[stsdavew]

I had a 11000bu bin on a hopper with skid for two years. Had it 3/4 filled with wheat for a week then filled it the rest of the way and next day the hopper collasped. Anyone ever have a bin or hopper collapse and did insurance cover it and/or did the hopper manufacturer help you out in any way. The legs were 5×5× 3/16 tube 11 feet tall. Seems kinda light. When emptying the bin from full you could feel it shake if the grain didnt flow nicely. So far it sounds like the hopper manufacturer isnt willing to do anything. Havent heard back from insurance yet. Looking for some advice on how to handle this. Was on a two foot gravel base.

 

[mixtupfarmer]

Wow no idea on insurance. In my opinion the manufacturer should be fixing this. More importantly though no one was underneath it thankfully.

 

[torriem]

What part collapsed? The legs I'm guessing?

 

[SouthernSK]

These hoppers are welded up by weld shops. Most of them do their engineering by copying the competitor or by guess. What company made the hopper?

 

[meritmat]

Some neighbors to the south had the same problem. Think it stemmed from not having a solid enough base. They had to move the bins and redue the pad. Tamped the living **** out of the gravel. There hopper did not collapse they caught it in time. But it did buckle it a bit. It did not get replaced. But I’m pretty sure insurance will help you out

 

[stsdavew]

What part collapsed? The legs I'm guessing?

I would assume so but i cant really tell.

These hoppers are welded up by weld shops. Most of them do their engineering by copying the competitor or by guess. What company made the hopper?

That is what i think happened to cuz their response was thats how evryone else makes them when i commented on the metal... I will post a name in the future but want to be able to portray them in the correct way when i do.

Some neighbors to the south had the same problem. Think it stemmed from not having a solid enough base. They had to move the bins and redue the pad. Tamped the living **** out of the gravel. There hopper did not collapse they caught it in time. But it did buckle it a bit. It did not get replaced. But I’m pretty sure insurance will help you out

im pretty sure the base was solid. I had crop in it through spring thaw, plus it was sitting there for a week with about 3000 bu missing and didnt move. Filled it and in less than 24 hrs it collapsed. Cant see a bin sinking that fast to the point of collapse...

 

[bogfather]

Hopper collapse

I had a 24ft one collapse 2 yrs ago. Base was solid. Company that built it outa western sask was blaming the base. Had a few engineers look at it, they claim base was fine. Legs that are also air passages for the aireation were built too light or outa poor quality steel. The company FINALLY did replace it, actually replaced the other one that was constructed at same time also. They still claim the base was the issue tho.They are on over a foot of cement on top of a very compacted gravel base now. Filled one with peas last week, 12700 bus, and I am nervous to stand around it as it makes all sorts of noises !! We dont park anything close to it, thats for sure !!

 

[mauryj]

Had one collapse a few years ago full of lentils 16-25 Meridian GM, Not sure how it went down because happened overnight, but insurance will NOT cover a collapse, just if there empty with proper anchors.!!!! Good Luck

 

[New_Farmer]

I had a 11000bu bin on a hopper with skid for two years. Had it 3/4 filled with wheat for a week then filled it the rest of the way and next day the hopper collasped. Anyone ever have a bin or hopper collapse and did insurance cover it and/or did the hopper manufacturer help you out in any way. The legs were 5×5× 3/16 tube 11 feet tall. Seems kinda light. When emptying the bin from full you could feel it shake if the grain didnt flow nicely. So far it sounds like the hopper manufacturer isnt willing to do anything. Havent heard back from insurance yet. Looking for some advice on how to handle this. Was on a two foot gravel base.

Can you confirm the hopper that collapsed had the skid base, and how many rings on the skid? I assume at least three rings. The skid adds a huge amount of support to tie the legs together. Foundation itself should not matter. If the uprights failed, the bin must have bin off level to some degree which will add a significant amount of stress forces to the uprights vs if it was level. If level then it is just compression on the verticals, which can withstand an awful lot of force.

 

[stsdavew]

Yes it had the skid base and it was 3 ring. Having being second year im pretty sure the bin wasnt sinking enough in 12hrs to create enough stress on a few legs to have them collapse.

 

[New_Farmer]

So can you tell if a weld failed or is there too much carnage at this point? The buckling load of the tube you mentioned is up to 40,000lbs (on each leg), assuming they were vertical.

 

[stsdavew]

No i cant tell if a weld failed at this point. If one tube is rated for 40,000 lbs and theres 16 thats 640,000 lbs. 12300bu of wheat weighs 812,000 lbs...

 

[MF cowboy]

Be interesting to hear how you make out with insurance and the manufacturer.
My insurer offers different levels of bin coverage.
The premium coverage was supposed to cover collapse if say product like fertilizer stuck inside and did damage.
Usually insurance companies do not pay for mechanical failure.
Like if a combine partly burns but is not a total loss, say due to a failed bearing.
Insurance will pay for all the damage but not the failed bearing itself.
Substandard product that is not engineered is going to get dicey.
If there has been repeated problems with a specific manufacturer sometimes the insurance companies will pay the loss and go after the manufacturer in court themselves.

 

[MF cowboy]

Thankfully no one was killed or hurt.

 

[New_Farmer]

No i cant tell if a weld failed at this point. If one tube is rated for 40,000 lbs and theres 16 thats 640,000 lbs. 12300bu of wheat weighs 812,000 lbs...

You have a strong case my friend. I would say the hopper was not built for your load. Check if your sales documentation has any fine print about the hoppers being suitable for up to ‘X’ tiers only, or certain max height or something like that.

And I would take any others you have out of service or only fill to 75% until you get this resolved.

 

[stsdavew]

No i cant tell if a weld failed at this point. If one tube is rated for 40,000 lbs and theres 16 thats 640,000 lbs. 12300bu of wheat weighs 812,000 lbs...

You have a strong case my friend. I would say the hopper was not built for your load. Check if your sales documentation has any fine print about the hoppers being suitable for up to ‘X’ tiers only, or certain max height or something like that.

And I would take any others you have out of service or only fill to 75% until you get this resolved.

Where do you come up with the 40,000 #?? I bought the bin and cone through company X and company Y built the cone. So far company Y is not coming to the table. Insurance came out today to asses and went back to check over the policy and will advise me on tuesday most likely.

 

[billybigrigs]

Is that just sitting on the grass? Looks like mud underneath.

 

[New_Farmer]

Ask for the certified engineered drawings of the hopper/cone. You own the product, you deserve the drawings for your own documentation. If they don’t exist, big red flag. And I don’t mean just CAD drawings for fabrication, I mean the certified drawings.

 

[New_Farmer]

Just saw pic. It looks like it sunk in the ground on the one side, got off vertical, and buckled under the induced stress load.

 

[Goodtime]

You mention a 2 foot gravel base but did you remove the top soil first right down to the clay? Have seen many bins fail when the base isn't properly prepped.