Tearing down cement block silo.....

[bobodu]

I've been having a ball reading the posts on this forum,although the wife is feeling ignored.She just doesn't appreciate greasy things,yet somehow she married me....We have a 14X60 foot cement block silo out back that should come down.Blasting it would be fun....but I
am not fond of jail.A neighbor suggested popping it with the 30'06 and waiting for the wind.Sounds too risky and Indiana doesn't have a season on silos.Block by block is out because we couldn't reach that far and manlift rental is too high.Thought about suspending a rock from it and hauling it back with a 60' chain and letting it swing.However;if it didn't come down after so many whacks...I'd hate to go near it.Any ideas?

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Block by block is out because we couldn't reach that far and manlift rental is too high. )</font>

No, no. You do it block by block, but you start at the bottom
where the blocks are easier to reach.

Perhaps you could find a use for it as it is. Really deep
swimming pool? Perhaps rent it out as a climbing wall for
people who want to practice repelling and climbing.

Cliff

 

[surfran]

Have you thought about contracting a silo company to demo it? It is very dangerous work and not something I would try myself. A good friend of mine is in the business of silo's and he took over from his father who was killed while felling an old cement one about 5 years ago.

I believe they cut the staves (not sure if this is correct term but think so) kind of like cutting a tree. Anyhow, he was making a cut when it started to fall and he ran right in the path and was crushed. They think he may have been de-hydrated and delirious but will never know.

What ever you choose to do, be careful.

 

[RonR]

When I got out of the Marines 30 years ago, a buddy wanted me to blow up an old upright silo on a farm he bought. It was out away from stuff, so other than the risks to body, it would have been fun to do. As a farmer, he thought he could buy the dynamite. With all the EOD training I got in the Marines, I could have handled that part.

He wanted it to fall a certain way, to fill in a gulley. I wasn't sure I could make it do that, so he went to plan B. Sure would have been fun trying though........

Ron

 

[rdln]

six pack of beer, case of 12ga slugs, shotgun, proven method /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[BeeFarmer]

Now that's what Marines do well... blow things up!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Junkman]

fill it with hay and throw a match into it.. maybe it will melt... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Bowhunter]

What part of Indiana?

I saw on Real TV a few years back a video of someone trying to push one over with a dozer. It started to go then rocked back and collapsed on top of the dozer. Somehow the operator just received scratches. My only advice is.....don't try that. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[AndyMA]

Isn't this what an excavator is made for. With my 44,000 lb Hitachi I could sit back out of harms way and punch a hole in higher than mid way up. A few careful grabs and it would be on the ground. Another couple of hours and the blocks would all be separate. Probably cost you about $500 -600 for 4 hours work.
Just my thoughts. Nothing like the distance and reach of a good size excavator. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Andy

 

[jmc]

As tall and heavy as it is, I wonder if at least the bottom block isn't filled with concrete and rebar. That would really make the bullet or demo ball solution into a time bomb.

Maybe excavating the foundation on the side you want it to fall? Help it along by turning that side into mud? A huge hydraulic jack on the other side for more help. Turn it into a tourist attraction if it only goes part way?

John

 

[rockinmywaypa]

1. Add in paper.. silo free you remove... makes great paving stone
2. make s hooks 3ft long, bottom squared off to hold 2x12, climb chute and hang on sides to scaffold a ring around inside, reach over and loosen top ring, remove short blocks that will be every third block likely, reset hooks and remove next longest, then longest ones. keep resetting hooks and 25 trips around you should be able to stand on the ground. it will take two people at least, extra hooks. planks about 6ft long,safty harness and paid up insurance on you and your buddies. We have done this to install tripods on top of silos but it is real scary and not for the faint of heart.
3. build circular stairway and build a lookout room on top.

 

[TBAR]

However you do it make sure to have the video camera going. Ya never know....................you might make some money on it. (Video of how to do it or how not to do it) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif


TBAR

 

[bobodu]

I most certainly thank everyone who has taken the time to offer suggestions or laughs.I like the shotgun idea best...tss cheap anyway.I can save at least $5 on the beer since I gave that up years ago.If I paint a whitetail on the side....I wouldn't have to buy slugs...the neighbors would have it down by the end of the rut!!I may just fire up the grill and get my buddies together and break out the 54 cal. front stuffers.'Couple of good volleys might do it.The wife has offered to run the camera...but she has no idea what that amount of black powder sounds like!For the fella who wanted to know where we are...exactly half way between the Fort Wayne TSC and the Columbia City TSC.

 

[srs]

I watched a guy tear down a silo using a long cable and a large excavator. He climbed onto the bucket of the excavator, the operator then slowly raised the bucket, as high as the machine would go /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif, and the guy attached the chain/cable near the top. The operator slowly lowered the man to the ground, who then hooked up the cable to the bucket. The operator then backed up, and pulled the silo down. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[yooperdave]

We had a silo in the way when my parents bought a golf course back in the 70's.

We hired the local & retired Ag teacher who promptly blew it up early in the morning. Large rocks blew several hundred feet up and over the hill.

From the earth quake, the locals from many miles away knew who was up to what, they just did not know exactly where.

Nobody got hurt, no buildings were damaged, and many lasting memories.

Yooper Dave

 

[rambler]

This is dangerous work, so I'm just conversing, not suggesting anything.

The scaffold planks & S hooks works if you want to save the staves. Pile some loose hay/straw at the bottom. Probably won't save you, but most of the staves will be saved. This requires people not afraid of heights & heavy work.


Or, you take a sledge hammer, pound out every other stave at ground level 1/2 way around so it looks like a grinning pumpkin. Put a good strong chain through it. Attach the chain to a much longer stout chain/ cable. Attach to a strong tractor or crawler. Pull. The remaining staves will pop out like loose teeth as the chain pulls on them, the silo will (well, should) fall towards you (remember the _long_ cable part?). Have life insurance paid up, and it's pretty obvious the risks of knocking out every other stave on an old weak silo.....

If this is a concrete _stave_ silo either way works. For a _block_ silo, you probably need professional demo equipment.

--->Paul

 

[techinNY]

I'm in the same boat as bobodu, as far as the silo goes anyway. unfortunately it is only about six feet from my barn, and i don't want the barn damaged. Any idea how much your friend gets for taking down a concrete silo, and is he in the phone book?

 

[SPIKER]

boy I'm glad I didn't have any old silos to deal with! just about 30 or so junk piles scattered everywhere! I keep finding new ones every time i mow /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

anyhow one other choice if it can be blown up is if you have a good actelyne torch setup and a couple of big garbage bags?
they make BIG booms but not sure how much would take to open up the lower blockes enough for gravity to do it's think.
Up in akron there was a SMOKE stack that was 220 feet high. made with red brick! they hired a guy to take it down. brick by brick. setting on top with a big hammer and dropped the bricks down into the center. it filled up and was still almost 30 feet high if i remember right. but that was dug up and dropped into dump trucks eith a big excavator. it only took about a week or so if i remember right. was about 10 years back.

anyhow if you are attempting to remove it you're self be sure to pay the life insurance up and increase the benigfits to about 2 million. and add a dissability clause! lol

Mark M

 

[bobodu]

Something horrible has happened since I started this thread.The DPO had left the thing filled with silage from more than six years back.Thought it would be great on the garden but when we popped open one of the lower doors we found the stuff to be as hard as clay!!! Takes me about an hour to chip out about half a yard.I wonder if there is a better way.The auger is surely frozen.I thought about an ice fishing auger to dig it out. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[mrcaptainbob]

I'm wondering about a power washer.....It could cut out reasonable chunks, moisten things up a bit....Might be messy, but it might be worth it.