Sunday silo disaster

[sms]

I will try to post the video

 

[UncleTom]

Wow, it was full too.

 

[JohnRowehl]

Any background information?

 

[sms]

Any background information?

No, just saw the video.

 

[tom upton]

My Dad talked about a slab silo that came down when they were filling. Nieghbour up the road back when nieghbours got together for silo filling time. They used distributor pipes inside the silo and tramped it while filling. Dad figured a ring connector let go somewhere near the bottom of silo and it just kept blowing rings apart till it all went down in a heap. It would have been a fairly new silo at the time so must have had a faulty something on at least one ring? No one was killed but I think I remember a tractor or car or something got the worst of it. The fellow that owned the place at the time ( or probably at that time it was his father) is still around. I must ask him the details of what they figured caused it as there surely would have been some kind of workplace investigation??
The one in the video looks like they knew it was going to come over well in advance?

 

[Steve in IL]

Not good, but that could have been so much worse… Didn’t seem to hit anything or anyone.

 

[john in la]

My Dad talked about a slab silo that came down when they were filling. Nieghbour up the road back when nieghbours got together for silo filling time. They used distributor pipes inside the silo and tramped it while filling. Dad figured a ring connector let go somewhere near the bottom of silo and it just kept blowing rings apart till it all went down in a heap. It would have been a fairly new silo at the time so must have had a faulty something on at least one ring? No one was killed but I think I remember a tractor or car or something got the worst of it. The fellow that owned the place at the time ( or probably at that time it was his father) is still around. I must ask him the details of what they figured caused it as there surely would have been some kind of workplace investigation??
The one in the video looks like they knew it was going to come over well in advance?

I agree.
They may not have wanted to take it down as it was full but they knew well in advance that it was coming down as they had time to block the road and clear the area.

 

[Vito]

Waste of good fodder. Never should have filled it.

Vito

 

[caterpillar guy]

Unless it had to come down for some reason it is just stupid to down it full of feed. Makes twice or more the work to clean up. Why would they try to do it with it so close to the one next to it full of feed. Sort of like cutting a leaning tree and expecting it to fall against the lean.

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

I will try to post the video

Where was superman?

 

[DoubleO7]

Unless it had to come down for some reason it is just stupid to down it full of feed. Makes twice or more the work to clean up. Why would they try to do it with it so close to the one next to it full of feed. Sort of like cutting a leaning tree and expecting it to fall against the lean.

News video about it

 

[Aaron SEIA]

Unless it had to come down for some reason it is just stupid to down it full of feed. Makes twice or more the work to clean up. Why would they try to do it with it so close to the one next to it full of feed. Sort of like cutting a leaning tree and expecting it to fall against the lean.

I'm quite certain they did not want it to come down. It's a rare occurrence, but sometimes those old girls fall over after being filled. I know of 2 people thats happened to.
AaronSEIA

 

[chcase]

I'm quite certain they did not want it to come down. It's a rare occurrence, but sometimes those old girls fall over after being filled. I know of 2 people thats happened to.
AaronSEIA

In the mid 1970's a farmer had a new 14x60 silo put up
They filled it over 3/4 full when they noticed it starting to lean. They got all equipment out of way and called the insurance company and silo company. The silo company sent a crew of 6 guys out. The crew boss had the men cut bands in the correct spots and the silo fell the way he wanted to and it was originally leaning towards barn. The son told me he never seen 6 guys moving so fast in his life. I guess the second row of staves had started to Crack. He stated it was a real mess to clean up but silo company hired a large crew that had the knowledge to clean the mess up afterwards

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Now take a closer look. The bottom 20’ or so was wet. All the way around as far as we could see. This tells me that the silage was chopped way too wet to be stored in a tower stave silo. Because the juice was squeezed out between the staves. This silo looks to me to have some age on it. And had probably been filled several times in the past with corn silage that had too high a moisture content, causing the juice to be squeezed out and the silo to “run”. Every time this happens, the acid in the corn silage running between the staves erodes the staves leaving larger and larger spaces between the staves, which weakens the structure. I have looked into the bottom of an empty silo and been able to see plenty of sunshine through the spaces between the staves. Silos like this are not safe to use and should be demolished before gravity takes them down. I have also seen old silos with the first 20’ of staves cracked in half because there were not enough hoops put around them at the bottom where the pressure is greatest. Imagine how much extra pressure is exerted on the first 20’ from the bottom compared to the top. Then multiple that pressure by filling the silo too wet, and the juice from the entire height on the silo tricking down into the bottom few feet

 

[Alvin 41]

Now take a closer look. The bottom 20’ or so was wet. All the way around as far as we could see. This tells me that the silage was chopped way too wet to be stored in a tower stave silo. Because the juice was squeezed out between the staves. This silo looks to me to have some age on it. And had probably been filled several times in the past with corn silage that had too high a moisture content, causing the juice to be squeezed out and the silo to “run”. Every time this happens, the acid in the corn silage running between the staves erodes the staves leaving larger and larger spaces between the staves, which weakens the structure. I have looked into the bottom of an empty silo and been able to see plenty of sunshine through the spaces between the staves. Silos like this are not safe to use and should be demolished before gravity takes them down. I have also seen old silos with the first 20’ of staves cracked in half because there were not enough hoops put around them at the bottom where the pressure is greatest. Imagine how much extra pressure is exerted on the first 20’ from the bottom compared to the top. Then multiple that pressure by filling the silo too wet, and the juice from the entire height on the silo tricking down into the bottom few feet

Many years ago ,just east of here, a newly poured concrete silo filled immediately upon completion collapsed across a busy road with no injuries. SWI