[ayars660]

I'm looking at putting up a 42' diameter bin with a peak height of around 35'. Westfield book says I need 77', the bin salesman says with a 71' I should be fine. Is the 71' out of the question??? If it will reach but be on a steep angle I'm fine with that.

 

[sasksodbuster]

It should make the peak height but you may want to look at the eve measurement.

 

[tswanson]

We are at the absolute limit with our 61' westfield with 2 bins we put up a couple years ago and replacing the bottom bearing has become an annual event after years and years of no problems. Also getting the auger in the bin on a windy day was about the most nerve wracking thing I did last year. Something to think about.

 

[meskie]

We have a couple 36' 7 teir bins and a 71' reaches but they don't have a lot of clearance from the eve to th auger. It might go the extra couple feet but not a lot more

Also have to consider how much height the cement under the bin adds to the height of bin.

 

[CM]

I just ordered a 39-07 and I also have a 13-71 Auger. One of my good friends and neighbour has the same auger and has 2 39-07 bins which he says it reaches okay. He also has a 42-07 bin which he hits with the auger but he said it just makes it.

 

[Ben Heide]

We have a couple 36' 7 tier bins and a 71' reaches but they don't have a lot of clearance from the eve to the auger. It might go the extra couple feet but not a lot more

Depends a lot on the landscaping around the bin. If it sits up from where the auger base sits that will reduce your auger's maximum reach.

A longer spout can help with small tolerances in the eave clearance, which is usually where augers run out of range first. It allows the auger to sit up a little higher during operation so when it sags under load it won't rest on the structure. Too long of a spout though, and you'll have trouble setting up in the wind as described above...

What is your largest bin now? If you have a 36' diameter of similar brand with the same # of tiers, the eave height won't change, see if you can reach 3' behind the cap comfortably with the auger you have. Or 6' behind a 30'd bin.

 

[Northern Farmer]

ayars660, although I can't answer the question either because of not being sure what the eve height would be and with a bin that large in diameter one would have to be sure the auger transport tires didn't get up too close to the bin base where you most likely have some sloped ground as that all comes into play. I wasn't on the ball ... Ben mentioned this point already.

Also if its a grain trailer your using to dump with, the closer that bottom swing is to the bin, the less room you have to make it user friendly and that sometimes is reason enough that a guy finds a longer auger much to his benefit, and not over working the auger at an angle so steep !. I notice some farmers will flip the swing section over to the drivers door side of the tractor, then pull in forward with the tractor trailer to the auger so everything is in front of them, from the truck cab/cranks on the trailer/tractor controls closer at hand and thinking in terms of a Tridem trailer, a Super B would take quite a bit more room yet.

 

[GrampaMark]

We've been using a 71' Westfield to fill a 42' bin that is all of 35' at the peak for more than 10 years. There are no problems with clearance at the eaves. Unloading is slowed down some by the steep angle but we haven't had any recurring repair problems. I think we've replaced the CV joint twice and the bottom bearing once and have put well over a million bushels through that auger.

The distance between the bin wall and the auger intake is probably too short for some tractor/trailer combinations. Our bin is on the end of a row so we can drive in past the end of the auger and drive out in the same direction. I'm not sure we would have room to get the rear hopper up to the swing hopper of we had to drive in towards the bin.

Mark

 

[ayars660]

Thanks for the replies everyone, the bins are 42' dia. eve height is about 21.5' plus 2' for cement so 23.5' from ground level. The peak height is 35.5' from ground level. A 71' should work fine, Id love to be able to use a 61' so it doesn't stick so far out in the yard but it looks like I'll need a 71'

 

[Ben Heide]

Id love to be able to use a 61' so it doesn't stick so far out in the yard but it looks like I'll need a 71'

My guess is that in order to use a 61' you'd have to fill through the manhole...

 

[Northern Farmer]

I'd say if you make a deal on a 71' auger, be sure to ask and get it in writing if you want as well, that once it gets on the yard and you discover its not going to work ( it probably will but probably is no guarantee ! ) that you can exchange it at no penalty with a model that will reach.

Keep in mind that just because an auger can physically stand on its end and squeak in to fit, depending on the auger boot style at the main auger, it may not be able to take what the swing auger can gulp up and end up with grain puking out of the relief door or a sheer pin going etc. We have an older spray aire 10" x 60 auger and it is not a joy to fill bins that are 30/31' high just for that reason alone and as they are only 14' bins, the main wheels fit fine but I wouldn't want any higher bins for a 60' auger then this. Thankfully we don't have to use it anymore as we have a 70 and 91 foot 13" to do the bin filling.

I have no clue what your yard layout is but for ourselves we have some bins in one row set up long ago and they are hoppers on cement but only small 14" bins sadly, in this case its far easier to line up with the truck to the 91 foot auger because I can be so crunched up with the auger to the row of bins with that insane reach it has for the height and diameter of them. So I don't have to bother backing up a truck/trailer, I just drive by the nose of the tractor and swing the auger under the trailer. There is no rule book that says the tractor/trailer has to be lined up beside the main auger parallel, the tractor on the other hand should always be straight with the main auger tube because of driveline issues.