making a slurry sump to the tank

yellow50HX

i am a little caught for housing with the yearlings and been looking into options. i used to keep them on straw bedding on a lean to and left them out to the feed passage during the day while the cows were on the kale but as they only had access to silage during the day they didn't thrive as well as i wanted. over the last few years i have been putting them into one of the cubicle houses which was fine when i had less cows but now its getting a bit tight for space for the cows especially after they start calving.

my initial plan was to build another shed for them or extend the slatted unit but don't have 25-40k needed. i have a shed that i could convert by putting in a concrete floor and straw beed it or maybe put in slats but i use it as a machinery shed at the moment and its it handy that way. also straw bedding it would mean id have to buy in more straw each year too.

this got me thinking about the old milking parlour. we haven't really used it since we got out of the cows so it just used for storage. the building is perfect and realistically it won't be used for milking again any time soon. the parlour is about 35ft from the slatted tank and about a foot higher. my plan was to use the bottom 2 bays to house the yearlings. turn the pit into a slurry sump and put slats over it and pipe the slurry to the tank.

has anyone seen this done? i remember seeing cucble houses before that had a sump at the end where the slurry would flow under the yard to a tank. If i could get the slurry to flow it would let me convert it for a lot cheaper then building a new one.

pn7740

It should work. We had a small slatted tank at the bottom of a cubical house before to collect slurry from a auto scraper it was connected to a larger open tank about 40 feet away by a underground chanel which was a 4ft diameter concrete pipe. It worked very well however had to be cleaned out once a year due to dirt accumulating on the floor. The fall between the tanks was 5 feet though if I remember correctly.

yellow50HX

pn7740 wrote: »

It should work. We had a small slatted tank at the bottom of a cubical house before to collect slurry from a auto scraper it was connected to a larger open tank about 40 feet away by a underground chanel which was a 4ft diameter concrete pipe. It worked very well however had to be cleaned out once a year due to dirt accumulating on the floor. The fall between the tanks was 5 feet though if I remember correctly.

that fall is steeper then mine, i was thinking about 1 in 30, is that too shallow?

pn7740

yellow50HX wrote: »

that fall is steeper then mine, i was thinking about 1 in 30, is that too shallow?

You could have problems with thick slurry at that but I would get a second opinion to be sure

yellow50HX

pn7740 wrote: »

You could have problems with thick slurry at that but I would get a second opinion to be sure

yeah i have seen slurry channels in the jouro but don't know anyone with them

Blue Holland

Are you thinking of having them lying on the concrete and slats, concrete area albeit small will get dirty quick and need to be scrapped daily. Are these replacement dairy stock? If they are could have problems getting them to lie in cubicles.

yellow50HX

Blue Holland wrote: »

Are you thinking of having them lying on the concrete and slats, concrete area albeit small will get dirty quick and need to be scrapped daily. Are these replacement dairy stock? If they are could have problems getting them to lie in cubicles.

i was going to use the pit as a smal slatted tank that rather then using a vacuum tanker to empty i would use gravity to let the slurry flow into the main tank. was going to throw down some mats for them to lie on one side of the slats and a feeding trough on the other side. at present they are in a cubicle house but are too small for it so i have to clean down the beds more often, still cheaper then straw though. shouldn't be any different then having them in an ordinary slatted shed

Blue Holland

yellow50HX wrote: »

i was going to use the pit as a smal slatted tank that rather then using a vacuum tanker to empty i would use gravity to let the slurry flow into the main tank. was going to throw down some mats for them to lie on one side of the slats and a feeding trough on the other side. at present they are in a cubicle house but are too small for it so i have to clean down the beds more often, still cheaper then straw though. shouldn't be any different then having them in an ordinary slatted shed

Don't suppose you still have volume wash down hose in there, if you washed it down odd time would keep it cleaner and help the flow of slurry.
Was stuck for space for Angus bull this year, put him in a pen on slats and through in a mat about 8ft by 5ft, gets fair dirty.

yellow50HX

Blue Holland wrote: »

Don't suppose you still have volume wash down hose in there, if you washed it down odd time would keep it cleaner and help the flow of slurry.
Was stuck for space for Angus bull this year, put him in a pen on slats and through in a mat about 8ft by 5ft, gets fair dirty.

i actually do, i hadn't thought about that. would washing down the floor be a problem leaving a wet floor for the cattle

Blue Holland

Sure would'nt it be wet anyway if it was covered in ****. I'd imagine there's a fall and water would run off.

Sam Kade

Why not put a decent tank in the shed and cover it with slats as you will be emptying that milking pit fairly often.

Deepsouthwest

Sam Kade wrote: »

Why not put a decent tank in the shed and cover it with slats as you will be emptying that milking pit fairly often.

Have a flow channel here taking all the slurry from the collecting yard behind the parlour to a slatted tank about 25ft away(at a lower level). It's been working around 6/7 yrs without any problems

delaval

Slurry channel is what you need. I have one here with slurry travelling about 40 feet across the yard. The tank is about 4 feet lower.

If it was piped the slurry would block it. It's done with a series if 3 canals. They are mini tanks each stepped. Each canal is full of water and the slurry floats along. Without the water it would block. I know I'm not explaining it well but the answer is it can be done. I'd say if you go to Teagasc and search for slurry channels you get a drawing.

Sorry I can't describe it better

Remembered the name Flow channel

Deepsouthwest

delaval wrote: »

Slurry channel is what you need. I have one here with slurry travelling about 40 feet across the yard. The tank is about 4 feet lower.

If it was piped the slurry would block it. It's done with a series if 3 canals. They are mini tanks each stepped. Each canal is full of water and the slurry floats along. Without the water it would block. I know I'm not explaining it well but the answer is it can be done. I'd say if you go to Teagasc and search for slurry channels you get a drawing.

Sorry I can't describe it better

Remembered the name Flow channel

Flow channel here in collecting yard is connected to the slatted tank by a 9" sewer pipe. Never any problem with blocking, water rises high enough to float the slurry into the pipe, thus wetting the bottom of the pipe and the slurry runs on that.

yellow50HX

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Flow channel here in collecting yard is connected to the slatted tank by a 9" sewer pipe. Never any problem with blocking, water rises high enough to float the slurry into the pipe, thus wetting the bottom of the pipe and the slurry runs on that.

yeah that was i was thinking, i was going to put the outlet from the milking pit at the top just below the yard level, the pit is sloped down towards it so i can let a lot of water into it which should allow the slurry flow towards the pipe and from there under the yard to the tank.

i might also look into dropping a precast tank into the yard infront of the parlour and let the flow go straight into it.

yellow50HX

Sam Kade wrote: »

Why not put a decent tank in the shed and cover it with slats as you will be emptying that milking pit fairly often.

the plan was to let the slurry flow out of the pit into the bigger tank that way i don't need to empty it.

the roof shed would be too low to put in a digger to dig it out for slats.

yellow50HX

delaval wrote: »

Slurry channel is what you need. I have one here with slurry travelling about 40 feet across the yard. The tank is about 4 feet lower.

If it was piped the slurry would block it. It's done with a series if 3 canals. They are mini tanks each stepped. Each canal is full of water and the slurry floats along. Without the water it would block. I know I'm not explaining it well but the answer is it can be done. I'd say if you go to Teagasc and search for slurry channels you get a drawing.

Sorry I can't describe it better

Remembered the name Flow channel

i could do that alright, have one channel going about 25ft from the pit across the old collection yard then have a drop down to a second one traveling under the feed passage to the tank.

how much do they cost?

onyerbikepat

http://www.moore-concrete.com/agricultural/product/4/31/

yellow50HX

onyerbikepat wrote: »

http://www.moore-concrete.com/agricultural/product/4/31/

yeah the small channel looks the job alright

td5man

Have a 40' long pipe here 9"dia. with a 4' difference in heigth works ok.
The pipe has a slight fall on it possibly 1 in 60.

yellow50HX

td5man wrote: »

Have a 40' long pipe here 9"dia. with a 4' difference in heigth works ok.
The pipe has a slight fall on it possibly 1 in 60.

going to have a chat with a builder buddy of mine who has built a number of slurry tanks if i can do it with 9 inch pipe it would be a lot cheaper. i could probably even get to 1 in 30

td5man

yellow50HX wrote: »

going to have a chat with a builder buddy of mine who has built a number of slurry tanks if i can do it with 9 inch pipe it would be a lot cheaper. i could probably even get to 1 in 30

The less fall you have the better, would work on the same principle as sewerage.
Ours was piped with concrete pipes.

td5man

td5man wrote: »

The less fall you have the better, would work on the same principle as sewerage.
Ours was piped with concrete pipes.

Just after remembering its a 12" pipe.

Blue Holland

td5man wrote: »

Just after remembering its a 12" pipe.

Is yours from collecting yard tank or covered slatted shed, lot of water in collecting yard would make it lot easier to flow.

Blue Holland

yellow50HX wrote: »

the plan was to let the slurry flow out of the pit into the bigger tank that way i don't need to empty it.

the roof shed would be too low to put in a digger to dig it out for slats.

Are ya thinking temporary job till can build something more suitable or more permanent setup?
Just wondering if parlour has low roof would ventilation be an issue?

td5man

Blue Holland wrote: »

Is yours from collecting yard tank or covered slatted shed, lot of water in collecting yard would make it lot easier to flow.

Cubicle shed with uncovered feeding area, it wouldnt be overly liquid though.

Injuryprone

I think the key to flow channels is that you fix a steel plate or whatever across the bottom section of the channel at the outlet to seal it. Keep the channel flat. Then the channel will always be half full of water and the slurry will float along.

Looking at the Moore pictures, I'd guess that they fill it to the top of the tapered part as above that there would be the least friction on the slurry with the vertical sides. I don't know how the circular shape of a pipe would work. Maybe you'd have to fill it to near halfway?

yellow50HX

Blue Holland wrote: »

Are ya thinking temporary job till can build something more suitable or more permanent setup?
Just wondering if parlour has low roof would ventilation be an issue?

yeah if i can get a set up that will do me for a few years then i can put a few bob away to extend the main slatted shed as that would be much better long term solution i could let the cows in upper part is and the yearlings on slats in the newer part.

at the moment its not ideal as i have the yearlings using the cubicle shed i would normally have my calved cows in. had it keep more yearlings then normal this year as i have more autumns claviers now.

farmer_dave

Was thinking of doing the same ourselves. What is a required fall for such a system? Was thinking of putting in an elevated pen beside a tank and then piping the slurry over to the main tank.

Deepsouthwest

Injuryprone wrote: »

I think the key to flow channels is that you fix a steel plate or whatever across the bottom section of the channel at the outlet to seal it. Keep the channel flat. Then the channel will always be half full of water and the slurry will float along.

Looking at the Moore pictures, I'd guess that they fill it to the top of the tapered part as above that there would be the least friction on the slurry with the vertical sides. I don't know how the circular shape of a pipe would work. Maybe you'd have to fill it to near halfway?

Don't fill my one half way and it works fine

grazeaway

have an old shed myself with a low ceiling. was thinking of putting in slats as its too low to get in a tractor to clean it out. what depth can have a mini digger go? the roof is about 7ft

Brown Podzol

Slurry sits still at 3%. In other words a 100ft channell dead level will have 3ft height of slurry at one end and zero at the other end and not move. I'm floating slurry 180ft through channels and 18 inch concrete pipes for over twenty years without a problem. So if you have over 3% of a fall it can be done. Lips at the of the pipes/channels to hold water so the slurry can flow. Silt over time and baled silage pulled in by the animals can be a problem.

PatQfarmer

grazeaway wrote: »

have an old shed myself with a low ceiling. was thinking of putting in slats as its too low to get in a tractor to clean it out. what depth can have a mini digger go? the roof is about 7ft

I have one of them too. Was told "no way" to dig it out without taking off the roof:(
It would be the best use of it as I can't get tractor in there either. have to hire machine each year to clean out straw...

Brown Podzol

grazeaway wrote: »

have an old shed myself with a low ceiling. was thinking of putting in slats as its too low to get in a tractor to clean it out. what depth can have a mini digger go? the roof is about 7ft

What debth of a tank are you planning. Start digging the tank from the outside, mini digger on the floor of the tank, slope into the tank to allow access for a dumper, if you have the room,and you have the height of the roof combined with the debth of the tank to work with.

grazeaway

PatQfarmer wrote: »

I have one of them too. Was told "no way" to dig it out without taking off the roof:(
It would be the best use of it as I can't get tractor in there either. have to hire machine each year to clean out straw...

yeah thats where I'm at was going to put in a flat floor and bed it but trying to clean it out after would be a problem as id need to hire a bobcat. picked up and old small tractor a few years ago to clean down the cubicles and it'll just about fit into the shed but wouldn't be able to clean out dung with it.

grazeaway

Brown Podzol wrote: »

What debth of a tank are you planning. Start digging the tank from the outside, mini digger on the floor of the tank, slope into the tank to allow access for a dumper, if you have the room,and you have the height of the roof combined with the debth of the tank to work with.

the deepest i can go, however the only way i would be able to shutter it would be with the small pans. what might make more sense would be to dig up the yard out side and put a tank in there but let the slurry flow into it from the parlour area. what are those precast tanks like cost wise and size wise?

PatQfarmer

grazeaway wrote: »

the deepest i can go, however the only way i would be able to shutter it would be with the small pans. what might make more sense would be to dig up the yard out side and put a tank in there but let the slurry flow into it from the parlour area. what are those precast tanks like cost wise and size wise?

I've looked into that too. Precast tank max is 6m (20') and 2.6m(8') wide. 36cu.m., 8,000gals.
Slats are not removable, moulded into top section, so if straw gets in, or damage to slat, don't know what you'd do to sort it!
Cost €5850+VAT installed. You pay c. €1-1500 for dig and fill.
Better value to do standard 30 or 40' tank.
Outside tank is grand, but it still won't sort the low-roof problem:)
Did you get quote to raise it?