[MurrayTheFarmersSon]

Hi, I'm new to the forum because i have a question! last year i bought a new Westeel smooth wall hopper bin that is equipped with a grain dryer. I love the bin, but my only problem with it is i have no way of sampling the grain without taking out half a truck load to test the moisture. Is there any product on the market that you can install on the side of the bin to get a sample? Ive checked Westeels website but they don't sell anything for grain sampling. I've also checked The Book which is a very large catalog of parts and accessories for grain and cattle farmers. Anyone know of a product that would fix my problem?

 

[stsdavew]

Moisture cables possibly?

 

[MurrayTheFarmersSon]

Moisture cables possibly?

That’s a good idea I’ll have to do some research on that and see what something like that costs.

 

[tswanson]

If your bin has the square man hole, take the door to a welder and have him or her build you one. Or do it yourself if you have the ability. Could weld on a large diameter pipe with threads for a cap.

 

[MurrayTheFarmersSon]

If your bin has the square man hole, take the door to a welder and have him or her build you one. Or do it yourself if you have the ability. Could weld on a large diameter pipe with threads for a cap.

Another good idea but are bin doesn’t have a man hole. We’re looking into buy a moisture cable from Bin Sense, it’s gonna cost about $2000 but it’s the best thing I’ve found so far

 

[jvw]

If you do install the moisture cable, don't put it in the center of the bin. Assuming you have rocket aeration, the center will dry much faster than the outsides, especially if not very full. 2 feet in from the wall would probably be the best location, but less likely to pick up temperature rise in the winter. Or zig zag the cable, althought definitely not recommended by the manufacturer. If you are using this bin for drying a lot, I'd even recommend more than one moisture cable, or one moisture and one temperature only cable. Also keep in mind that I've found the moisture readings not very accurate while drying with heat, need to cool it down first to get a proper reading, which defeats the purpose.

If you do install something on the outside of the bin as you suggested, it also won't tell you much, especially in cold weather, since the moisture accumulates along the walls of the smooth wall bins while drying, and moisture will go up. Also, as soon as you make an opening, if it isn't completely airtight, the aeration air will escape through it, drying that area much faster than the rest, giving a false impression that it is dry.

 

[MurrayTheFarmersSon]

If you do install the moisture cable, don't put it in the center of the bin. Assuming you have rocket aeration, the center will dry much faster than the outsides, especially if not very full. 2 feet in from the wall would probably be the best location, but less likely to pick up temperature rise in the winter. Or zig zag the cable, althought definitely not recommended by the manufacturer. If you are using this bin for drying a lot, I'd even recommend more than one moisture cable, or one moisture and one temperature only cable. Also keep in mind that I've found the moisture readings not very accurate while drying with heat, need to cool it down first to get a proper reading, which defeats the purpose.

If you do install something on the outside of the bin as you suggested, it also won't tell you much, especially in cold weather, since the moisture accumulates along the walls of the smooth wall bins while drying, and moisture will go up. Also, as soon as you make an opening, if it isn't completely airtight, the aeration air will escape through it, drying that area much faster than the rest, giving a false impression that it is dry.

Very good to know!! Thanks for all the advice! Very helpful!

 

[lanwickum]

is this klip a salesman. Not the first time I have seen this same post....

Weld a pipe into the side of the bin pointed down enough it doesn't let the grain out when you remove the cap to get a sample. Never tried it, just thought of it while reading this.

Then avoid klip and this sales article that will only cost you lots of money.

 

[torriem]

Definitely spam. Hint to spammers. Don't post to old topics and at least try to make your posts relevant to the topic! Definite red flag here. What does an expensive aeration hopper bottom have to do with sampling grain out of a smooth walled bin? Marketing failure here.

 

[schraefel]

A neighbor has a smooth wall bin and he fabricated a pipe that runs up the middle with multiple holes. He has another pipe inside that just fits and he can rotate a handle below to take samples at different levels right out the bottom. Works pretty well and gives accurate results. Moisture cable takes some getting used to having any confidence in them. What they do tell you is the bottom will be over dry and the top will be tougher than when it went in. If you dry till the top is dry it will be way over dry, Best thing is to take some out and turn it, Trouble is the top stuff comes out first and if you use a small truck you can just put it right back on top. 2 trucks or a semi work best then put the more tough stuff into the bin first. Lots of guesswork. We dry till all sensors except the top is dry then when loading a semi it should blend out just right. Usually works. Good luck!

 

[brazil08]

The intra grain binsense moisture/temp cables are a great tool when you get used to them and think they been mentioned on many different threads here. 16' smoothwall with 6' rockets with cables hanging down center will give you reasonable idea of what is in bin. However, if you drying with bin heaters unreasonable moisture stuff(20% or over on cereals, 16% canola) you will need to be prepared to chip crap off at hopper transition and/or north side of bins and likely can only handle product up to 6 feet above top of rocket. It even a good idea to turn stuff that nasty within 3 days of running any heat into it.

 

[maver]

A neighbor has a smooth wall bin and he fabricated a pipe that runs up the middle with multiple holes. He has another pipe inside that just fits and he can rotate a handle below to take samples at different levels right out the bottom. Works pretty well and gives accurate results. Moisture cable takes some getting used to having any confidence in them. What they do tell you is the bottom will be over dry and the top will be tougher than when it went in. If you dry till the top is dry it will be way over dry, Best thing is to take some out and turn it, Trouble is the top stuff comes out first and if you use a small truck you can just put it right back on top. 2 trucks or a semi work best then put the more tough stuff into the bin first. Lots of guesswork. We dry till all sensors except the top is dry then when loading a semi it should blend out just right. Usually works. Good luck!

I agree with the info in this post. I've been drying with a dryair system for about 7 years. My solution to the wet grain on top and over dry on the bottom problem is to dry 1 load at a time. My semi trailer holds 1300bu so that is the size of my batch. When i empty the bin I have all the wet and dry in one trailer.. no more screwing around with 2 semis, tandem, grain cart, and then trying to unload them in the right order to get a proper blend. It takes the same amount of time to dry your grain, you just empty and reload more often. And the elevator isn't stealing your shrink cause you didn't blend it just right.

Murray I'm assuming your drying bin does not have a stir auger? What type of aeration in the bin? What diameter and volume does it hold?