retrofitting hopper bottoms on old bins

[rook]

What are some thoughts on retrofitting old small bins with hopper bottoms. We have a bunch of 14' 2000 bu bins with bad floors and I am wondering if it is a worthwhile endeavour to put more work and money into them.

[mbratrud]

some bin builders will trade you and pay up to a $1 per bushel for your used storage.

[cchurch]

it will probably cost 2000 for a hopper cone.

[cchurch]

I put cones on all of mine over the years. Even though the bins are small for todays standards a bin is a bin and a hopper bin, well need I say more.

The way I look at it, other than the cash outlay for the cone, the bin now sells easily at any point thereafter.

You should always get your money back.

[food4u]

For afew extra dollars be sure and put some extra uprights in before installing the hoppers.We were giving this advice and it is much easier.

[cropduster]

High density product will collapse the bin on unload....extra uprights are GOOD advice to prevent a scary situation and lots of finger pointing if there is a failure!!

[rook]

thanks for the comments. This project has to be weighed against approximately 50 million other improvements/upgrades/purchases necessary around here!

[tman]

My brother priced out a cone for a 1650 this summer. $4500 for one. You can go a long time without cleaning out the last couple hundred bushels before the cone pays for itself. Plus from our experience, I think the old bins were never made to be put on cones. We bought a used 1650 to replace one that has been slowly buckling and leaning over. Mind you, the cone on that one was not level when the concrete was poured. So hopefully leveling it has prevented another fix down the road. These are old cones so the designs of the new ones are much better. But still will never be as good as ones that are built specifically for a cone.

[dfarms11]

westeel roscos have been built the same for the last 25 years. the thing you have to watch is the strength of the rings. they will have the numbers on them on the inside and the bottom ring is always thicker material than the top ones. so make sure you have the thicker material on the bottom. Also, DO be sure to put in the proper stiffeners. Don't cheap out on them. They are what hold the bin up! the original stiffeners only have 1 bolt per ring. You need to have 1 bolt per rib, especially on the bottom couple of rings.

[imwithmo]

Double the amount of stiffners. Angle iron works well. You risk the bins collapsing like an accordion if you don't.