anyone ever moved a grain bin?

The jacks are arranged around the bin, lined up with seams on the bottom sheets. In your case, the first 'set' of jacks will be attaching to the legs instead of sheets. The jacks themselves are simple A-frames with a cable winch attached, and a pulley at the peak of the frame. A support strut is pinned to the ground to prevent the jack from leaning into or away from the bin.

Remove some of the bolts in the sheet seams (two or three rings up, because you'll be taking the bottom ring(s) off and lowering it as each ring is removed). Plates on the ends of the jacks' cables bolt in place there. On the v-bottom, you'll start by bolting onto the legs instead of sheets. Unbolt the bin from its foundation, and use the jacks to lift the bin just so its off the ground. Either have several guys raise them all at once, or a couple guys can start on opposite sides of the bin, and walk from jack to jack, giving each one a few turns. Eventually, it gets where it needs to be. Next, remove the lower portion of the legs and the bottom cone sections. The cone is easy to keep track of, so those pieces can be kept on a pile. Then you lower the bin down and remove the next portion of it. After every other ring, the bin will have to be set on the ground, and the jack plates raised and reattached to the next available seam.

As soon as you get to the main sheets, you'll want to use some spray paint inside the bin to mark the sheets. Usually we do something basic, like: A1, A2, A3...and B1, B2, B3, etc... If you stack the sheets so they 'dish' upwards, the inner surface with the label will be visible for when you want to put it back up.

The electric impact wrench is a must-have type of suggestion. You should also have some large buckets available for all the bolts. When jacking the bin, go slowly and make sure to prevent the bin from tipping too much to one side. A speedy tip is to have someone with two wrenches on the inside, and the impact on the outside. The inside guy works with both wrenches, so one of the wrenches is always on a nut. That allows the person running the impact to go as fast as he can. Each pair of workers can work out whatever pattern is preferred for convenience, speed, etc...

Taking a used bin apart can be a good idea anyway, because when you put it back together you know there's new, good caulk between every seam. Also, you'll probably replace all the bolts, so you'll have fresh rubber sealing all the bolt holes. While its down, its much easier to give the roof a new coat of paint (if needed). You can also store the sheets for as long as you want, much easier than the whole bin. Just in case you don't have your new site prepped, or the weather isn't cooperating.

Assembly is the reverse. Put the top ring together, add the supports and roof, jack it up, add a section, set it down, reset the jacks, etc...

Whatever you decide to do, good luck. I've been involved in several bin 'projects', and its not easy work. Yours really isn't that big, so it should be a pretty smooth experience. One other thing - keeping your sense of humor is VITAL. =)

--->Paul

Rod

I also moved 2 18' by ~20' high bins. We used the bin jacks and removed the lower 2 rings, set the remaining bin part on top of my car trailer, and drove the 1/2 mile to my place.

On such a small feed bin (this is only 200 bu, I have small out-dated grain wagons & they hold 210 bu, most neighbors have wagons that hold 600-700 bu!), I would never unbolt it, too much trouble!

Is there any way to move it out from where it is, all you need is 8' of space to slide it out? I'd lay it down on a trailer, you didn't mention the height but could probably set it on a car trailer & tie it down good. This is a pretty small project.

You might be uncomfortable trying to move this whole, but I am equally uncommfortable with trying to take it apart & scaffolding and all - lot more work than you realize, and you need new bolts to reassemble - old ones are probably rusty & don't want to be removed. I vote for moving it whole if at _all_ possible! :)

--->Paul

Ok, it's 333 bu, not 200 like my faulty math... ;)

If you can't move it out, then you'll have to take apart. But I'd _really_ look for 7' of space to move it out, that is way, way, way easier than taking this thing apart! Any car trailer will handle it, my car trailer didn't notice the big 3000bu bin I put on it....

Once you take the roof off, this thing will become very unstable & floppy. Be prepared for that. Bin sidewalls are not as stiff as they look. The roof is the stiffening strong part of most all bins.

Mark the panels so you can put back together the way you took apart. The holes are supposed to be stamped out the same, but sometimes things settle into a way the pieces prefer. Also on bigger bins the bottom panels are increasingly slightly thicker than the top panels. You _don't_ want to mix that up or a side will blow out. This may not be an issue on your small feed bin tho.

Use new bolts to put back together.

I'd really look for a way to move it out whole - if I didn't mention that before. ;) It's easier and safer to set on a pair of 4x4's and skid out real slow & careful than to handle those sheets of floppy tin comnig down and going back up on a ladder/ scaffold.....

Seriously.

--->Paul

Where I live there is a friendly hard working crane operator. He charges $90 an hour. If you let him pick the time it's done, he would lay it down there & set it up again here (if it's 50 miles or less) for under $150. And he's good with advise & actually doing stuff to help you, not just sit on the seat & yawn.

Not everyone is so lucky to have that nearby. But you might want to ask around.

When I moved the 2 3000 bu bins, I had 1 friend that moved a bin before, plus 2 other guys, and 2 gals. We atarted at 9:00am, had them both sitting on the ground at my place by 6:00pm. Heck of a deal. The electric impact wrench was THE tool to have. I rented the bin jacks from the coop.

Another guy came with his son to move his bin an hour after we started. Couple ladders & some wrenches - in 30 minutes, they were watching us - panting. 5 minutes later, the dad said to his son, "Stay here. Help them. Learn what they are doing." And he left. Came back with the same model impact wrench I had.

We had a good chuckle over that that evening, since frankly, we didn't know what we were doing either. :)

--->Paul

He built a special trailer that could carry the bin laying down. Using a winch truck, he would pick the trailer up by it's tongue and strap it to the standing bin. Then he would pull the bin over and trailer it to the new site. (I was pretty young then, and I never actually saw him do it, so please excuse the lack of details.)

However, it sounds like this won't work for you. If you want to dissassemble it in place, you might be interested knowing how big bins are erected. The top ring is assembled on the ground, and the roof is attached to it. Then devices known as "bin jacks" are used to hoist the top ring high enough to add a second ring below it. Then the bin is hoisted again, a third ring is added, etc. You could reverse the process.

Bin jacks are simple devices consisting of a stand and a cable winch; you could probably build them yourself. If you can find someone who erects bins in your area, there's a chance they'll rent or loan you a set.

BTW, a electric or air impact wrench will save you a lot of time and aggravation dissassembling the bin.

As for the bulk bin I would lay it on its side and move it in one piece. Only being 25' tall I would think it wouldn't be that big of job, much easier then taking it apart - that too is a nasty dirty job.

Two rows of rings were bolted together first, then the top cone assembled in place.

Rather than using jacks to lift the assembly to add rings at the bottom, we used a rough terrain type of fork lift. One of those that looks more like an old hay stacker.

Once we got high enough, we bolted the legs in place, then added the remaining rings. Lastly, the bottom cone. The bottom cone was the pits as I recall, because of having to stand/lean on the slanting slippery surface.

I've also helped assemble a conventional grain bin. Same deal, a ring or two of sheets, then the top cone, then use jacks to raise it to add more rings.

I was always afraid the fickle winds of Kansas would come along and blow them off of the jacks. Of course crushing the bin and me in the process.

The inside of bins are a real echo chamber which makes communication lots of fun. WHICH BOLT? NOT THAT ONE, THE ONE NEXT TO IT! NO, USE THE DRIFT PIN THE OTHER DIRECTION FOR ALIGNMENT! *%$#!!%&!!

An adjustable erection tool is a plus. Don't ask, don't tell. http://www.tools-plus.com/kle3239.html
Also similar to brake pry bars. See link.

Good luck and have fun. Let us know how it goes.

• Brake pry bars.

When we no longer needed them, we sold two grain bins, one about 24' in diameter. Companies that put these things up use jacks that bolt into the sides to elevate them so the next ring can be added to the bottom. Taking them down is simply the reverse procedure. If you can find three or four of those jacks, three men with power tools could take a bin the size you describe apart in about half a day.