Bunk Silo Form Pours Walls In Place

Bunk Silo Form Pours Walls In Place SILOS Silos 26-5-28 Cousins Edward Martin, Belgrade, Minnesota, and Robin Martin, Snover, Michigan, are both in the concrete business. Thanks to a moveable form Robin developed over the past couple of years, they both specialize in pouring bunk silos. "With this form, we can pour two or more 30-ft. sections of bunker wall a day," Edward says. Robin has been using his form for a couple of years now and business has been growing steadily. Last spring, he made a form for Edward, who put up his first bunkers in time for silage making this fall. The bunker wall forms work in much the same way slip-forms for concrete silos work. That is, when the concrete is solid enough to support its own weight, the form is slipped off and moved to make the next section. In this case, though, the form moves horizontally rather than up. To pour a bunker, the form is set up over a 3-ft. deep by 10-in. wide trench. Concrete is poured through the form and into the trench so that concrete in the trench becomes the footing for the wall. The wall itself is 12 in. thick at the base, tapering to 6 in. at the top. Reinforcing rods are inserted as the concrete is poured. "If you already have a pad and would like permanent walls around it, we can pour them right up against the pad," Edward says. The price for poured-in-place bunker walls is right at $55 per lineal foot, which is very competitive with precast bunkers. In addition to pouring walls for bunkers, the Martins will also consider selling forms to other contractors. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Edward Martin, Martin's Concrete, 42922 310th Street, Belgrade, Minn. 56312 (ph 320 254-1606 or 320 293-4273); or Robin Martin, 1050 North Arnold Road, Snover Mich. 48472 (ph 810 672-9361).

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