Any grants for slatted tank

[dannewhouse]

with the price of straw etc I'm looking at putting a slatted tank under our next building.

buildings I currently put up are 50ft, 15ft is a passage on front and 35ft of bedding. I have got where I cant extend on the gable end anymore on this building so next project is a stand alone building. I plan it to be double the width.

I'm thinking a clear span of around 100ft + cantilevers but I'm also debating making it say 120ft with a 20ft passage centrally. eventually I plan for this shed to be around 150-180ft long. but this could well be across 3 "projects" I predict I will be able to afford 60ft in length for a start but It will be expensive shuttering an end to the tank properly any suggestions for a temporary fix < probably end up being in a while mind. A panels bolted down is 1 suggestion?

I fancy the slats being right up to the feed barrier but dad talks of a beef unit where slats were like this and it was a disaster, slats were ripped out and front section filled in + concreted. but was this straw being pulled through and them not being able to mix it good, I'm interested in others experience.

I plan to use the slats for sucklers during the winter and finishing cattle rest of year, I may as well let sucklers on it in winter as they use more bedding than finishers. sucklers fed with mixer wagon and finishers on adlib hoppers < so should have enough feed space.

any prices for slats and slat mats? also spec for tank 300mm walls with rebar and 200mm floor?

 

[Daniel Larn]

I'm not sure that slated tanks are covered by anything at the moment.

Do you have a price for your building at full size?

 

[dannewhouse]

I'm not sure that slated tanks are covered by anything at the moment.

Do you have a price for your building at full size?

no, I would expect it in the range of 24k for the kit building for stage 1 120wx60L. this is obviously not a total cost.
tank I'm thinking 16k in concrete alone + 15k for the slats. <I'm unsure on these costings
5k in panels (to divide it into 4 pens) cheaper than gates I may actually use 1 1.5m panel instead of 2 x 1m as costing
8 feed barriers 2k < probably cheap but I will make them myself and have them galv so I'm somewhere well above cost.
12 gates 2.4k < same again but might make them less tall than my other gates (no bedding increase)

I'm unsure of erection and concreting cost as I do my own.
would expect 6k for putting building up.
have seen on here 50k for tank from start to finish but this was cheap?

am I best standing building up in bottom of tank and then casting around steelwork (not along side but say 6" away) or casting columns then bolting building on top.

has anyone ever made a slatted tank out of pre cast units? such as them L panels or happens A panels maybe even steel on outside and normal panels? <would be cheaper?

 

[Daniel Larn]

no, I would expect it in the range of 24k for the kit building for stage 1 120wx60L. this is obviously not a total cost.
tank I'm thinking 16k in concrete alone + 15k for the slats. <I'm unsure on these costings
5k in panels (to divide it into 4 pens) cheaper than gates I may actually use 1 1.5m panel instead of 2 x 1m as costing
8 feed barriers 2k < probably cheap but I will make them myself and have them galv so I'm somewhere well above cost.
12 gates 2.4k < same again but might make them less tall than my other gates (no bedding increase)

I'm unsure of erection and concreting cost as I do my own.
would expect 6k for putting building up.
have seen on here 50k for tank from start to finish but this was cheap?

am I best standing building up in bottom of tank and then casting around steelwork (not along side but say 6" away) or casting columns then bolting building on top.

has anyone ever made a slatted tank out of pre cast units? such as them L panels or happens A panels maybe even steel on outside and normal panels? <would be cheaper?

It sounds like you've got a pretty good grip on everything.

We were looking at slats and a tank for our build but ruled it out due to cost.

Although we spoke to a bloke who used precast and he said he would do it again, we didn't find it any cheaper really in terms of £/m3.

Cheapest quote for slats we got was from a company in Carlow, Ireland.

 

[dannewhouse]

It sounds like you've got a pretty good grip on everything.

We were looking at slats and a tank for our build but ruled it out due to cost.

Although we spoke to a bloke who used precast and he said he would do it again, we didn't find it any cheaper really in terms of £/m3.

Cheapest quote for slats we got was from a company in Carlow, Ireland.

do you have a price for the slats (pm me if you want) also the details of the pre cast tank. thanks.

I have worked on mine saving me 50p per head per day in bedding! (4ft round/25 cows/day) so 100 cows would be £50 per day a 180 day winter = 9000 I just rounded it to 10k by time I reckon in keeping some finishers in summer and my straw price is too cheap. a 50k investment in a tank is a 5 year payback, taking slurry spreading as same as mucking out+ spreading etc.

I'm even debating not putting a shed over the top! I have seen the photos from Scotland on here! <<would like to try this for myself even if I design it for a shed going up later and just never get around to it. I have out wintered cattle before and its just an opinion, yes they get wet etc but it doesn't bother them as long as they can shelter.

 

[Daniel Larn]

do you have a price for the slats (pm me if you want) also the details of the pre cast tank. thanks.

I have worked on mine saving me 50p per head per day in bedding! (4ft round/25 cows/day) so 100 cows would be £50 per day a 180 day winter = 9000 I just rounded it to 10k by time I reckon in keeping some finishers in summer and my straw price is too cheap. a 50k investment in a tank is a 5 year payback, taking slurry spreading as same as mucking out+ spreading etc.

I'm even debating not putting a shed over the top! I have seen the photos from Scotland on here! <<would like to try this for myself even if I design it for a shed going up later and just never get around to it. I have out wintered cattle before and its just an opinion, yes they get wet etc but it doesn't bother them as long as they can shelter.

It's definitely the way to go for finishing them, inside or outside.

Only thing with being outside is that your tank is going to catch a fair amount of rain, isn't it?

I will see if I can get you the quotes we had, but we were going for the really wide slats. We had to cover 15' channel because we had some other kit to fit in. If you can do a 'normal' width then you will be a damn site cheaper straight away.

 

[concrete agri]

We used creagh concrete on this job they have yards in Scotland and England

 

[dannewhouse]

We used creagh concrete on this job they have yards in Scotland and England

I think this is the photo I had seen on another thread, roughly 50k cost to slat level. I picture mine having posts and beams to carry the slats rather than internal shuttered walls, to aid stirring as much as save money.

how will or will you mount a building over that when finished?

what do they do like solid slats for running tractor over If I had a feed passage will obviously be cheaper to have 1 tank than 2 1 being either side of feed passage.

do you have a rough cost for slats?

 

[concrete agri]

Aye think £10.000 for slats and slabs

 

[Far Gloss]

with the price of straw etc I'm looking at putting a slatted tank under our next building.

buildings I currently put up are 50ft, 15ft is a passage on front and 35ft of bedding. I have got where I cant extend on the gable end anymore on this building so next project is a stand alone building. I plan it to be double the width.

I'm thinking a clear span of around 100ft + cantilevers but I'm also debating making it say 120ft with a 20ft passage centrally. eventually I plan for this shed to be around 150-180ft long. but this could well be across 3 "projects" I predict I will be able to afford 60ft in length for a start but It will be expensive shuttering an end to the tank properly any suggestions for a temporary fix < probably end up being in a while mind. A panels bolted down is 1 suggestion?

I fancy the slats being right up to the feed barrier but dad talks of a beef unit where slats were like this and it was a disaster, slats were ripped out and front section filled in + concreted. but was this straw being pulled through and them not being able to mix it good, I'm interested in others experience.

I plan to use the slats for sucklers during the winter and finishing cattle rest of year, I may as well let sucklers on it in winter as they use more bedding than finishers. sucklers fed with mixer wagon and finishers on adlib hoppers < so should have enough feed space.

any prices for slats and slat mats? also spec for tank 300mm walls with rebar and 200mm floor?

I’m planning on building a slatted beef finishing shed.
The Comfort slat mats (green ones)
Are around £60 per meter square, not including fitting.
Expensive, yes but from what I’ve seen cattle are comfortable and keep fairly clean on them.
Clean enough to go straight to slaughter with no need to clip them.

 

[Daniel Larn]

I’m planning on building a slatted beef finishing shed.
The Comfort slat mats (green ones)
Are around £60 per meter square, not including fitting.
Expensive, yes but from what I’ve seen cattle are comfortable and keep fairly clean on them.
Clean enough to go straight to slaughter with no need to clip them.

I've heard mixed reviews on those, apparently they can get quite slippy.

Kraiburg do good mats, they are about the £60 /m2 mark as well.

 

[Far Gloss]

I've heard mixed reviews on those, apparently they can get quite slippy.

Kraiburg do good mats, they are about the £60 /m2 mark as well.

The comfort slats I saw weren’t slippy for the cattle, these were stocked tightly at 1.9 meters square per 500 kg beast.
How clean do cattle keep on the Kraiburg mats?
thanks I’ll look these mats up

 

[Daniel Larn]

The comfort slats I saw weren’t slippy for the cattle, these were stocked tightly at 1.9 meters square per 500 kg beast.
How clean do cattle keep on the Kraiburg mats?
thanks I’ll look these mats up

I think it was more to do with the surface of them holding a bit of water, its fine and dandy till it freezes. I can't really say what are like, just passing on what I've heard.

We did look quite hard at the Kraiburg mats, and had some samples sent to us. They are really nice, and come laser cut to a specific pattern you choose. Handy if you want to cut around anything, or put posts through your slats.

Animals keep really clean on the kraiburg mats too, I think all will be much of a muchness in that regard.

1.9m2 for a 500kg animal is really tight! ...are you sure that was the stocking rate?

 

[Far Gloss]

I think it was more to do with the surface of them holding a bit of water, its fine and dandy till it freezes. I can't really say what are like, just passing on what I've heard.

We did look quite hard at the Kraiburg mats, and had some samples sent to us. They are really nice, and come laser cut to a specific pattern you choose. Handy if you want to cut around anything, or put posts through your slats.

Animals keep really clean on the kraiburg mats too, I think all will be much of a muchness in that regard.

1.9m2 for a 500kg animal is really tight! ...are you sure that was the stocking rate?

Thanks.
Sorry, which slat mat holds a bit of water on the surface?

 

[Far Gloss]

I think it was more to do with the surface of them holding a bit of water, its fine and dandy till it freezes. I can't really say what are like, just passing on what I've heard.

We did look quite hard at the Kraiburg mats, and had some samples sent to us. They are really nice, and come laser cut to a specific pattern you choose. Handy if you want to cut around anything, or put posts through your slats.

Animals keep really clean on the kraiburg mats too, I think all will be much of a muchness in that regard.

1.9m2 for a 500kg animal is really tight! ...are you sure that was the stocking rate?

Just checked my figures
20 cattle in a pen 4.5 meters x 9 meters =40.5 m2 divide by 20 cattle =2.025 m2 each beast
Was a water trough in the pen aswell

 

[Daniel Larn]

Thanks.
Sorry, which slat mat holds a bit of water on the surface?

Comfort slat mats, again, not something we've seen ourselves but had the story from 2 people.

 

[Daniel Larn]

Just checked my figures
20 cattle in a pen 4.5 meters x 9 meters =40.5 m2 divide by 20 cattle =2.025 m2 each beast
Was a water trough in the pen aswell

I will have to see what some of ours are at, it just seems small to me in my head.

 

[kx-91]

Comfort slat mats, again, not something we've seen ourselves but had the story from 2 people.

I've no experience of them myself but I don't really see how they could hold water. If I was building a new shed I'd consider them http://www.comfortslatmat.com

 

[Daniel Larn]

I've no experience of them myself but I don't really see how they could hold water. If I was building a new shed I'd consider them http://www.comfortslatmat.com

I think it was because the surface has a rough texture, as opposed to the smooth mats. Could be wrong though.

 

[Far Gloss]

From what I’ve seen, the comfort slat mats can’t hold liquid on the surface as they are dome shape.