Silage Pit Size Question

locky76

What size concrete slab would i need to make a silage pit for 30 acres?
Also would you recommend walls or no walls?
What sort of money would i be looking at?
I have a slatted tank nearby to pipe the effluent into.

bob charles

15m * 32m if you have a few bob to spend the extra bit of room is always needed for shoving up etc

No walls if you have a good loader driver

Your talking about 60m cubic of 30n or 35n costing around 70 a meter for the 35n

locky76

bob charles wrote: »

15m * 32m if you have a few bob to spend the extra bit of room is always needed for shoving up etc

No walls if you have a good loader driver

Your talking about 60m cubic of 30n or 35n costing around 70 a meter for the 35n

Cheers Bob;), so around €4,200 on concrete, allow another €2k for aggregate, pipes etc and €2,500 for the man doing the job.
All in it should be done for around €9k, as i say ball park figures.

reilig

locky76 wrote: »

Cheers Bob;), so around €4,200 on concrete, allow another €2k for aggregate, pipes etc and €2,500 for the man doing the job.
All in it should be done for around €9k, as i say ball park figures.

What about steel? You'd want to be putting it on awful solid ground if you were leaving out the steel.

snowman707

your pit dimensions and whether or not to construct walls should be determined by

the method and length of time harvesting

the rate (and method of feeding) at which the silage is fed over the winter months

what direction the open end of the pit is facing ( makes a huge difference in wastage and secondary fermentation)

a little time spend now with the biro and some planning will save you hours (and money) with removing waste for decades to come

locky76

reilig wrote: »

What about steel? You'd want to be putting it on awful solid ground if you were leaving out the steel.

Pardon my ignorance you'll have to get the crayons out for me Reilig:rolleyes:.
I had a sum of €10k in my head, is steel the only thing i've left out?

MfMan

I put c. 25 acres into a pit 11m x 21m, fills it fairly well, but could probably fit a bit more if necessary. Constructed it a few years ago with FWMS aid. Also put in side walls and had to acquire an effluent tank from Carlow. Walls with rails on top will make it much dearer but a lot safer (and easier to cover?)

If you're building one, probably worthwhile following dept. guidelines (S120? S142? They're up on web site anyway.) with regard to concrete strength, channeling, construction method etc. Future inspections could trip you up if it's not in some way compliant. Mine cost about €12k after grant was rec'd, got a few extra bits of levelling, digging done with this also. Very worthwhile work IMO, much easier to go out on a cold winter's morning and leave in a few blocks, rather than having to get up and down constantly from a tractor, removing plastic and netting, forking out, extracting mouldy bits etc.

5live

I'd put in 2m walls if i was you. I didnt and i am sorry now but it all depends on your budget. Walls at the side will stop a lot of wastage but can make sealing it a bit more difficult and it also will allow you to go higher in the pit. Personally, i wouldnt bother with a back wall as i dont see the point but other may have a different opinion on that.
Walls could increase the overall costs of concrete by over 50% though:eek:

locky76

Cheers for the questions snowman, answers below...

• the method and length of time harvestin- Stop the paddocks in March after a tight grazing, harvest end of May start of June with wagons
• the rate (and method of feeding) at which the silage is fed over the winter months- Tine grab to front of slatted shed
• what direction the open end of the pit is facing ( makes a huge difference in wastage and secondary fermentation)- i'm leaning towards no walls but it's a fairly sheltered yard
• a little time spend now with the biro and some planning will save you hours (and money) with removing waste for decades to come- I've two concrete men coming to look at my set up to see where best to put the pit and i'll be talking to my agri contractors as well, i'll let the experts decide

snowman707 wrote: »

your pit dimensions and whether or not to construct walls should be determined by

the method and length of time harvesting

the rate (and method of feeding) at which the silage is fed over the winter months

what direction the open end of the pit is facing ( makes a huge difference in wastage and secondary fermentation)

a little time spend now with the biro and some planning will save you hours (and money) with removing waste for decades to come