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NW Iowa | Hey everyone, I've searched the forums and found lots of similar threads asking for advice on building grain bins. But any that were closer to my questioning and scenario were from quite a few years ago. So here goes with a fresh thread question... I'd really like to build a bin setup from scratch this summer, and I have almost zero experience with modern bins beyond what I've researched. Our operation includes two remote farm bin sites that have a few small, old and outdated bins we fill each year. They came with the farms when bought and my dad has always filled the bins, but still swears he despises bins...until harvest time when we get shut down at the elevator and the neighbors keep going. Marketing and harvest flexibility etc. have plenty of good reasons to build a proper and sizable grain storage setup, especially for the size of our operation. Even with asking around locally and doing research, the concept is so vast and perhaps daunting when there's so much difference in opinions on the best way to do things...
That being said, I would really appreciate the advice of you all on here that have much much more experience than I do, and can direct me especially on "must-haves" and "definitely avoid this" type of things when building. I also have a few specific questions and will lay out what I have already gathered from agtalk and elsewhere... Thank you!
*Updated OP w/ some details:
~7k ac total operation (been about 50-50 corn/beans last few yrs), but have on-farm storage and piling for cattle feed, plus all those small bins at two remote sites that total roughly 300k bu storage (which most years we just stick mostly dry corn in, with outdated fans). Everything else goes to the elevator currently.
Our bean overall avg was 67 and corn 240 this year. Trend has been going up. We have two combines during harvest but admittedly with our hog/cattle chores and other management, we don't get as long of days in as we'd like. We probably get about 200 ac/day harvested on beans, with the max has been 300 ac. Corn, 160 ac on a good day, with avg being less, 120-140 ac.
To be honest, I didn't have a set budget made yet because I'm still in the research and getting information stage. I've been clueless enough that I didn't know how much it'd cost and anyone I asked locally told me (outdated) $ #s much lower than what you all are hinting at a minimum (which isn't surprising).
I do appreciate the insight, because I haven't really gotten a good answer on things like I said and the local sales guy that multiple ppl have used and say they like has NOT been that informative or helpful.
+ The site is already picked out and is along a good blacktop road, on fairly high ground, and there will be 3-phase access along that road. We own the land there and quite a few pieces nearby, and it's fairly central to our widespread grain acreage layout. Nobody lives immediately close to the site, including us (a few miles away is the main farmyard).
+ I need advice on whether building a leg is necessary right away, or should a guy even plan for putting one up later "for sure" or can he do just fine in the end, years from now, still running long 13" augers up to still large bins? I know there seems to be quite a variance in opinion on whether legs pay or not but I'm pretty clueless which way to go for the MOVING of the grain. I guess there's other options besides the legs or trad augers, but I don't know anything about them?
+ If I were to avoid the leg (for now?...or forever?) I'd simply build the bins as big as I could and still use an auger. For all you central midwest guys with only corn/beans (and no seed grain), how many bins do you like to have at a minimum? Do you truly need 2 minimum for each, simply to have holding and transfer, especially during harvest and coming in wet? More? I've gathered that most guys have learned to draw their setup as large as they might possibly need in the future, to allow for expansion. The guys that get stuck are those with limited space on the same home farm yard, nestled among other out buildings etc.
+ Dryer? Needed right away, as long as you have the budget to do so? Is there any reason to not do so? And then more importantly, which/what kind of dryer? The only thing I know about them is from reading online here, but I'm honestly and admittedly pretty over my head yet. There's screenless vs tower dryer threads and screen type vs mixed flow dryers and continuous flow vs top dry... is there overlap here with terminology that I'm missing? There seems to be equal parts of people who swear by xyz ideal dryer setup vs ABC option so I've just felt over my head on what to go with.
+ It might be worth noting that this proposed bin site would be remote away from our/others' home sites, so I wouldn't be as worried as some about the mess on the ground of a screenless, or the noise of a dryer (or bin fans for that matter).
+ I've read the following little tips and tidbits: Pay up for the stairways; it's well worth it... Place bins proximity so you can share a balcony up top between them... Pour the concrete notably higher than what your contractor first recommends, so you don't swear it later when it settles and/or ground keeps raising up around... Tile the ground/prepare the site footprint in full entirety so it's easier to expand later. Draw out your eventual ideal setup...
+ What's your ideal bin layout, i.e. like a circle drive or a long row and ideal in/out for good harvest flow with trucks? Ideally, like everyone, we'd be trying to keep the amount of management and men required on-site to a minimum.
+ What other advice can you offer? I'm sorry for the post and question overload, but I do want to be thorough as I plan and set this up for this summer. Thank you!
Edited by farmerisland 2/16/2024 19:28
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Starting a grain bin setup from scratch...please advise
