extra slurry storage

vanderbadger

folks would this be possible, could I dig out the centre passage of my slatted house and build a tank there, i struggle with slurry ever year, havent half enough storage, it should have been done day i guess, there would already be a tank either side of the shed so wondering if it was dug out would the existing side walls of the original tanks do or would you need a entirely new tank. it would be easier to build a new tank outside altogether i suppose but the area around the shed now isnt really ideal for it
anyone ever do anything like this or see it done?

blue5000

Vander could you put in an above ground slurry store?

You'd probably need your own pump agitator and a decent tractor to drive it.

vanderbadger

blue5000 wrote: »

Vander could you put in an above ground slurry store?

You'd probably need your own pump agitator and a decent tractor to drive it.

ya i wondered about them, have my own agitator alright , are they expensive compared to a concrete tank

yellow50HX

there is no reason to say it cant be be done, but there are a few things to look at 1st.
Can a track machine fit into the shed, how high is the roof over the passage, is there coloums either side, how wide is the passage. If you cant fit in a digger or it cant operate then your screwed staright away.
From what i remember from the grant days the spine walls between tanks needs to be a bit wider to take the weight of two sets of slabs. You'll probably might need to build a second wall next to teh existing as this will be needed to take the weight of the slabs over head. Less shuttering.

As long as you can dig out the passage and can get the shuttering into and out of the tank then it should be straight forward (if the shed is very long you might look at usign the smaller shuttering).

If you want to link the tanks then you may need to do a fair bit and cuttign and coring to jion them. I know a lad that built a new tank next to his old one for extra storage. He put a hole where the tanks joined. When one would fill up it would over flow into the other. He would agiate them every now and then over winter to allow them to balance out.

Timmaay

Good article here from Teagasc comparing costs http://www.teagasc.ie/environment/publications/other/Buildings/build_feat_111106.pdf. Is the feed passage indoor or out? If its indoors, what about the shed girders, you'd need to say a good few ft away from them, or risk the whole shed coming down!

vanderbadger

yellow50HX wrote: »

there is no reason to say it cant be be done, but there are a few things to look at 1st.
Can a track machine fit into the shed, how high is the roof over the passage, is there coloums either side, how wide is the passage. If you cant fit in a digger or it cant operate then your screwed staright away.
From what i remember from the grant days the spine walls between tanks needs to be a bit wider to take the weight of two sets of slabs. You'll probably might need to build a second wall next to teh existing as this will be needed to take the weight of the slabs over head. Less shuttering.

As long as you can dig out the passage and can get the shuttering into and out of the tank then it should be straight forward (if the shed is very long you might look at usign the smaller shuttering).

If you want to link the tanks then you may need to do a fair bit and cuttign and coring to jion them. I know a lad that built a new tank next to his old one for extra storage. He put a hole where the tanks joined. When one would fill up it would over flow into the other. He would agiate them every now and then over winter to allow them to balance out.

well it might be tricky for a track machine alright or at least a big one but i thought a jcb would manage ok anyway if needs be? your probably right about the side walls, id say off the top of my head that the passage is 14 or 15ft wide, ya i suppose a hole would be a good idea and mean you wouldnt have to be pump slurry thru pipes etc

vanderbadger

Timmaay wrote: »

Good article here from Teagasc comparing costs http://www.teagasc.ie/environment/publications/other/Buildings/build_feat_111106.pdf. Is the feed passage indoor or out? If its indoors, what about the shed girders, you'd need to say a good few ft away from them, or risk the whole shed coming down!

thanks
ya true enough, id say they are about 15ft apart, i mean the passage is about 15ft width id say
its indoors,

pakalasa

If you could spread the slurry in the normal time period allowed, would you still get caught out?
If no, then spreading with a slurry umbilical system, might be a lot cheaper option.

Rovi

A JCB (rubber wheeled digger) would be an almighty pain to do this sort of thing; a small zero-swing 360 tracked digger would probably be much better.
It's certainly much easier to deal with the spoil with a 360 as you can turn the whole way around to throw it into a dumper or trailer.

td5man

It be easier and cheaper to build a new tank, the shed needs to be propped before you start then its slow work digging a tank in a shed and depending on access it can be hard to get concrete where you want it.
It can be hard to seal a new tank to an old one.
Have been involved in these so called cheap and easy jobs and they usually cost twice what you think.
Could you put a tank in a collecting yard at least you would make some use of it.

freedominacup

Give these boys a shout.

http://www.agruireland.ie/lining-technology/farms/lagoons

They did a huge lagoon for one of the greenfields farms, pallisade fenced, concrete agitation points the works for under €50k. This was a tank for overwintering 300 dairy cows. Maybe it's totally impractical for your situation but it might be a low cost solution. Look for Barry or Colm.

Dont be daft

If your shuttering it you'll need a few feet either side to get the pans in and out.
Then you'd have to worry about the troughs or the existing tanks either side shifting.
You could probably go wider if the tank was precast but dont know if it would be anyway near long enough.

I'd say an above ground would probably be your best option.
Or what TD5 said there about a tank outside the shed that can double up as a collecting yard/creep area/over flow if your stuck etc.

td5man

freedominacup wrote: »

Give these boys a shout.

http://www.agruireland.ie/lining-technology/farms/lagoons

They did a huge lagoon for one of the greenfields farms, pallisade fenced, concrete agitation points the works for under €50k. This was a tank for overwintering 300 dairy cows. Maybe it's totally impractical for your situation but it might be a low cost solution. Look for Barry or Colm.

Thinking of building one of these myself, department inspector told me to make sure to get planning permission for it as somebody has one that wasn,t approved and they,re losing some or all of there single farm payment because of it :mad:

Dont be daft

td5man wrote: »

Thinking of building one of these myself, department inspector told me to make sure to get planning permission for it as somebody has one that wasn,t approved and they,re losing some or all of there single farm payment because of it :mad:

I he going to get his SFP back if he gets retention on the lagoon?

Sorry, just realised you dont know the man

vanderbadger

td5man wrote: »

It be easier and cheaper to build a new tank, the shed needs to be propped before you start then its slow work digging a tank in a shed and depending on access it can be hard to get concrete where you want it.
It can be hard to seal a new tank to an old one.
Have been involved in these so called cheap and easy jobs and they usually cost twice what you think.
Could you put a tank in a collecting yard at least you would make some use of it.

well i could put a tank on the other side of sheds where i have pens and crush but there is a hayshed+leanto width between that and existing tanks so not ideal for having to move slurry from one to the other.

vanderbadger

freedominacup wrote: »

Give these boys a shout.

http://www.agruireland.ie/lining-technology/farms/lagoons

They did a huge lagoon for one of the greenfields farms, pallisade fenced, concrete agitation points the works for under €50k. This was a tank for overwintering 300 dairy cows. Maybe it's totally impractical for your situation but it might be a low cost solution. Look for Barry or Colm.

jebus thats alot of slurry, seems like very good value, have you the cows on pads or what, sounds like an interesting setup

vanderbadger

pakalasa wrote: »

If you could spread the slurry in the normal time period allowed, would you still get caught out?
If no, then spreading with a slurry umbilical system, might be a lot cheaper option.

well i can spread from january by the books but sure you know yourself the ground conditions might not be suitable till april, better to have ample storage i think, its kinda always on your mind when the tanks are getting near full, would rather not to have to worry about it for a change

freedominacup

vanderbadger wrote: »

jebus thats alot of slurry, seems like very good value, have you the cows on pads or what, sounds like an interesting setup

Not me it's one of the greenfields farms just outside carrick-on-suir. The cows are on pads there. All drained into the lagoon also. 2 concrete passages I don't know how long but def long enough for 150 cows to feed at each side. I didn't know the lads had done it until I was at a farm walk there. This is a Teagasc endorsed/approved demo farm so I reckon the lagoon must be compliant.

The lining guys used only do the farm work as a sideline. Their main business was capping/lining landfill sites to harvest the methane. I did work for them from time to time on those sites.

td5man

Dont be daft wrote: »

I he going to get his SFP back if he gets retention on the lagoon?

Sorry, just realised you dont know the man

Apparently it was the previous owner that built the lagoon which further complicated the matter

mf240

vander I wouldnt touch the existing shed for love nor money.

If you just put in a three span tank somewhere in the yard and move the slurry to it with the tanker its a few hours work once a year.

When you are backfilling stand stub pillars so that you can bolt a shed to in a few years time.

If money is not a problem put the roof over it and just spread out the stock a bit.

yellow50HX

vanderbadger wrote: »

well i could put a tank on the other side of sheds where i have pens and crush but there is a hayshed+leanto width between that and existing tanks so not ideal for having to move slurry from one to the other.

if the area where the new tank could go was slightly below the level of the existing tanks then you could put a large dia pipe linking them. when you agitate the main tank the slurry would flow down teh pipe and into the second tank. similar to how the sump tanks in front of cubile shed where done to allow the slurry to go to the tank under the feed passage.

pakalasa

If you do decide to build another concrete tank below ground, you'll have to fence it off for safety. It might be as cheap to just cover it with slats. You could just cover it with tarpaulins to keep out the rain. You have the option than down the road to put a roof over it - presto new slatted shed.

vanderbadger

yellow50HX wrote: »

if the area where the new tank could go was slightly below the level of the existing tanks then you could put a large dia pipe linking them. when you agitate the main tank the slurry would flow down teh pipe and into the second tank. similar to how the sump tanks in front of cubile shed where done to allow the slurry to go to the tank under the feed passage.

pakalasa wrote: »

If you do decide to build another concrete tank below ground, you'll have to fence it off for safety. It might be as cheap to just cover it with slats. You could just cover it with tarpaulins to keep out the rain. You have the option than down the road to put a roof over it - presto new slatted shed.

its hard to know what to do, i have enough shed space but not enough tank space, if i build new tank where the yard and crush etc are then there is a tempation to roof it in, it would be at the side of a hay shed so easy enough to roof but then i have more shed than i need and id have to move my crush somewhere else
if i built the new tank just outside the old tank could i put a precast type top on it that i could drive over etc?

Farmer Pudsey

vanderbadger wrote: »

its hard to know what to do, i have enough shed space but not enough tank space, if i build new tank where the yard and crush etc are then there is a tempation to roof it in, it would be at the side of a hay shed so easy enough to roof but then i have more shed than i need and id have to move my crush somewhere else
if i built the new tank just outside the old tank could i put a precast type top on it that i could drive over etc?

As a lot of posters have said it grand driving over slats not in twenty years time some morning:eek:. Even over the central passage you will have the same issue. I would go for a new tank even go slightly greenfield away from existing tanks/yard go 9-10 feet deep if rock not an issue use a 5 Metre long slat. Why crowd your self. By the time you have moved crush etc your are loosing all the time. It will be a pain for a for years moving slurry but down the line you can put shed over it if you expand.

Biggest mistake I see with some farmers not leaving room for expansion, sticking shed in corners or between other shed, then down the line they are caught for storage, space etc. 15' space if you use it all will allow for a 4M wide tank, you will have to be a bit above existing tank a 16' wide tank in a new site 9' deep will give nearly 50% more capacity. It will probally cost the same as well and have option of putting shed over it down the line. If your sed is not portal type you will ahve an issue resupporting it, also cost/time of taking down pens breaking out concrete around RSJ etcetc and finally the rist of something going wrong

grazeaway

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

As a lot of posters have said it grand driving over slats not in twenty years time some morning:eek:. Even over the central passage you will have the same issue. I would go for a new tank even go slightly greenfield away from existing tanks/yard go 9-10 feet deep if rock not an issue use a 5 Metre long slat. Why crowd your self. By the time you have moved crush etc your are loosing all the time. It will be a pain for a for years moving slurry but down the line you can put shed over it if you expand.

Biggest mistake I see with some farmers not leaving room for expansion, sticking shed in corners or between other shed, then down the line they are caught for storage, space etc. 15' space if you use it all will allow for a 4M wide tank, you will have to be a bit above existing tank a 16' wide tank in a new site 9' deep will give nearly 50% more capacity. It will probally cost the same as well and have option of putting shed over it down the line. If your sed is not portal type you will ahve an issue resupporting it, also cost/time of taking down pens breaking out concrete around RSJ etcetc and finally the rist of something going wrong

lad accross the road put in a new tank last year and turned the shuttering 90 degrees to have a 9ft tank, the only extra cost was a few extra lenghts of rebar and an extra foot of concrete for the tank walls, small cost for a 12.5% increase in capacity.

Dont be daft

td5man wrote: »

Apparently it was the previous owner that built the lagoon which further complicated the matter

Jaysus, poor oul divil. Thats some pile of sh*t to be facing into. No pun intended.

F.D

Have you somewhere to get rid of the spoil you dig out of the tank, if not and you have firm ground an over ground slurry store would be easy to construct and if you need more storage just add more rings on top in the future, seen as you have an agitator just get the pipe work to pump it over to it as and when
we wanted to put a tank in an existing shed and no contractor would even look at doing it for fear of the shed falling and that was even after the boom when these lads were looking for work !! in the end we built a whole new shed over a tank and dont regret it, but i am still looking at the pile of stuff that was dug out behind it, some dry day we will use it for lane ways or something

freedominacup

Some dry day?????

Good luck with that:D