Grain cooling in bays

[woodylane]

Our grainstore is split up into 10no 5mx15m bays which we fill from the top and use a pusher to get right to the back. Any ideas for cooling? Pedestals will be tricky as we unload with telehandler and would prevent pushing up. Grain is piled 5m high

 

[David.]

Timber floor or voided concrete at design stage would have been best.
Pedestals would work as long as you can reach over with the dozer, and put top pipes on as you come back
I've got an almost identical bunker and it is and always has been a miserable PIA. This year I have put a slotted 9" pipe on the floor down the centre (that the trailer will reverse over), and a centrifugal fan at the bottom of the heap blowing it. Airflow is working, but will require patience at unloading.

 

[woodylane]

The bunkers work great for us as seed growers as we have good segregation between varieties and can fit 200t in a bay. Drying and cooling takes place in the two batch dryers at the end of the shed so a timber floor wouldn’t have been the best option for us. At the moment we are thinking pipe along either wall with a hole cored out of the rear panel to put a 6”” pipe through, this would allow us to blow some cool air through if the bunker is a bit warm

 

[Against_the_grain]

I'm pretty sure something like this would work?

Agrohanse are the company to speak to

 

[quattro]

The bunkers work great for us as seed growers as we have good segregation between varieties and can fit 200t in a bay. Drying and cooling takes place in the two batch dryers at the end of the shed so a timber floor wouldn’t have been the best option for us. At the moment we are thinking pipe along either wall with a hole cored out of the rear panel to put a 6”” pipe through, this would allow us to blow some cool air through if the bunker is a bit warm

I use 2 runs of twin wall pipe split equall between 60ft wide buildings going through the rear wall storing grain /Osr 25ft deep
so i don’t see what you’re suggesting won’t work

 

[Matt77]

Would the screw in spears with a motor on top not work for you, bit manual I know but removable for unloading.

 

[woodylane]

Would the screw in spears with a motor on top not work for you, bit manual I know but removable for unloading.

Hi matt yes we are currently using these but when the pile is 5m high we aren’t getting to the bottom with them and as you say it’s hard work moving them around. Think we’ll try the twin wall pipe method along the base of each wall

 

[woodylane]

I use 2 runs of twin wall pipe split equall between 60ft wide buildings going through the rear wall storing grain /Osr 25ft deep
so i don’t see what you’re suggesting won’t work

Think we’ll give it a go [emoji106]

 

[Grass And Grain]

How about putting some pedestals tight up to the wall sides?

 

[DanniAgro]

How about putting some pedestals tight up to the wall sides?

Yes, I'd like to know if something like this would work.

 

[Grass And Grain]

Yes, I'd like to know if something like this would work.

I think pedestals are effective to the same radius as the depth of grain. So 5m depth in this case, so pedestal should cool the grain all the way to the far wall of the bunker.

I would of thought 3 or 4 pedrstals in each bunker, alternated along either side would do the job. This would leave the central part of the bunker clear to work with the grain pusher and for out-loading.

 

[DanniAgro]

I think pedestals are effective to the same radius as the depth of grain. So 5m depth in this case, so pedestal should cool the grain all the way to the far wall of the bunker.

I would of thought 3 or 4 pedrstals in each bunker, alternated along either side would do the job. This would leave the central part of the bunker clear to work with the grain pusher and for out-loading.

It's the grain pusher that causes me most concern - you're levelling the store as fast as you can before another load is ready, and it must be all too easy to scrape the top off the pedestal if it's anywhere near the middle. That's why putting them more towards the edge appeals.
This the first year I've had a bulk store after decades of bins, and at the moment I'm using the blasted screw in thingies to cool the heap down, and pedestals appeal as a way of cooling right down to the ground.
Does anyone else have experience of managing both pushers and pedestals?

 

[Brisel]

I have wider bays than that with pedestals. Just build a good heap around the pedestals so they don't shift as you push grain around. My heap is only 3m deep so I don't have the same issues as the OP.

 

[Brisel]

Our grainstore is split up into 10no 5mx15m bays which we fill from the top and use a pusher to get right to the back. Any ideas for cooling? Pedestals will be tricky as we unload with telehandler and would prevent pushing up. Grain is piled 5m high

Because of the height you'll always struggle around pedestals. For a 5m width one horizontal pipe from back to front will do. You'd have a bucket's width either side to work with & the telescopic ducting would be best. Can you pull them through the heap @Against_the_grain ?

 

[David.]

Those telescopic laterals were tried years ago, used to have a hand winch inside the air tunnel to retract them.
The problem was, if you so much as touched them with a bucket they were knackered.
It is possible to push grain over pedestals, just, provided you have a very long dozer, with arms that have clear space between (no cross braces)so that the chimney can pass between the arms as you push. It is a massive pain.
It should be the law that no bunker can be narrower than to allow a bucket to pass both sides of the pedestal..

 

[SilliamWhale]

For the sake of a couple of hundred pounds on new pedestals the idea of putting some each side sounds the best.

 

[David.]

That does sound appealing, so long as the air doesn't shortcut down the wall, and the deeper the grain the less likely that is. Certainly no hassle unloading.

 

[Robert]

That does sound appealing, so long as the air doesn't shortcut down the wall, and the deeper the grain the less likely that is. Certainly no hassle unloading.

Can anyone confirm that this shortcutting down the wall isn’t a problem? (4m deep here). Thanks

 

[DanniAgro]

Can anyone confirm that this shortcutting down the wall isn’t a problem? (4m deep here). Thanks

You'd have thought that the seal against the wall would be as good as that between grains in the bulk, so there would be no excessive airflow down the wall? It just needs a good seal at the edges and between the slabs.

 

[Sprayer 1]

Do we think sucking or blowing is most effective for cooling grain?