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fleeter allis fan 
Bronze Level
Joined: 05 Apr 2018
Location: Niagara Ont
Points: 133
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 Topic: Silo 'reno'
Posted: 07 Feb 2021 at 4:31pm |
Hi All. I thought I would post a couple of photos of the 'reno' job I recently completed on my silo. My place was origionally part of a larger working farm. Most of the land was divided and sold in the past, and I have the origional farmstead and 25 acres that I operate as a hobby farm. The silo is pretty neat but needed some work.
It was origionally built in the early 1950s by a man named Harold who owned the place at that time. It is built out of hand formed concrete blocks. Harold's son Alan is a friend of mine and according to him, Harold bought a form, and over two years, hand mixed concrete and made blocks throughout the winters. During the summers, he built the silo.
It is about 13 feet in diameter and is about 28 feet tall. There are 42 courses of 22 8"X8"X20" blocks, all hand mixed and hand poured. In total, there are 924 blocks.
Some of the mortar was falling out and the surface of some of the blocks was flaking away. I patched up all of the concrete with mortar and with parging compound, spray painted it with one coat of primer and one coat of exterior latex paint. My daughter did the artwork.
I am not aftaid of a bit of work, but I cannot imagine that anyone would ever tackle a job like that today. It is about 70 years old now, and I hope it stands for 70 more.
Have you ever seen one like that Calvin?
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I'm a man...and I can change...if I have to... I guess.
'44 B, '46 WF, '49 G, 810GT, 916H, 620
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Boss Man
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Joined: 03 Mar 2018
Location: Greenleaf, WI
Points: 608
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Posted: 07 Feb 2021 at 7:44pm |
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Old timers sure weren't afraid to work. Great that you saved/preserved something unique
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Sugarmaker
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Joined: 12 Jul 2013
Location: Albion PA
Points: 8167
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Posted: 07 Feb 2021 at 8:31pm |
fleeter, You really did a nice job restoring the special silo. A land mark for your White Silo Farm! Thanks for sharing! Most folks now days would not take on the restoration project! Great looking farm too! Regards, Chris |
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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.
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desertjoe
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Joined: 23 Sep 2013
Location: New mexico
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Posted: 07 Feb 2021 at 8:53pm |
That right there is NICE, Fleeter. Tell your Daughter she done such a Great job,,,you gonna go buy her some more paint,,,,,,and,,,,and,,,a scaffold,,,,, 
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Wayne180d
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Joined: 08 Dec 2015
Location: Gilman, Il
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Posted: 07 Feb 2021 at 9:48pm |
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THAT IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hubert (Ga)engine7
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Location: Jackson Cnty,GA
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Posted: 08 Feb 2021 at 5:59am |
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Outstanding job on restoring the silo. Your daughter did great on the artwork too. That barn looks nice enough to turn into a residence also.
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Just an old country boy saved by the grace of God.
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jaybmiller
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Greensville,Ont
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Posted: 08 Feb 2021 at 7:27am |
NICE !!!!... now, come Spring, the leaves will come back on that tree, right ???
sadly only one of 10 barns are still standing in my neck of the woods...
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3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112
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Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water
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ac hunter
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Joined: 05 Jan 2011
Location: OHIO
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Posted: 08 Feb 2021 at 8:18am |
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Thanks for sharing and restoring that silo. Nice barn too. Noticed that the blocks are textured on the outside. I suppose hidden somewhere in the blocks are some steel bands to hold the outward pressure of the sileage. Do you know if there is any interlocking feature about the blocks or are the sides all flat? As said above, I wonder how many young folds today would start and finish a project like that. Compliments to the artist too.
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steve(ill)
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: illinois
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Posted: 08 Feb 2021 at 8:32am |
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Great restore job.... I cant imagine making 1000 blocks BY HAND and then building that !
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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Ed (Ont)
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Joined: 08 Nov 2009
Location: New Lowell, Ont
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Posted: 08 Feb 2021 at 10:17am |
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Looks great. A lot of work there in the original build and the restoration. Wonder if there is any reinforcement there? Kind of hard to do with block.
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Dorix
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Posted: 08 Feb 2021 at 2:41pm |
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Slightly off topic but I had a great uncle that worked for AO Smith and was on the design team for the Harvestore, I believe he also had a patent for the unloader. I don't know if he got his way but he wanted the base designed so being hit from equipment wouldn't ruin it, and that the top should resist a 22.
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tadams(OH)
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Joined: 17 Sep 2009
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Posted: 08 Feb 2021 at 3:15pm |
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Great job of restoring and beautiful art work by your daughter
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steve(ill)
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Location: illinois
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Posted: 08 Feb 2021 at 4:20pm |
If i built a silo, it would be 20 ft in diameter and 8 ft tall........... my BUTT dont need to be that high off the ground ! 
Do you still use the silo... or storage shed ?
Wonder why the face of the block is textured ? What was the "FORM" made of ?
Edited by steve(ill) - 08 Feb 2021 at 4:25pm
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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fleeter allis fan
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Joined: 05 Apr 2018
Location: Niagara Ont
Points: 133
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Posted: 09 Feb 2021 at 9:55am |
Thanks everyone for all of the nice comments and questions. Regarding the blocks, I believe the form used must have been something that was commercially available at the time. Probably steel or aluminum I expect. There are grooves formed in the blocks so they kind of interlock. They are also curved to follow the radius of the silo and textured on the outside. When I repaired some mortar joints, I could see some heavy steel wire in places. Between the wire and the interlocking feature in the design of the blocks, that has been enough to resist the pressure.
Regarding the height, it is 28 feet and I did the restoration and painting from ladders. There is only about three feet between the silo and the barn, so I couldn't really get around it with scaffold. I have quite a bit of experience with heights and ladders, but of course, you always have to be careful. Gravity never takes a day off. I used a 32 foot aluminum extension ladder for the top. I also have a 40 footer that I have used on the barn.
My daughter is the artist. I can barely draw a straight line. I have seen pictures of some beautiful silo art. I doubt if we can ever match some of them, but we may add more in the future. I have a small tree farm and we have cut your own tree sales at Christmas. We got a lot of compliments this year from customers who liked the silo and the artwork. We don't use it for anything really, except for a conversation piece.
Regarding the barn, the silo only took me a couple of weeks, the barn restoration took me about five years. I will see if I can dig up and post some before and after photos of the barn.
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I'm a man...and I can change...if I have to... I guess.
'44 B, '46 WF, '49 G, 810GT, 916H, 620
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