Site Planning

Read below for general Site Planning considerations, or visit these links:


Site Planning

When you've decided to add grain storage to your farm, you may wonder where to put it.
As with most worth-while ventures, building a bin takes planning.  Some considerations to make from the start are:
  • Will I want to add more bins in the future?  If yes, make sure you've got expansion room, and when you have several bins close to each other, make sure they're arranged so that you can easily fill and unload them.
  • How will I fill and unload the bins?  Augers, grain trucks, leg or elevator systems, pneumatic (air) grain conveyers, etc. all need a certain amount of room.  But you don't want to arrange your bins so far apart as to waste space, make switching augers more work, or adding a leg impossible.  So let's make sure that your bins are arranged with usefulness in mind. 


Visualization

Getting an idea of how much area you'll need, and placement of your building isn't difficult.  

But you'll probably get some good ideas from a discussion with your bin contractor before construction begins.



The Big Picture

After you've got the general idea of how your grain storage buildings and accessories are going to sit, it's time to consider if they're going to play well with others.  Other buildings, that is. 

If your bin site is going to be by itself, that's one thing.  But if it's going to be close to other buildings (hog houses, machine sheds, your house) then there's more considerations:

  • Are you setting yourself up for good traffic flow?  Especially around harvest, you may be coming and going quite a bit.  Being able to "make a loop" through your storage area can save time.
  • Light sleepers and noisy neighbors:  Some folks feel that drying fans are loud.  If you can hear cars driving by when you're in bed, then you'll probably be able to hear several drying fans working through the night during harvest season.  It's suggested you add more insulation to your walls, or move the bins far enough away from your house.
  • How's the view?  We feel that a well laid out grain storage site is a thing of beauty and a sight to behold!  But tastes in landscaping differ, so if you don't want to look out your kitchen window and see handsome GSI grain bins, better find a different place to put them.
We're here to help, and it's important to us that you're happy with your grain storage facility.  From planning to foundation, building to servicing, we build from the ground up.  To discuss your grain bin needs, call Kendal Bunda at 515-201-8420.



For more ideas, check out our "Site Planning Drawings" and "Build Photos" page.



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