Slurry Agitation system - Advice needed

50HX

what are the thoughts on this

i have a slatted house that was built by the aul lad in the late 80's
3 x 45ft tanks
agitation points on the 1st & 3rd tanks - none for 2nd

it's the old system with the propeller agitator that runs down a guide rail and sits into a box within in a 3ft high wall in the tank.
the theory is that the slurry has to go through the propeller to create a pressure thus sending the slurry up one tank and down the middle tank.

this does work provided that the slurry is at the right height & plenty watery enough
i had it just right this year until a leg on the canopy around the propeller broke but didn't come off completely TG, only noticed it when i was taking it out.

anyway got it mixed and tanks are empty, all bar the last 3 inches to be brushed out to the sump and sucked up

the agitator i have are getting very scarce, it' s a balls of a system with guide rails getting loose, bearings goin in the agitator(put in a make shift nylon one last year to get going) new ceramic ones are 500 notes and now there's a part of the box that the canopy sits into in the tank after breaking away as well

just clean sick of it :mad::mad: with the last few years and very time consuming
so my plan nxt week is

compressor, kango hammer & consaw and take out the walls in the 2 tanks that the propeller sits into, cut a hole in the cable wall for access to the middle tank(either buy a slat with agitation point or cut the gang that's there so i can lift up 2-4 ribs to get the pump in) and away i go with pump agitator from then on.

my question is that with a pump agitator will it work sitting outside at the sump where the guide rails are for the old propeller one to go down into the tank or will i have to come into the house like i have to do with the middle tanks

anyone done something similar??

P.S have only access to 2 tanks at the other side of the house - one of those i cut the slats to get a pump ag in years ago and the other tanks is a feeding passage

any thoughts or experiences on this would be great

Milked out

Have you looked at an aeration system? If you have the tanks empty all they do is tack down pipes to the floor of the tank which go back to a junction box thing which is hooked up to a compressor, fire in a shot of water before any slurry goes in and away she goes. Set it on a timer to come on once during the day and twice at nite with the nite rate electric and the tanks will be mixed all the time. Can take a load out whenever you want then . If there is slurry in the tank it has to be kept going as if you turn it off and a crust forms it won't break it properly, the idea is that it keeps it mix ed from the get go not that it will break up stuff there a long time.

50HX

Milked out wrote: »

Have you looked at an aeration system? If you have the tanks empty all they do is tack down pipes to the floor of the tank which go back to a junction box thing which is hooked up to a compressor

neighbour of mine put this system in and it's a good job

i've 2 problems here with this

it's an out farm too far away so couldn't leave a compressor around

ESB was disconnected years ago - another added cost to reconnect

Zr105

50HX wrote: »

what are the thoughts on this

i have a slatted house that was built by the aul lad in the late 80's
3 x 45ft tanks
agitation points on the 1st & 3rd tanks - none for 2nd

it's the old system with the propeller agitator that runs down a guide rail and sits into a box within in a 3ft high wall in the tank.
the theory is that the slurry has to go through the propeller to create a pressure thus sending the slurry up one tank and down the middle tank.

this does work provided that the slurry is at the right height & plenty watery enough
i had it just right this year until a leg on the canopy around the propeller broke but didn't come off completely TG, only noticed it when i was taking it out.

anyway got it mixed and tanks are empty, all bar the last 3 inches to be brushed out to the sump and sucked up

the agitator i have are getting very scarce, it' s a balls of a system with guide rails getting loose, bearings goin in the agitator(put in a make shift nylon one last year to get going) new ceramic ones are 500 notes and now there's a part of the box that the canopy sits into in the tank after breaking away as well

just clean sick of it :mad::mad: with the last few years and very time consuming
so my plan nxt week is

compressor, kango hammer & consaw and take out the walls in the 2 tanks that the propeller sits into, cut a hole in the cable wall for access to the middle tank(either buy a slat with agitation point or cut the gang that's there so i can lift up 2-4 ribs to get the pump in) and away i go with pump agitator from then on.

my question is that with a pump agitator will it work sitting outside at the sump where the guide rails are for the old propeller one to go down into the tank or will i have to come into the house like i have to do with the middle tanks

anyone done something similar??

P.S have only access to 2 tanks at the other side of the house - one of those i cut the slats to get a pump ag in years ago and the other tanks is a feeding passage

any thoughts or experiences on this would be great

Not of much help in answering your questions but please please don't go into the tank to brush it out or take out the walls without getting proper gear, there's been enough accidents in pits as it is....

Nekarsulm

If your agitator is one of the ones which have two PTO shafts coming out of the gearbox, for forward and reverse, I have one here I would letgo at handy money ! We only used it for a couple of years before getting an NC pump.
Pointless sweeping the last few inches of slurry out. And potentially dangerous.

If you can agitate with pump at both ends of a 45 foot tank, you should be grand. That's only a bay and a half to work from each end. Unless you are feeding unchopped bales. You won'tmix 45 foot from one end only

50HX

Zr105 wrote: »

Not of much help in answering your questions but please please don't go into the tank to brush it out or take out the walls without getting proper gear, there's been enough accidents in pits as it is....

I have all the proper breathing gear and 2 X H2S detectors ....you are right there's been enough accidents...

blue5000

I might be wrong on this, I'm not 100% sure what your current system looks like. Could you buy a pump agitator that has a top valve for slurry? Block up the hole in your wall where the guide rails end, and use the pump agitator to pump slurry over the wall. This way you still get the benefit of having the slurry move around by gravity.

50HX

blue5000 wrote: »

I might be wrong on this, I'm not 100% sure what your current system looks like. Could you buy a pump agitator that has a top valve for slurry? Block up the hole in your wall where the guide rails end, and use the pump agitator to pump slurry over the wall. This way you still get the benefit of having the slurry move around by gravity.

good idea and thanks for the feedback but i'm caught there as well as the walls are coming up to the top of the tank

9935452

Nekarsulm wrote: »

If your agitator is one of the ones which have two PTO shafts coming out of the gearbox, for forward and reverse, I have one here I would letgo at handy money ! We only used it for a couple of years before getting an NC pump.
Pointless sweeping the last few inches of slurry out. And potentially dangerous.

If you can agitate with pump at both ends of a 45 foot tank, you should be grand. That's only a bay and a half to work from each end. Unless you are feeding unchopped bales. You won'tmix 45 foot from one end only

Westfalia by any chance is it . ??

unless there is a stupid amount of water in a tank you will only effectively agitate 30 feet from the manhole.
The only way of doing 45 feet is to agitate 30 feet and take out 3 feet of slurry and start agitating again. Blow the slurry over the top of the last 15 feet and the crust will start moving towards you . When it gets close enough break it up

50HX

9935452 wrote: »

Westfalia by any chance is it . ??

that's the one- have 2 and made 1 good one out of it

had the cousin with the pump at one end of a tank this year and it managed to mix a good 35ft of the tank - 180hp and it drove it some distance

if i'm left with 10-15ft at the end of the tank i hope to be able to get at it from the middle tank from the other end

9935452

50HX wrote: »

that's the one- have 2 and made 1 good one out of it

had the cousin with the pump at one end of a tank this year and it managed to mix a good 35ft of the tank - 180hp and it drove it some distance

if i'm left with 10-15ft at the end of the tank i hope to be able to get at it from the middle tank from the other end

They can be bought new but most likely would have to come in from the uk as there are not something a dealer here would keep in stock.
Around 6k to buy new.

Some yokes to stirr slurry. The trick is to spin it for 5 minutes a week and you will never have a problem. 90/100hp is plenty for them and they will stir a tank 100 feet long

dar31

we have the same system in our slatted unit, i was looking for an agitator at the time of the grant 5-6 years ago, to do tanks and lagoon.
couldn't find one anywhere that had a reversible drive.

in the end we brought the old one to cross engineering and got a new one made up, improved copy of the old one, beast of a yoke, and better able to move slurry than the old one.

we have a spare one at the moment that's not being used, perfect working order, just needs the a frame on the front tided up

50HX

just to update

knocked the middle gable wall and put up 2 doors - now have access to the middle tank
have access from the side for a pump ag already
going to stick with the propeller in the lower tank for a few more years

had another long look at removing the inside walls - do able but some work/danger involved in it so dodging around it this way for now

thanks for the advice all

brownswiss

Is it possible to re invigorate this discussion. Do any of you know where I could get the frame that goes over the propeller and allows the agitator slide down into the hole in the wall ? thanks

alps

.1

50HX

Try westfalia in ballincollig

1373

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209139#Comment_120209139

Rossmore engineering makes them , three of them here working in three double tanks . Great job especially when used with an another pump agitator in the other end

1373

For anyone else wondering how it works , here is a similar setup except with several tanks . Usually done with a simple double tank setup , the propeller agitator slides down along two guide rails where that manhole is jutting out and fits into a fitting at the bottom of the cross wall . When the agitator turns, everything has to go through the hole/agitator. That's the idea but unfortunately what could happen was the water would circulate under the crust if it wasn't kept agitated. Dropping a agitator in the other end when agitating would fix this . Might sound complicated but when you're used to it , it's great . I could agitate a 120 ft tank in 20 minutes. In ours the rossmore agitators stay in the tanks permanently.