Which Pedestal system?

bert

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
n.yorks
Looking to put some pedestals in a new grain store. Having no experience of them before I wanted to know what your opinions on them were? I did look at a couple of systems at LAMMA including Martin Lishman who claimed they could dry wheat by a couple of % in a good hot week. The shed is 120ft by 70ft, and the walls are 12ft high, the grain will be pushed to this level.

Thanks in advance
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I looked at these in the summer, and spoke to several suppliers. They all seemed to think that while Lishman's claim to be able to dry corn and the others didn't publicise such claims, it was mostly because Some were happier to put claims in writing.;)

I took the view that if one system could do it, there's no reason why the others couldn't, assuming similar air flow & conditions. I opted for Polycool ones, which can be hooked out with the loader bucket without damage when emptying the store, rather than having to be careful not to flatten them. Not really had many good drying days this Autumn, but they have certainly cooled the pile efficiently, and took one patch of damper grain (18%) on the front, down a couple of %.

http://www.evansandpearce.com/grain-cooling/polycool-ventilation-pedestals
 

Robigus

Member
@bert do you have any other drying facilities? If not I'm with @Daniel.

Is the shed in bays, could you floor half of it?

You will never own a drive over floor and think 'Damn, I wish I had loads of pedestals in here not really doing the job properly.'

And when you are filling it and emptying it for the next 25 yrs you will never wish that you had dozens of pedestals to work round.

Of course you could always buy shares in a central store:whistle:
 

bert

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
n.yorks
I looked at these in the summer, and spoke to several suppliers. They all seemed to think that while Lishman's claim to be able to dry corn and the others didn't publicise such claims, it was mostly because Some were happier to put claims in writing.;)

I took the view that if one system could do it, there's no reason why the others couldn't, assuming similar air flow & conditions. I opted for Polycool ones, which can be hooked out with the loader bucket without damage when emptying the store, rather than having to be careful not to flatten them. Not really had many good drying days this Autumn, but they have certainly cooled the pile efficiently, and took one patch of damper grain (18%) on the front, down a couple of %.

http://www.evansandpearce.com/grain-cooling/polycool-ventilation-pedestals
Yes, looked at the polycool ones at lamma and couldn't really see why Martin Lishmans would dry anymore than the rest. How many Pedestal's do you have per fan?
 

Daniel

Member
@bert do you have any other drying facilities? If not I'm with @Daniel.

Is the shed in bays, could you floor half of it?

You will never own a drive over floor and think 'Damn, I wish I had loads of pedestals in here not really doing the job properly.'

And when you are filling it and emptying it for the next 25 yrs you will never wish that you had dozens of pedestals to work round.

Of course you could always buy shares in a central store:whistle:

Don't let central stores get dragged into this thread, I lost the will to live with the other one! Let's keep this thread for people who want to spend their own money on a grain shed to put in their own yard, for their own use!
 

bert

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
n.yorks
@bert do you have any other drying facilities? If not I'm with @Daniel.

Is the shed in bays, could you floor half of it?

You will never own a drive over floor and think 'Damn, I wish I had loads of pedestals in here not really doing the job properly.'

And when you are filling it and emptying it for the next 25 yrs you will never wish that you had dozens of pedestals to work round.

Of course you could always buy shares in a central store:whistle:
The shed is already built, didn't really see a floor dryer as an option as it needs to be a multi purpose shed, and putting in a drive over floor limits your options. Yes we have a mobile dryer, but old fellas a bit keen to be on and gets it out at 30 degrees at best, so does need cooling once in the pile. Just a thought if we where combining at 16 or 17% and fans could get a couple of % out it would save the mobile dryer and those 4 o'clock starts getting the thing going again :sleep:
 

Robigus

Member
The shed is already built, didn't really see a floor dryer as an option as it needs to be a multi purpose shed, and putting in a drive over floor limits your options. Yes we have a mobile dryer, but old fellas a bit keen to be on and gets it out at 30 degrees at best, so does need cooling once in the pile. Just a thought if we where combining at 16 or 17% and fans could get a couple of % out it would save the mobile dryer and those 4 o'clock starts getting the thing going again :sleep:
Well that's your other option, spend some money on upgrading your drier then you only need to cool it, you may be able to get away with screw in spears which would be cheaper and more flexible.
 

bert

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
n.yorks
Well that's your other option, spend some money on upgrading your drier then you only need to cool it, you may be able to get away with screw in spears which would be cheaper and more flexible.
Will be doing that in the future when the money is right, even with other dryers you will still need a cooling system once it is in the pile to keep it right, so see them as a good investment
 

Daniel

Member
I'm sure Dad was talking about installing underfloor pipes which come up through the floor in the appropriate places and have a small 'half-height' pedestal completely buried by grain which you then remove for the rest of the year to use as a normal shed. Wasn't paying much attention to be fair!

In any case if the shed is built it won't help you.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Yes, looked at the polycool ones at lamma and couldn't really see why Martin Lishmans would dry anymore than the rest. How many Pedestal's do you have per fan?

I only grow 75-85 ac of cereals, so only a small heap.:oops: I have 4 pedestals and only the one fan (see how it goes) which I move about. I have no other drying facilities, so these are to save me having to sell it quickly if it's somewhere near and, like yours, the shed has to be used for other things as soon as the corn has gone.
 

bert

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
n.yorks
I'm sure Dad was talking about installing underfloor pipes which come up through the floor in the appropriate places and have a small 'half-height' pedestal completely buried by grain which you then remove for the rest of the year to use as a normal shed. Wasn't paying much attention to be fair!

In any case if the shed is built it won't help you.
Had seen those before we built the shed, thought it was a good idea but thought they would soon be knocked about, and a pain to fill the shed as well
 

bert

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
n.yorks
I only grow 75-85 ac of cereals, so only a small heap.:oops: I have 4 pedestals and only the one fan (see how it goes) which I move about. I have no other drying facilities, so these are to save me having to sell it quickly if it's somewhere near and, like yours, the shed has to be used for other things as soon as the corn has gone.
Think they said to me 1 fan to 4 pedestals at the least, suppose its the more the better really. Think the ones that turn on and off automatically when its going to do some good look handy then you don't have to worry about them (y)
 

womble

Member
Location
alcester
use polycool pedestals personally fairly resilient to bucket damage much more robust than metal counter parts and very similarly priced search on Google and there are some videos where they don't hang fire in mistreating them. roughly work on 5m centres starting 3m in from wall personally set mine in a playing card pattern like the five of diamonds reduces dead areas need slightly more peds though best thing we have found is that you want enough fans to cool the grain fast enough or you are forever moving them slowly adding a few each year so as to cover 1 fan to two peds also the auto controls are brilliant as they will start fans as soon as air temp 5c below grain so you can get on with other jobs with out worrying about them 1 13amp circuit will run two fans per controller staggered start to stop fuse blowing . also buy some cheap buckets to cover the tube when filling as the red bung supplied come out to easily if grain pushed on them . as for drying will go to 17% and find normally below 15.5 when sold the fans will blow or suck air so a damper area could be blown with warm air for a while if needed but wouldn't rely on it in a wet year . as for grain height can buy 1m extension over standard supplied height of 3m I think any way want fan about 0.5 m above grain level .if running large numbers may need to have a louver fan fitted as the amount of heat coming from the grain can be quite surprising and after a while you defeat your self as you start recirculating the warm air need to keep cool air coming into shed . can use for rape as well but you will need to cover the bottom section of the polycool tower with hessian or cotton sheet to stop rape filling them through the slots .as for empty the store find them no hassle as you work either side of them then when practically un covered they will pull over and roll out of the way just need to be wary of leads and temp probes been dragged down with the grain as it moves down the face of the store.
 

bert

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
n.yorks
:unsure:
use polycool pedestals personally fairly resilient to bucket damage much more robust than metal counter parts and very similarly priced search on Google and there are some videos where they don't hang fire in mistreating them. roughly work on 5m centres starting 3m in from wall personally set mine in a playing card pattern like the five of diamonds reduces dead areas need slightly more peds though best thing we have found is that you want enough fans to cool the grain fast enough or you are forever moving them slowly adding a few each year so as to cover 1 fan to two peds also the auto controls are brilliant as they will start fans as soon as air temp 5c below grain so you can get on with other jobs with out worrying about them 1 13amp circuit will run two fans per controller staggered start to stop fuse blowing . also buy some cheap buckets to cover the tube when filling as the red bung supplied come out to easily if grain pushed on them . as for drying will go to 17% and find normally below 15.5 when sold the fans will blow or suck air so a damper area could be blown with warm air for a while if needed but wouldn't rely on it in a wet year . as for grain height can buy 1m extension over standard supplied height of 3m I think any way want fan about 0.5 m above grain level .if running large numbers may need to have a louver fan fitted as the amount of heat coming from the grain can be quite surprising and after a while you defeat your self as you start recirculating the warm air need to keep cool air coming into shed . can use for rape as well but you will need to cover the bottom section of the polycool tower with hessian or cotton sheet to stop rape filling them through the slots .as for empty the store find them no hassle as you work either side of them then when practically un covered they will pull over and roll out of the way just need to be wary of leads and temp probes been dragged down with the grain as it moves down the face of the store.
Thanks for sharing this womble, are your fans from polycool as well? they were trying to sell me there new fan with built in temperature control, which I think does away with the control box :unsure:
 

Flanker

Member
From our experience pedestals only really cool the grain & don't dry it. 2% reduction in moisture would be great if only it was true! Unless we are doing something wrong.
 

David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
I must be doing something wrong too then.
Good to keep 17/18% grain sweet for a month or two until you can get it to the drier though.
 

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