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Rebuilt Stave Silo Used For Farm Storage
“The 12-ft. diameter by 36-ft. tall cement stave silo adjacent to my barn looked good, but I didn’t trust it because of its deteriorating staves,” says Minnesota handyman Mark Rinke. “Instead of tearing it down I decided to rework it to use for tool and equipment storage.”    
    Rinke knew if he was going to cut a large walk-in door into the staves he’d need to completely reinforce the bottom staves, including the support rings.
    To do that he dug around the inside of the staves, then poured footings for a concrete “donut” so the floor had its own support. On the outside, about 5 ft. on both sides of the new door opening, he poured 3-ft. high by 8-in. thick concrete “wings”. Two of the silo’s lower band rings were embedded in the concrete and several of the staves were bolted into the wall. The 10-in. deep I-beam door frame was also lagged into the wall.
    With the support system and a new door opening complete, Rinke hired a company with a vertical hoist to remove about 18 ft. of staves from the top of the silo. He bought a used 12-ft. dia. metal roof to cover the remaining lower portion, then cleaned and sealed the inside of the staves to create weather-tight storage.
    Rinke says he probably over-engineered the wall supports, but he wanted it extra strong to support the door opening and the remaining staves above it. “I think it’s probably strong enough to be here forever,” says Rinke.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Rinke, 11175 225th St. E., Lakeville, Minn. 55044 (mark.rinke@nngco.com).


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2018 - Volume #42, Issue #6