Silo Question
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Other Topics
Forum Name: Shops, Barns, Varmints, and Trucks
Forum Description: anything you want to talk about except politics
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=164962
Printed Date: 28 Jun 2025 at 6:33am
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Topic: Silo Question
Posted By: Armand(AZ)
Subject: Silo Question
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2019 at 11:33pm
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Guys, I just finished up a build of a 850 forage blower. Typical blower with the unloading trough with the optional B-125 power unit. I didn't know they had a model number until I seen a decal called out in the parts manual. I have made three sections of the blower tube and the curved spout at the top. Can someone give the an idea of the height and diameter of a silo. Thinking the old concrete type with no roof. Thought I might make a model to display with the blower. Tks, Armand
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Replies:
Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 4:59am
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Ours was about 60' high, and I think they were in even numbers, 20-28' diameter... ------------- Source: Babylon Bee. Sponsored by BRAWNDO, its got what you need! |
Posted By: nella(Pa)
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 5:33am
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16x50, Average size in my area for an old concrete stave silo.
My poured silo is 20x72, too big for your model I would think.
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Posted By: klinemar
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 5:38am
| I have a 14x50 and 2- 20x60 concrete silos. Most silos in this area were 20x60. |
Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 5:45am
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I'll want to see the model concrete silo section forming machine that Armand will make so he can make the silo pieces !! I have NO idea how one guy can make such beautiful miniatures ( they AIN'T 'models' ) !! ------------- 3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112 Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor) Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water |
Posted By: Armand(AZ)
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 6:41am
If I remember how to post a photo, this is the blower model. This model represents the earlier version of the blower. It I am correct (from info in the parts manuals I have) the first 1000 or so used the gathering chain delivery and had the B-125 as an optional power source. Later versions used the belt in place of the gathering chain, and also used the flat belt drive but didn't mention the power unit. I am sure some of you know better than I do if that is correct or not. |
Posted By: Armand(AZ)
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 6:52am
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Jay, actually I have one of Calvin Schmidt's brochures on how his company makes poured concrete silos but I will pass on the idea!! Thanks for the confidence in my model making tho!! LOL
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Posted By: Sugarmaker
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 7:22am
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Armand, Man you do some awesome work! As I started to read this I was thinking real size blower! And I had flash backs to filling the old Unidilo silos at Dads place. We had two sided by side about 4 feet between them, I think they were 12- 14 foot in dia and I know they were 40 foot tall, open topped, wood staved with steel hoops. More hoops at the bottom. (about 2 feet apart at the bottom, 4 feet apart at the top.) Around the top was a series of boards, on the inside to make some structure. The blower like you built set in between them so the pipe could be swung from one to the other! You Just do Awesome work! Need more pictures of the build! I just love models! As I read through some of the other sizes of bigger silos the scal of the Unidilo would be right for the machine. When the silos got bigger and taller. Farmers went to bigger tractor driven blowers. The 14 x 40 type was for a farm of the 50's with a heard of 40 -50 head of cows. I think that would be about the right scale and look. Next you need the Allis fan type run by a good old WD narrow front! Are you building the back unloading wagon with the moving front bunk too? Regards, Chris ------------- D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet. |
Posted By: Armand(AZ)
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 7:43am
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Ya mean like this?? LOL Finished this AC running gear and feed box last Feb. Maybe I didn't post a picture of it. https://imgur.com/V2Cbtsk" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Armand(AZ)
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 8:04am
| Chris, another thought following your comments. The curved shute at the top seemed to be out of proportion as to what was pictured in the parts manual, like about 4 feet from pipe to the outer end. Maybe that is because the shute could be turned from one silo to the other as you mentioned without moving the blower?? I'll post a picture of the shute later. Armand |
Posted By: Sugarmaker
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 8:05am
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Armand, I may have missed that! Wow! very detailed chopper wagon! So we used the rear gate for the blower type you just completed and used the side auger with the smaller tractor driven silo blower. ( actually two completely different wagons) Its going to be a very nice display! Regards, Chris ------------- D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet. |
Posted By: Dusty MI
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 8:18am
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My dad had a silo built in the early 60's, it was a 12x35'. I was just a kid. My friend, one year older than me, and I mixed the mud that the construction crew sealed the inside with. Dusty ------------- 917 H, '48 G, '65 D-10 series III "Allis Express" |
Posted By: tadams(OH)
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 10:35am
| Yes, the older open top silos were only 12' or 14' across and 30' or so tall, back then you pitched the silage out so the didn't make them to wide as to limit spoilage from day to day |
Posted By: Wayne180d
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 11:09am
| Our silos are 14 x 40 on the farm I work on. |
Posted By: Sugarmaker
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 9:11pm
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Armand, 4 feet sounds about right on the chute dimension. They did not fill at the center of the silo. Just get it up there and in the hole. I believe they may have had a end flapper that was adjustable a little?? Lot of folks have perished from silo gas while in them, leveling off the fresh ensilage. Looking forward to seeing the finished product! Regards, Chris
------------- D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet. |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2019 at 11:04pm
| jumbo pringles can? |
Posted By: JohnCO
Date Posted: 12 Oct 2019 at 12:33am
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Armand, I just sent you a pm with info for your Denver friend and asked what you were working on. I should have checked out the forum first! You could also consider making a blue Harvestor silo. Always thought they looked cool, plus you didn't have to climb up into them every day and fork out silage. When we helped fill silo there was a set of tubes on the inside of the silo too so the guy, or in my case, kid could direct the material all around and not have to fork as much, plus, walking around helped pack it better. I don't think silo gas is too much of a problem when filling if it is done all in a day or two. It's after it has started to ferment that is dangerous. I always enjoyed filling silo, now the silos are just piles of chopped corn compacted with a big tractor then covered with plastic and old tires to keep the plastic from blowing away. ------------- "If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer" Allis Express participant |
Posted By: DanWi
Date Posted: 12 Oct 2019 at 10:04pm
| We have a small cement stave silo still standing on our farm that is 10 x 30. I would think that in the day that equipment was popular 14 and 16 foot diameter was a regular size and Height wise I would say 40 to 60 ft, A 20 x 80 would have been a big silo. |
Posted By: Darrell G (MN)
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2019 at 8:56am
| Armand I don't believe that the B-125 power unit was large enough to fill a silo over 40 feet, I would think that many silos in that time frame would have been 12-14 feet in dia and 30 to 40 foot tall. Concrete stave was the popular material used also. |
Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2019 at 9:14am
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re: silo making If the diameter 'works', a section of ABS or PVC ? Turned on a lathe to make the joints where the sections of concrete meet, then vertical score for the horizontal joints . ------------- 3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112 Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor) Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water |
Posted By: weiner
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2019 at 8:23am
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What memories of the 50`s and 60`s you guys put out, thrashing machines and silo fillers, climbing up the chute to throw down silage. You have no idea how much I admire you guys that redo tractors and machinery to beautiful pieces of art. And the guys that have this magnificent ability to make models to such perfection that I have to study the piece and background trying to distinguish if it is the real thing or a model. I feel the same way about cars, trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, and steam engines. I guess I must live in the past. I am not a PC person, and when I say "guys" I certainly am not excluding our wives and daughters that without their approval and help, many of us would be lacking. ------------- Real heros wear dogtags, not capes. |
Posted By: Sugarmaker
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2019 at 8:32am
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weiner, Great comments! There are a lot of good folks on here that are willing to share! I respect the past but live for the future! My wife must be a saint to put up with my "problems"! She didn't want to be a dairy farmers wife, so I chose to work in a office and help on the farm. Pitching out daily feed for 40 milk cows was a work out. about 150- 200 folks full. Then climb down and load it in a wheel barrow and feed two cows with each load. Then grain on top! Made lots of milk! I always hated milking wet, soggy, cows during the summer! Regards, Chris
------------- D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet. |
Posted By: Calvin Schmidt
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2019 at 9:26am
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I've been involved in concrete silo construction since my first summer job when I was 16 and going to high school. My summer job became my business until the next generation took over in 2011. I still move the equipment. Left the farm silo business in 1994 to specialize in grain silo construction and any industrial application. The largest diameter to date is 86' x 132' tall. This is reinforced poured concrete not a steel bin. It holds 16,000 tons or 500,000 bu. of corn and it was filled the first year. The blower and 125 engine would not do the job. In this area in the era of the A-C long hopper blower a 12' x 40' or 45' silo was the norm. My Dad built a 14' x 50' in 1959 and the crew foreman asked him why he built it so big !! How things have changed. http://www.mwisilo.com" rel="nofollow - www.mwisilo.com ------------- Nothing is impossible if it is properly financed |
Posted By: Herb(GA)
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2019 at 10:11am
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Our 1945(?) concrete stave silo was 14' x 40' with chute being of similar but thinner concrete staves. A 'three plow' tractor had adequate belt pulley horsepower; adding 1" thick wood to Farmall M belt pulley radius increased the belt speed necessary to prevent pipe clogging (of silage going up to top of silo). First two years I straddled top of silo staves and inched around to feed pull rope (through pulley at top ring) for pulling up the silage feed pipe; after that we left the pull rope for next year. Herb(GA) |
Posted By: Dusty MI
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2019 at 11:20am
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How about, when silo was full to top, adding a wooden picket fence so you could add another 4' of chopped corn, or what ever. Dusty ------------- 917 H, '48 G, '65 D-10 series III "Allis Express" |
Posted By: Armand(AZ)
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2019 at 4:16pm
| I really enjoyed your sharing of silo stories and information!! Guess I will need to come up with another dumb question!! LOL So for me building scale, a 12' diameter real silo would be 9 inches in diameter. I may get creative and turn it out of wood so I can cut the grooves and then wrap it with wire. Tks, Armand |
Posted By: Gary
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2019 at 4:49pm
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Armand I have an old Allis Forage Blower that I bot at an Auction many years ago for the Engine Power Unit. I got bored one day and totally dismantled the Blower Unit. It had the long shute with the Flat Belt. The rear drive was through 3 V Belts. Had the Wagon Unloader Gear Box. Engine is a D-14 size 149 cu.in. Blower Ser. 400587 Engine Ser. 149 - 16981 Gary |
Posted By: Sugarmaker
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2019 at 5:48pm
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Armand, We will need pictures of the silo build! I can just remember ours being put up in about 1957, and a couple young Amish guys walking around the top as they put the last staves in and finished up the top inside band. The pair of wooden silos stood for 40 years and would have gone longer if they would have had roofs! Sounds like you have a build plan! It will look real good with your AC blower and AC wagon! What AC tractor will you put on the wagon? Regards, Chris
------------- D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet. |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2019 at 6:20pm
| years ago I had 80 acres of very wet corn still in the field. (about 25% moisture) a local dairy farm wanted some wet corn and got in contact with me for it. soooooo...about Christams time I was out with the "G" combine harvesting the corn. when I delivered it to the dairy, they had an Allis silage blower on their A.O.Smith Harvestor silo (blue one). these people were all green, and had a green blower setting about 50 ft away, I asked him why they weren't using it? he told me the Allis blower was 10 times better than the green one. I don't know how tall that silo was, but it was a tall one! |
Posted By: Armand(AZ)
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2019 at 6:27pm
| Hey Chris!! I'm thinking it would look pretty realistic if I used a D-17 high detail tractor. I think I seen a photo by Jim Palmer and they were using a D-17. |
Posted By: Armand(AZ)
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2019 at 6:43pm
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This is the D-17 I am displaying with the 50 series cutter and wagon. I made the corn background display but it doesn't show up to good with the glass cabinet doors. Not sure if the 17 would be the right tractor to pull the cutter and the wagon?? Probably a question for some of you who farmed with them https://imgur.com/Kv9KDn2" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2019 at 6:54pm
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hmmm.. what's a silo without something in it ! Once the silo's built, I'd like to see scale corn cobs or wheat or whatever you guys store in them ,being processed into grain(?) and then blown up into the silo. Not THAT should keep Armand busy for what 3-4 days ??  Jay ------------- 3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112 Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor) Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2019 at 7:14pm
| yep...paint sum wheat yeller! |
Posted By: Sugarmaker
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2019 at 7:26pm
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Armand, Folks, Our silos would have been filled with grass silage or corn silage. Which was allowed to settle and juice out the bottom, creating a very aromatic blend! Falling somewhere between sweet and skunk! Usually one was filled with corn one with grass. We were behind the times a little and the WD45 or the WD would have been the tractor of choice on our 80 acre dairy farm. Somehow my dad found time to also do custom silo filling too! Wished we would have had a D17. Sure would have been a nice addition to the farm. Regards, Chris
------------- D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet. |
Posted By: JohnCO
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2019 at 12:13am
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Sugarmaker, I'm curious as to how many head of cattle your dad milked and fed from the 80 acres? ------------- "If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer" Allis Express participant |
Posted By: Armand(AZ)
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2019 at 7:35am
| Pretty difficult to see is the picture above, but maybe if you download it and zoom in. I bought the green stalks at Micheals that were about 2 feet long and cut them in shorter lengths to represent corn stalks. Then I added an ear of 1/16 corn to each. I bought the corn at Dyersville a couple years ago. I heated and embedded a small piece of wire in the butt end of each ear. Then cut notches in a small piece of shrink tubing to represent husks and painted each green. Then added the ear to each stalk. And that effort took the better part of a morning. The cut stalks are pieces of cut tooth picks. The base is Styrofoam carved for the rows and painted brown and black. Don't have to be crazy but it helps!!! |
Posted By: Dusty MI
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2019 at 8:27am
Neighbors where I grew up farming, always felt only green tractors and equipment was the only good ones, but they had an orange round bailer, which was the best. Dusty ------------- 917 H, '48 G, '65 D-10 series III "Allis Express" |
shameless dude wrote:Posted By: Gary
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2019 at 8:31am
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The Model 50 was a Forage Harvester, not a Corn Picker. It could have a Single Row Corn Head attached that would cut the Corn Stalk off near ground level, chop it all up and blow it into the Wagon. You could also remove the Corn Head and add a Grass Attachment with a Sickle Bar to cut and chop Hay , Clover etc. Gary |
Posted By: Sugarmaker
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2019 at 1:41pm
John, My Dad had, at the most, 44 head of good grade Holsteins in the barn, plus calves and heifers. When milking good, the milk hauler had to stop and pick up milk every day as the old Dariy Kool tank was only a 250 gallon unit! We also had another farm 5 miles away that had maybe 60 tillable acres for crops and hay. Always had a group of replacement heifers at that farm too. Spent many a hour riding WD45's back and forth hauling wagons of hay. Regards, Chris ------------- D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet. |
Posted By: tadams(OH)
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2019 at 1:51pm
| At the rate these guys are talking next thing they will want to see silage being blown into the wagon. Come on guys this is more realistic than most farm model you will se.. |
Posted By: Sugarmaker
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2019 at 6:56pm
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You mean its not going to blow grass .........? Regards, Chris ------------- D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet. |
Posted By: tadams(OH)
Date Posted: 17 Oct 2019 at 3:17pm
| Not from corn stalks |
Posted By: Sugarmaker
Date Posted: 17 Oct 2019 at 6:42pm
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And corn too.......! Regards, Chris ------------- D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet. |