Depth of Water in Slatted Tank

Stan 10

How many inches of water do you let in to slatted tank after putting out the slurry?

johnboy6930

we put 2000 gallons of water in. and usually put two more tanks of water in when where spreading it ..

Bizzum

We have the downpipe from the slatted shed movable that rainwater can be diverted into the tank as required.
It's a very simple but effective setup.

Milton09

I put in 3 x 1300 gallon tankers in to a 3 bay 14'6" tank, seems to work fine, might get away will less but I find its just nice to work with at that

pakalasa

Why do you put in water, can you not put it in at agitation time?
Is it to stop the slurry sticking to the floor or something?

PMU

6 inches,just enough to let the slurry float

johnboy6930

pakalasa wrote: »

Why do you put in water, can you not put it in at agitation time?
Is it to stop the slurry sticking to the floor or something?

makes it a lot easier to agitate.

Stan 10

We have about 18 inches in ours now, some people say some of it can evaporate over the summer that's if you had a HOT summer.

Figerty

No fear of that so this year,

Surely the cows urine will be enough to have the slurry float? In my case they add water sometime around agitation time as the top layer of slurry is too dry and water underneath.

Now I just allow rainwater into the top of the tank before agitation.

Can't risk not having not having enough storage during the winter by putting in water before housing/

Stan 10 wrote: »

We have about 18 inches in ours now, some people say some of it can evaporate over the summer that's if you had a HOT summer.

whelan1

never heard of this before, we just put water in as needed at emptying, surely if you are putting in 18 inches of water that is using up space that 18 inches of slurry would use, i am baffled when we empty a tank in the summer it stays empty until the stock come back in

Bactidiaryl

until the pipe starts sucking the ground and pissing you off.then take out the pipe close the tank until next time.

barryoc1

Tanks are much easier to agitate at the end of the winter if there is water in them at the start. Not enough urine produced to keep the slurry soft. If added just before agitating or even a few days before it doesnt soak into the slurry fully and soften it all. Alot of it just goes to the bottom of the tank. Means it will take alot longer to agitate if you got dry hard lumps.

Of course the animals that are on the slats and their diet has a big part to play too. Slurry will be very wet anyway if the silage is wet but different story if fed hay or haylage.

Oh yeah, and i normally keep about 6 inches of water in it at the start.

Stan 10

As a matter of interest, how long does it take to agitate your tank, ours only took 30 mins this year but I was thinking could you get away with less water, but it probaly takes a lot longer to agitate in that case.

barryoc1

3 bay tank. 9 foot deep. 14 foot 6 slats. 30 mins. I also added 2000 gallons of pig slurry before agitating though.

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whelan1 wrote: »

never heard of this before, we just put water in as needed at emptying, surely if you are putting in 18 inches of water that is using up space that 18 inches of slurry would use, i am baffled when we empty a tank in the summer it stays empty until the stock come back in

one year we didnt add any water and a massive lump stuck to the floor, the contractor was going to fill the tank with water and leave it for a few days, but as we were talking about it, it came loose! we have to empty ours twice a year anyway so the extra storage isnt a massive issue. we have 3 tanks, 2 are indoors, the one thats outside gets a nice bit of rain, never any problems mixing it!