Yet another Shop Talk

Eventually, it's clear enough to make other things happen.  The wire supports are clipped together at the top by little metal straps.  I found the best way to disengage those clips, is with a 1-1/4" wrench about 20" long... just hook between the sides, and pry down, the clip deforms and releases (mostly.... usually...)  and sometimes, it leaves at an enthusiastic velocity... straight up...

Now, bein's that there was lots of snow showing up, I scrambled to move several things that either needed to be in this space for future OR... needed to be out of my way somewhere else, to get this done.  The power trowel and welding supplies being in the latter category, the woodburning furnace being in the former.  More on them later.  I'm gradually working my way towards the far side, pulling sheet, unclipping wire.. and working around the extraction auger blocking the middle of the floor...

And this part is kinda like eating an elephant... one bite at a time...

Next, get it fitted up with electricity, because daylight is darned short up here, and temperature ain't warm...

Here's the old drying controls.  I disconnected it's 100A main (after locking out the feeder from the main  pole) unthreaded the conduit, then lifted the cabinet off.

Then I re-piped the conduit into the bin with Schedule 80 PVC:

And a little persuasion...

And some combined force between my son and I:

Now, for darned little of this, did I actually have any help... Nick was home over Christmas Break, and had a few minutes to help me, other than that, I was on my own...

So here's a new flavor of "Shop Talk".  I've been considering this for quite some time, and a variety of circumstances prevented me from making this move, but opportunity and circumstance presented itself, and I jumped in...

INterestingly enough, I had very little to go on... I'm certain other guys have done this, but the number of detailed writeups is basically nil.

I have a grain-drying bin that is no longer economical to continue using for grain drying.  It's a Behlen bin, was built around 1963 or so.  It is 27ft in diameter, 20ft tall side walls (5 rings) and about another four feet to the top of the crown.  It has four oval-shaped hatches in the top  It was fitted with a louvered drying floor on wire zig-zag risers, a 10hp blower and propane burner.  There's an extraction auger to withdraw the contents, a sweep-auger to push contents towards the extraction auger.  Hanging from the ceiling is a twin-auger stirrator, and up top is a Scattergrain receiving spinner.  The access door is oval, center elevated about 7ft above the slab.

The bin has a 100A service fed from my main property utility pole, and there's a disconnected and capped, but still intact 1" liquid propane line going to my tank farm.

The access stairway is shot, and from the outside, it shows all the typical corrosion gremlins.  Most of the bottom ring is in surprisingly good condition, with exception of the area immediately surrounding the drying blower duct... there's some missing metal in that area, and the gap is one of many reasons why it was retired from duty. 

It DOES, however, have good structural integrity otherwise, the concrete floor appeared to be uncracked, and it is sufficient in size to serve as a automotive and tractor workshop area.