it again?

kboc

Pharaoh1 wrote: »

I've thought about doing something like this in the past but when I sat down with advisor to do the figures they didn't stack up in so far as there wouldn't be the additional profit in the enterprise to pay for the investment over say 5-7 years.
Just interested to know if things have changed much in the last year or two and if it might be time to look at it again?

Of course there is no profit to justify such oulay on capital, not enough money for your commodity to justify concrete (in probably the most competitive country in the world for concrete) and steel.

I am in the same position as you, it was suggested to me on this website about out wintering pads. They are a no brainer, went to visit one, simple and brilliant.

I think the age old Irish attitude is in the way here, this is the way it was always done.

I have looked at this objectively, from the point of view of my pocket and animal welfare. It all points in one direction, even more so if they get rid of SFP!!!!

Take care

Figerty

As a neighbour of mine once said after he built a slatted shed..

Everyday is a holdiay now!

BeeDI

Investment in a good shed, without going mad on the cost is something you will never regret, as long as you have the means to pay for it. Even if it means using off farm income to subside it.
Looking at the financial pay back from one single angle might mean it is simply not financially justifiable.
But think of your own comfort and welfare on bad winter evenings and nights and mornings.
I found this fall that I was able to house and keep my weanlings over the winter, not because I wanted to, but because prices in the fall were bad, and I had a shed to keep them.
Sold 12 of them last Tuesday in ennis. Easily made over €2.4k more than they would have last October. Feed cost was a fraction of that.
Farming does not follow the straight line calculations much favoured by some accounts and advisors.
That's my twopence worth anyway.

irishh_bob

reilig wrote: »

Based on personal experience and practices i'll give you some of my stocking figures. 14ft 6" slat over tank x 16ft wide pens with cubicles behind and creep areas behind that = 5 cows and 5 calves per pen. That's the equivalent of a standard 4 bay slatted shed that you would need for them.

I keep weinlings on slats with mats and don't have cubicles - it works quite well and they stay fairly clean if you have the pen full enough. In a standard 15ft 6" barrier there is space for approximately 9 weinlings to eat. Any more and the smaller animals are restricted wit the amount of feed that they get. 8 or 9 weinlings weighing from 180kg to 350kg would be the average per pen. Any less and your animals won't be as clean as they could be.

Double slatted sheds are a thing of the past IMO. They restrict airflow. They get warm and animals get sick in them. A slatted shed should be designed so that the air temperature in it is the same as the air temperature outside it. Animals have hair on them to keep them warm. They just need a roof over their head to keep them dry. So in desiging your shed I would advise that you ensure that your shed is as open as possible. Animals don't die from cold, they die from being too hot and sweating - which causes pnumonia. Ventilated sheets or spaced sheeting should also be used to allow air flow through calf creep areas.

Forget about wasting money on advisors. They know whats written in books but many have no idea of the practicalities of sheds. The best advise you will get will be free from your neighbours who already have slatted sheds. They will tell you what works and what doesn't and will be best placed to advise you on shed design.

how do the calves get from their ( creep ) area at the back of the cubicles to the cows , do you have to leave out one cubicle bed and in its place a door way of sorts

irishh_bob

kboc wrote: »

Of course there is no profit to justify such oulay on capital, not enough money for your commodity to justify concrete (in probably the most competitive country in the world for concrete) and steel.

I am in the same position as you, it was suggested to me on this website about out wintering pads. They are a no brainer, went to visit one, simple and brilliant.

I think the age old Irish attitude is in the way here, this is the way it was always done.

I have looked at this objectively, from the point of view of my pocket and animal welfare. It all points in one direction, even more so if they get rid of SFP!!!!

Take care

read todays farmers journal , when jack kennedy is having second thoughts about wintering pads , you know their is somethign wrong

jeff greene

irishh_bob wrote: »

read todays farmers journal , when jack kennedy is having second thoughts about wintering pads , you know their is somethign wrong

Don’t get the paper for that reason, what is he saying now?

kboc

irishh_bob wrote: »

read todays farmers journal , when jack kennedy is having second thoughts about wintering pads , you know their is somethign wrong

i had just posted this then picked up the IFJ and red that. ah well!

reilig

irishh_bob wrote: »

how do the calves get from their ( creep ) area at the back of the cubicles to the cows , do you have to leave out one cubicle bed and in its place a door way of sorts

That's it exactly. The 2 outside pens have a cubicle left out and have a gate to allow the calves into the creep. The 2 pens in the centre have an opening in their dividing gates so that the calves can hop through and then out to the creep. Have 20 cows and 21 calves in a 4 bay shed at the moment and all calves lie on a bed of sawdust/lime in the creep area.

reilig

BeeDI wrote: »

Investment in a good shed, without going mad on the cost is something you will never regret, as long as you have the means to pay for it. Even if it means using off farm income to subside it.
Looking at the financial pay back from one single angle might mean it is simply not financially justifiable.
But think of your own comfort and welfare on bad winter evenings and nights and mornings.
I found this fall that I was able to house and keep my weanlings over the winter, not because I wanted to, but because prices in the fall were bad, and I had a shed to keep them.
Sold 12 of them last Tuesday in ennis. Easily made over €2.4k more than they would have last October. Feed cost was a fraction of that.
Farming does not follow the straight line calculations much favoured by some accounts and advisors.
That's my twopence worth anyway.

For me, the slatted shed that I last built was as good of investment as 25 acres of land (and I was only out €20k for it after the grant). In the North West we have 6 month winters and very poor land. If my cattle were being outwintered, i would only be able to keep half the amount. This shed was built on a 25 acre peice of land which is in my OH's name. We keep about 10 cows in the herd number. Outwintering would see us poach and plough the whole 25 acres for the 10 cows and it would take it the whole summer to recover with poor grass return. With the shed, we can house cattle in Mid October and let them out when the ground dries in May. Land hasn't been poached over winter so it has a great coat of grass in early may. Our meadows are clean and can give us 2 cuts of silage which is enough to feed the 10 cows for the winter.

So with a €20k investment, we have doubled the production of the 25 acres as well as having a whole lot less work to do to keep cattle over winter. The shed will pay for itself in 5 to 7 years.

Pharaoh1

I suppose my attitude to the topic is a bit hard headed compared to many.
Much as I love my part time farming I'm not interested in taking on additional work or making significant investment unless it will put more money in my pocket.
I summer graze cattle and sell surplus grass as silage bales -its not a lucrative business but it is low cost and returns a small margin. More importantly it keeps SFP/REPS/DAS in my pocket.
Most of the neighbours were saying that I should build a shed and winter cattle and it would be awful handy etc...
As I said I did the figures and decided not to do that - I looked at the outwintering pad option and decided against that as well.
I did invest in reseeding, paddock fencing and water troughs and I feel that has been justified. I have much higher stocking rate and first bought in cattle will go to grass next week.
I wouldn't necessarily be Teagasc's biggest fan but for what its worth my adviser agreed with my approach.

Having said all that I think if someone makes a conscious decision to go the suckler route then winter accomodation is an absolute must as poached land is one of my pet hates.

Also if circumstances change and I see that there is a sustained beef price rise which would justify me for example winter finishing out of a shed then I'll change my mind.

irishh_bob

reilig wrote: »

That's it exactly. The 2 outside pens have a cubicle left out and have a gate to allow the calves into the creep. The 2 pens in the centre have an opening in their dividing gates so that the calves can hop through and then out to the creep. Have 20 cows and 21 calves in a 4 bay shed at the moment and all calves lie on a bed of sawdust/lime in the creep area.

so let me get this straight , do the calves have to walk from thier creep area out to the slatted area in order to suck the cows , obviously the cows dont get to the straw bedded creep area , what if some of the calves dont bother going back and simply stay with the mother in the cubicle - slatted area ?

also , what size is the creep area , sounds like a suckler cow shed with creep is even more expensive to build than a cubicle house for dairy cows

reilig

irishh_bob wrote: »

so let me get this straight , do the calves have to walk from thier creep area out to the slatted area in order to suck the cows , obviously the cows dont get to the straw bedded creep area , what if some of the calves dont bother going back and simply stay with the mother in the cubicle - slatted area ?

also , what size is the creep area , sounds like a suckler cow shed with creep is even more expensive to build than a cubicle house for dairy cows

yes, that's the whole idea of the creep. The calves can go into it and access creep feed (if you want them to) and the cows cannot access it. If the cows got to it they would lie on the bed all the time rather than on the rubber mats on the cubicles. All of my calves will go into it because they are getting a small bit of meal every morning and evening. (about 2kg between 20 just to give them a taste for it later in the summer)

My Creep area is 17ft wide and 4 bays or 60ft long. There is a cattle crush in it also and it can be used as a roofed holding yard. It can be divided into 4 pens if needed and these can be used as isolated calving pens or for any animal that might be sick.

Can't comment on whether the shed would be more expensive than a cubicle house. It certainly is a lot handier as the slats don't need to be scraped out on a regular basis - just clean out the calves bedded area a couple of times per year which is relatively easy to do as it can be accessed with the tractor and buckrake. Shed cost me €7k on top of the grant in 2003/04. Did a lot of the concrete work ourselves (Floors, cubicles and dividing walls).

irishh_bob

reilig wrote: »

yes, that's the whole idea of the creep. The calves can go into it and access creep feed (if you want them to) and the cows cannot access it. If the cows got to it they would lie on the bed all the time rather than on the rubber mats on the cubicles. All of my calves will go into it because they are getting a small bit of meal every morning and evening. (about 2kg between 20 just to give them a taste for it later in the summer)

My Creep area is 17ft wide and 4 bays or 60ft long. There is a cattle crush in it also and it can be used as a roofed holding yard. It can be divided into 4 pens if needed and these can be used as isolated calving pens or for any animal that might be sick.

Can't comment on whether the shed would be more expensive than a cubicle house. It certainly is a lot handier as the slats don't need to be scraped out on a regular basis - just clean out the calves bedded area a couple of times per year which is relatively easy to do as it can be accessed with the tractor and buckrake. Shed cost me €7k on top of the grant in 2003/04. Did a lot of the concrete work ourselves (Floors, cubicles and dividing walls).

sounds like a massive area for calves , 60 feet is required for 15 cubciles so if you have 15 cows and 15 calves , 17 ft wide x 60 ft long , thats 68 sqr feet of creep per calf

reilig

irishh_bob wrote: »

sounds like a massive area for calves , 60 feet is required for 15 cubciles so if you have 15 cows and 15 calves , 17 ft wide x 60 ft long , thats 68 sqr feet of creep per calf

Yea, but the area also contains a 30ft crush and is used as a roofed holding yard too. The calves can be restricted to 1 or 2 pens of we so desire.

vanderbadger

reilig wrote: »

That's it exactly. The 2 outside pens have a cubicle left out and have a gate to allow the calves into the creep. The 2 pens in the centre have an opening in their dividing gates so that the calves can hop through and then out to the creep. Have 20 cows and 21 calves in a 4 bay shed at the moment and all calves lie on a bed of sawdust/lime in the creep area.

how do you manage the sawdust reilig, do you get a lorry load and tip in shed and how long would it last, my calves to into a creep area on straw and i find it needs cleaning every 2 days..

irishh_bob

reilig wrote: »

Yea, but the area also contains a 30ft crush and is used as a roofed holding yard too. The calves can be restricted to 1 or 2 pens of we so desire.

so its a bigger creep than average ?

reilig

irishh_bob wrote: »

so its a bigger creep than average ?

I don't know. What is the average creep size? Its the same size of creep as most farmers have around here anyway.

reilig

vanderbadger wrote: »

how do you manage the sawdust reilig, do you get a lorry load and tip in shed and how long would it last, my calves to into a creep area on straw and i find it needs cleaning every 2 days..

Neighbour with a joinery. Can bring a transport box full out of it every week which keeps the creep up to spec.

vanderbadger

reilig wrote: »

Neighbour with a joinery. Can bring a transport box full out of it every week which keeps the creep up to spec.

handy

small famer

I contacted REPS Teasgasc advisor, and we talked on phone. I find him always very helpful and accommodating. Teasgasc also have plans available, but it the analysis and experience im looking for here.

I have 43 acres, but can keep far less stock over the winter than what i can grass in the summer, owing to my layout being a old open slurry pit, next to an open yard and a 24 cubicle house, and three colum haybarn and silage slab.

My Teagasc advisor can't really help with the plans, it down to me on how many cattle i want to winter, however he did advise an open shed. i think the A type double sheds look a neater more finished job, but accept his opinion that cattle need air, and a half type single shed is the way to go in this regard which would seem to concur with "reilig" and "david1992" comments.

No i havent even thought of mats, at this stage im trying to decide on the actual shed and tank, but mats are a good idea alright, you cant beat comfort.

Im going to build it in stages, first and foremost is the tank, the bigger the better?? the bigger the more value too?? and you cant beat storage?? The way i see it is the wider the slat on any give tank increases storage with little additional cost in width wise and slat wise, and no additional cost in length or depth. so the wider the slat the better?

Owing to the fact i will prob be building the tank and fitting slats, and not finishing shed until next year or the year after, i will def. be going for 14' 6" slats, as they are the widest tractor slat available, can anyone confirm this??? as im thinking of putting tank in the yard inbetween the cubicle house and open slurry tank, or digging out the open slurry tank and putting tank there, either way, until its finished and i have the cows and/or cattle over the slats in pins and feeding barriers up, i can clean the yard in the traditional way by tractor and yard scrapper, but instead of pushing it up the slurry pit ramp, i can pull and push it over the slats....will this work??? i obviously need tractor slats, but will it make it way through them in fairly large volumes, also as the tank and slats will be outside, will rain water be much of a factor?

Now prices...... got price from Croom Concrete on tractor slats for 3 bay - 4053 plus VAT two ag points outside the building, and 5022 plus VAT on a 4 bay again two ag points outside the building, these slats rated to take 10 tonne........( didnt haggle with them yet, price off the cuff on the phone) GOOD PRICE??? i will ring creagh concrete Thankyou for telling me.

Concrete, got two quotes for 35N, 57 per cubic meter and 63 per cubic meter. quite a difference here, is there a difference in quality? strength? or are they all the same, one can test the loads anyway - is this test hard to do? I will price Mcgraths next.

No price on steel, who does steel, and how much of it do i want, and what size strength and spec.

vanderbadger

small famer wrote: »

I contacted REPS Teasgasc advisor, and we talked on phone. I find him always very helpful and accommodating. Teasgasc also have plans available, but it the analysis and experience im looking for here.

I have 43 acres, but can keep far less stock over the winter than what i can grass in the summer, owing to my layout being a old open slurry pit, next to an open yard and a 24 cubicle house, and three colum haybarn and silage slab.

My Teagasc advisor can't really help with the plans, it down to me on how many cattle i want to winter, however he did advise an open shed. i think the A type double sheds look a neater more finished job, but accept his opinion that cattle need air, and a half type single shed is the way to go in this regard which would seem to concur with "reilig" and "david1992" comments.

No i havent even thought of mats, at this stage im trying to decide on the actual shed and tank, but mats are a good idea alright, you cant beat comfort.

Im going to build it in stages, first and foremost is the tank, the bigger the better?? the bigger the more value too?? and you cant beat storage?? The way i see it is the wider the slat on any give tank increases storage with little additional cost in width wise and slat wise, and no additional cost in length or depth. so the wider the slat the better?

Owing to the fact i will prob be building the tank and fitting slats, and not finishing shed until next year or the year after, i will def. be going for 14' 6" slats, as they are the widest tractor slat available, can anyone confirm this??? as im thinking of putting tank in the yard inbetween the cubicle house and open slurry tank, or digging out the open slurry tank and putting tank there, either way, until its finished and i have the cows and/or cattle over the slats in pins and feeding barriers up, i can clean the yard in the traditional way by tractor and yard scrapper, but instead of pushing it up the slurry pit ramp, i can pull and push it over the slats....will this work??? i obviously need tractor slats, but will it make it way through them in fairly large volumes, also as the tank and slats will be outside, will rain water be much of a factor?

Now prices...... got price from Croom Concrete on tractor slats for 3 bay - 4053 plus VAT two ag points outside the building, and 5022 plus VAT on a 4 bay again two ag points outside the building, these slats rated to take 10 tonne........( didnt haggle with them yet, price off the cuff on the phone) GOOD PRICE??? i will ring creagh concrete Thankyou for telling me.

Concrete, got two quotes for 35N, 57 per cubic meter and 63 per cubic meter. quite a difference here, is there a difference in quality? strength? or are they all the same, one can test the loads anyway - is this test hard to do? I will price Mcgraths next.

No price on steel, who does steel, and how much of it do i want, and what size strength and spec.

we used to have an open slurry tank that the cubicle house was scraped into, build the shed where the slurry tank used to be, the cows can still use the cubicle shed to lie down and it can be scraped onto slats..sounds similar enough to what you have

Muckit

I got out the camera and took a few snaps around the farm this evening. This is my 'calf creep' setup. As you can see it's a cubicle bed that once had 4 cubicles to the back of the slatted pen. I took these out and stuck in these double bars. They hinge on the left and can be opened in to the wall where a small gate can be opened (behind the pillar)and cows directed out the door (pictured) and into the crush if needs be.

There is also a water bowl set down low in the left hand corner

Black Cat 1976

im thinking of build a shed for 15 suckler cows anybody with any ideas on kinda shed to build our prices this would be?? cows are sping calving

centre 13

small famer wrote: »

Have dry stock at the moment, but thinking of getting into Sucklers, say 20 cows, thus 20 calfs, thus another 20 weanlings.......maybe selling off the weanlings, but gauging myself to keep all stock to beef......

What size tank(s)
What design of shed?

3 or 4 bay? single or double design? size of slats, and pins and what stocking density can each pin hold.......

self feed silage .. kennells 300 eu per cow place and a lagoon... we built one for 16 k net for 400000 gals but you wont need that size.rem drystock is non profit.

Black Cat 1976

so for that kinda money(14k you said ?) what do you get ?? would like to put in area for calves and possible a crush ?? open or closed shed which is better to go with???

johnpawl

Black Cat 1976 wrote: »

so for that kinda money(14k you said ?) what do you get ?? would like to put in area for calves and possible a crush ?? open or closed shed which is better to go with???

this is what I'm building at the moment
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72378372

e9800 +vat has the tank in, 3 bay with 1 agitation point so 53ft long, 14ft 6 slat included, 300 mm wall with 30N concrete. This price was inclusive of cost of tank dug out and steel in tank.
Pricin shed now

bob charles

small famer wrote: »

I contacted REPS Teasgasc advisor, and we talked on phone. I find him always very helpful and accommodating. Teasgasc also have plans available, but it the analysis and experience im looking for here.

I have 43 acres, but can keep far less stock over the winter than what i can grass in the summer, owing to my layout being a old open slurry pit, next to an open yard and a 24 cubicle house, and three colum haybarn and silage slab.

My Teagasc advisor can't really help with the plans, it down to me on how many cattle i want to winter, however he did advise an open shed. i think the A type double sheds look a neater more finished job, but accept his opinion that cattle need air, and a half type single shed is the way to go in this regard which would seem to concur with "reilig" and "david1992" comments.

No i havent even thought of mats, at this stage im trying to decide on the actual shed and tank, but mats are a good idea alright, you cant beat comfort.

Im going to build it in stages, first and foremost is the tank, the bigger the better?? the bigger the more value too?? and you cant beat storage?? The way i see it is the wider the slat on any give tank increases storage with little additional cost in width wise and slat wise, and no additional cost in length or depth. so the wider the slat the better?

Owing to the fact i will prob be building the tank and fitting slats, and not finishing shed until next year or the year after, i will def. be going for 14' 6" slats, as they are the widest tractor slat available, can anyone confirm this??? as im thinking of putting tank in the yard inbetween the cubicle house and open slurry tank, or digging out the open slurry tank and putting tank there, either way, until its finished and i have the cows and/or cattle over the slats in pins and feeding barriers up, i can clean the yard in the traditional way by tractor and yard scrapper, but instead of pushing it up the slurry pit ramp, i can pull and push it over the slats....will this work??? i obviously need tractor slats, but will it make it way through them in fairly large volumes, also as the tank and slats will be outside, will rain water be much of a factor?

Now prices...... got price from Croom Concrete on tractor slats for 3 bay - 4053 plus VAT two ag points outside the building, and 5022 plus VAT on a 4 bay again two ag points outside the building, these slats rated to take 10 tonne........( didnt haggle with them yet, price off the cuff on the phone) GOOD PRICE??? i will ring creagh concrete Thankyou for telling me.

Concrete, got two quotes for 35N, 57 per cubic meter and 63 per cubic meter. quite a difference here, is there a difference in quality? strength? or are they all the same, one can test the loads anyway - is this test hard to do? I will price Mcgraths next.

No price on steel, who does steel, and how much of it do i want, and what size strength and spec.

Cover your existing open tank with slats and stick a shed on top. simples. cheap what more could you ask for, most of the work is done already, hole dug, floor in and external wall for tank(of course it would have to be mass concrete)

bob charles

johnpawl wrote: »

this is what I'm building at the moment
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72378372

e9800 +vat has the tank in, 3 bay with 1 agitation point so 53ft long, 14ft 6 slat included, 300 mm wall with 30N concrete. This price was inclusive of cost of tank dug out and steel in tank.
Pricin shed now

Be careful, devious county councils will only accept dept spec work if constructing new tanks and that would be 35n concrete. Best also to get and engineer to sign off on completed tanks so as you have a bit of paper to wave at an official who looks for integrity tests of tanks. Unfortunately I have being down this road

Black Cat 1976

what do you think it will be all in all by the time your finished ?? will you be building a basic shed ??? was hoping to put in crush and 3 caving pins ??

johnpawl

bob charles wrote: »

Be careful, devious county councils will only accept dept spec work if constructing new tanks and that would be 35n concrete. Best also to get and engineer to sign off on completed tanks so as you have a bit of paper to wave at an official who looks for integrity tests of tanks. Unfortunately I have being down this road

Fek, never heard of anything like that, what county are you in?

Black Cat 1976

hi thinking about building a slatted shed in the new year anyone out there any idea how much it will cost. looking to do something nice with caving creep area. hoping to put in caving gates and a crush its a 3 bay open shed the best option ???? any help and ideas would be great thanks:)

farmerka

Deleted

Sorry guys, no advertising or touting for business allowed

I didn't make the rules, I just implement them

:mad:

Reilig

farmerka

where will i find information about tanks? im really interested about county concils service?

stanflt

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