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west central Iowa | I don't see why people seem to take so much delight in bashing Harvestores. Maybe some of you have used one and had bad luck and know what you are talking about. But I don't think every one on here running them down has used one and I don't think every farm that had one went broke, I know we didn't. A banker on a tour of our place told my Dad they wouldn't pay and Dad said how the heck would you know you've never used one. Our original 20x60 cost $12000 with the unloader in 1967. The second unloader cost $10000 and the third one cost $4000. The epoxy floor and a couple of sets of breather bags cost about $5000. Other small items over the years added up to about $3000. Total cost $34000 for storing and unloading at least 400 ton a year puts it at a little over $2/ton with virtually no spoilage. And the silo and unloader should be good for many years yet. How much do you spend for a bag and a bagger and concrete to put it on? And most years there was a lot more than 400 ton put through because it was top fill and bottom unload so you could keep filling and feeding with out changing feed. The thing that probably caused the most problems was Harvestore telling people to put in feed too wet. After the first year we figured that out and did it different. If you cure the alfalfa out chop at night and early morning with a dew on it you get way better feed and a lot less work for the unloader. | |
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New Harvestore silo
