Earth-banked silage walls

Buford T. Justice XIX

As above. The pit is full and i still have the second cut to come in. There are no walls around the silage pit currently but the bank of earth from the digging out of the pit is there along one side of the pit. It's about 20' tall and at roughly 60degree angle along the full length of the pit.

I was thinking of putting the entire second cut along the side of the current pit after lining the earthen wall with a sheet of plastic but one or two lads are telling me i don't need to line the wall with silage, just fire up the silage and the wall will seal itself and there will be no pollution.

I wouldn't be too sure that would happen but it would certainly make the job of filling the pit easier.

Anyone with a sheeted/un-sheeted earth walled pit out there or which option would be better?

alps

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

As above. The pit is full and i still have the second cut to come in. There are no walls around the silage pit currently but the bank of earth from the digging out of the pit is there along one side of the pit. It's about 20' tall and at roughly 60degree angle along the full length of the pit.

I was thinking of putting the entire second cut along the side of the current pit after lining the earthen wall with a sheet of plastic but one or two lads are telling me i don't need to line the wall with silage, just fire up the silage and the wall will seal itself and there will be no pollution.

I wouldn't be too sure that would happen but it would certainly make the job of filling the pit easier.

Anyone with a sheeted/un-sheeted earth walled pit out there or which option would be better?

Un sheeted walls work just perfect from a silage conservation and fees out point of view, but can attract the attentions of an inspector who can appear troubled by it but has not lead to an issue. Made a second one and lined it with slurry lagoon plastic run down the sides and under the concrete. Thought it was a great idea, but no matter how careful you are the plastic will get damaged and cut. It is also a fabulous hideout for rats behind the plastic.
I'd go earth banks again..

Buford T. Justice XIX

alps wrote: »

Un sheeted walls work just perfect from a silage conservation and fees out point of view, but can attract the attentions of an inspector who can appear troubled by it but has not lead to an issue. Made a second one and lined it with slurry lagoon plastic run down the sides and under the concrete. Thought it was a great idea, but no matter how careful you are the plastic will get damaged and cut. It is also a fabulous hideout for rats behind the plastic.
I'd go earth banks again..

I never thought about vermin behind the sheets. I suppose baiting well around the edges would be a help.

I was thinking about the slurry lining as well, would be a more permanent solution but rats behind it would trouble me a bit. I was talking to my silage man about it and he reckons the silage slides down the sheet onto the concrete and fed out then rather than actually putting the grab on it, but he probably isn't there for feeding it out. I must find out where he has cut that is using that and actually see it first hand.

Thanks for that, anyway.

trixi2011

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

I never thought about vermin behind the sheets. I suppose baiting well around the edges would be a help.

I was thinking about the slurry lining as well, would be a more permanent solution but rats behind it would trouble me a bit. I was talking to my silage man about it and he reckons the silage slides down the sheet onto the concrete and fed out then rather than actually putting the grab on it, but he probably isn't there for feeding it out. I must find out where he has cut that is using that and actually see it first hand.

Thanks for that, anyway.

we have earth lined silos here use super strength sheets on the walls, there defiantly less waste when you line the walls. one good thing about the earth bank theres not much danger of walls cracking if you overfill the pit

K.G.

Thinking of doing one of these this year as after bolloxin around with bales last couple of months convinced me i aint doing this s##t again.how are ye getting on with eath bank s and what type.of stuff did ye use.

mahoney_j

K.G. wrote: »

Thinking of doing one of these this year as after bolloxin around with bales last couple of months convinced me i aint doing this s##t again.how are ye getting on with eath bank s and what type.of stuff did ye use.

With environmental and nitrates regulations comming in quick I wouldn’t bother as they will be most likely condemned by co co and Dept in near future

davidk1394

mahoney_j wrote: »

With environmental and nitrates regulations comming in quick I wouldn’t bother as they will be most likely condemned by co co and Dept in near future

Will pits with earth banked walls have to be replaced with walls ?

memorystick

Thinking of putting down a base. Does it matter if it’s beside a ditch? There’s a fairly blind drain on the other side of the ditch that I could pipe if I had to.

mahoney_j

davidk1394 wrote: »

Will pits with earth banked walls have to be replaced with walls ?

Can see it happening ,outdoor slurry tanks been lined up to have a roof as well

K.G.

Its hard to know.in my opinion which isnt worth much,badly setup drains and dirty yards are alot biggger pollution threat than earth banks slabs but could still happen.i have a nice bit of fill to come from the digging out of a neighbour s house so it would be cheap to do.

Buford T. Justice XIX

mahoney_j wrote: »

Can see it happening ,outdoor slurry tanks been lined up to have a roof as well

Only new ones will need a roof, iirc.

With lagoons, they'll probably make them redundant by increasing the notional amount of rainfall they are supposed to have to store during the closed period and put pressure on the storage needed for cattle that way.

It would be great craic if they stopped the spreading of urban waste during the closed periods and required the same levels of storage that we have to comply with:)