RUG HOOKING BLOG

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I'm a mother of four grandmother of seven and great grandmother of three. I live with my husband in the house that we built with the help of my brothers and will have been married for 57 years this February.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

A TIME FOR TEARING DOWN ENDED IN A CLOUD OF DUST

I decided to post the tearing down of our second silo for the benefit of my family and for those who are interested. If you haven't seen my previous post, I've showed some photos of after the first silo was torn down but this one shows you how it was done

The steel cables were cut in several places around the silo.


Holes were pounded through with a heavy mallet to tie a chain and haul the silo in a safe direction.



The chain is attached to the  New Holland tractor at a safe distance. The pasture is wet because we had two days of rain this week.


The cap or dome  from the first silo is rolled out of the tractor's way.


More holes need to be hammered out with the big mallet to weaken the structure so it will collapse in somewhat a heap. My grandson, Liam looking to see how it's done.


Notice that I have moved safely way out of the way so everything looks smaller.



The cement has deteriorated so it's fairly easy for the strong men to poke holes with the mallet. The silo is not anchored in the foundation, it is just standing over a strong cement base and is held in place by weight alone. More holes needed to weaken the structure to make it fall in the pasture and not on the road. Archie in the white shirt is a big strong young man and wow, can he swing that mallet....


Archie is in need of a rest so Reid  in the black shirt is taking over pounding.


The tractor pulled on the chain and the cement blocks crumbled around where the chain was attached and left an open gap but the silo didn't fall as expected.


Archie pounds some more cement blocks and hears the silo groaning... and starts to runs to safety.


The silo is now listing heavily and has started to crumble. Notice that the silo is already shorter as you can see the white chutes are close to the ground when you compare it with the previous photo.


Coming down nicely.


like in slow motion as I'm clicking away on my camera at a far distance.


Getting shorter...


and shorter... and the dome is coming detached


 The silo is being reduced in height as it comes down


while my husband in the yellow vest looks on,


pleased as could be. The cloud of dust is rising...


and the silos are no more, just a pile of rubble and steel rods and crushed metal.


Emerging from their safe place to survey the result as the cloud of cement dust rises.


The only mishaps this morning was that my husband lost his Smart phone before the silo was being being worked on. Everyone looked and called his cell number but it kept forwarding the call to our house phone so we could not hear  his smart cell phone ring.  That's a bummer.

Hope that you enjoyed viewing how the men  demolished the second silo. The cleaning up of the second silo has begun and is half way done. I chose to mow my lawn and mulch some fallen leaves as the lawn has been neglected these last couple of weeks so I didn't lift cement blocks today.

Someone was asking what we did with the rubble and metal. We will sell the metal .
We have been approved and given a permit by the Dept. of Environment to use the broken cement blocks  along the river's edge where we have severe erosion to our land during spring flooding. The unbroken blocks have been saved and put on pallets to be recycled.
Thanks for visiting and leaving your comment.  Happy weekend everyone.
JB


30 comments:

  1. yay! another demolition done without injury! well, maybe the smart phone... :) scary, though! putting the holes at the base just made me hold my breath! great shots all the way through to take us through the action!!!

    and glad you're able to use the old concrete to shore up the erosion areas!

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  2. Wow!! Impressive pictures... I don't know why but it made me kind of sad. I'm such a creature of habit and I don't like change. I guess that's it.

    Way to go.

    Blessings, Debbie

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  3. That is quite a project! Wow! Your pictures are excellent, as you explained what happened. Too bad about the phone!

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  4. Good job!! Amazing how they brought those silos down in such a small area. It is interesting the way they got them to crumble and fall down in a heap. Nice what you are doing with the metal and concrete. So sorry about your husband's phone. Thanks for sharing the pictures sweet Julia they are very good and explained well what happened to the silos. Hugs

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  5. ....guess this had to be done, but it is kind of sad......we built our home on my husband's old farm ground...and he tore down all the old buildings and I miss them....

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  6. Awesome but scary too! The pilots are gonna miss their landmarks. Shame the old silo's had to go but how much safer this way than having them fall of their own accord. Glad you are able to use the block and recycling what you can.

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  7. Fascinating! I enjoyed watching the steps involved in this process. So good that so much can be recycled. Hope you will be relaxing a little this Sunday!
    Robyn

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  8. Thanks for the great post! I'm glad the silo didn't come down like I saw on a video one time...it began collapsing and the guys barely got out of the way!

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  9. Hello Julia!
    Thank you for sharing your pictures. Amazing how it came down so nicely. What are you using instead of the silos now. Take care and thank you. Granny Bob

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  10. I'm glad that it all went well. Sorry about Dad's phone though. Hopefully it is in the truck or at the house instead of under all the rubble.

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  11. I found this very interesting and those pictures are fascinating. RIP Silo :)

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  12. Really interesting, Julia ... also to learn about the disposal. So, you chose to mow rather than tote cement blocks. jumping jeeeez

    Really good photography! gorgeous blue sky ... Liam looks like a big boy! I didn't realize he was that big! don't know why I thought that...

    Happy Sunday to you ;)

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  13. Wow Julia that is so great! I am so glad you took so many pictures. Ron was looking over my shoulder at each one. I know that is something I might never see if you hadn't of recorded it. How awesome and Ron was wondering what you would do with all of your blocks. I am so glad you said. That is just amazing.
    I really enjoyed this thank you.

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  14. Cool pics Julia. It was a little nerve wracking watching them be so close just before it started to fall.

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  15. Very professional and very neat! You've got a great crew there! :-)

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  16. Here's a link to a video of the first one coming down.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVI-FMBBnCQ

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  17. Future generations are going to love that you took pictures of this process....Obviously they knew what they were doing as it looked like it came down very nicely.....

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  18. watching that last silo come down feels
    like the end of an era, doesn't it.
    Another fresh chapter begins.
    Wishing you a beautiful beginning
    in all the ways your heart is hungry for:)
    -jennifer

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  19. Wow... I would never have guessed how to do that! What a tremendous amount of work!!

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  20. Super great action shots Julia! Very interesting and I'm glad you can sell the metal and also recycle those blocks...you still always amaze me with how hard you work!

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  21. Wow! That was interesting. I've never considered how to take one of those baby's down. Sounds like your hubby been around the farm a time or two.

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  22. Fun Post Julia!! Love the step by step play on how its done - Im impressed!! That would have made a great you-tube video!! Thanks for sharing you lil farm girl you!!

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  23. Wow Julia never ever a dull moment at your farm. I can't imagine tearing one of these big boys down but two that's something. I am glad you can you the cement to help with your water problems.
    You really are a great writer. I would not have been able to explain this like you did. Your pics are awesome too.
    Hope your having a gorgeous fall week. It is so nice here. Fifties when I wake up and then of course 80's by the late afternoon. haha
    I so wish I were through mowing for the year but I see me doing this another couple of months unless it turns really cold.
    Thanks honey for coming by and checking on me and being my friend.
    I love ya
    Maggie

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  24. Good evening Julia, how did I miss this post... There is always something exciting going on at your farm, you and the Mr. are such hard workers. It must seem strange not to have the silos there...I bet they were a local landmark...Greetings, Julie.

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  25. That is a mighty and impressive work of demolishing the silo, and doing it safely too. Glad the metal and cement will be reused or recycled.

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  26. Hi Julia. Sorry to reply to here but it is easier. I can't imagine all that coming down like it does. It is amazing to watch it shrink.
    I am no where as "busy" as you. You do so much laboring that I could never even imagine. No down time for you either. Farming is hard work. I grew up in the country surrounded by farms. We didn't farm but every one else did. (((((HUGS))))

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  27. Does that mean you no longer use silo's or is it that those are just past their prime.
    Cathy

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  28. Hi Cathy, to answer your question ... The silos have outlived their usefulness and they have deteriorated and were no longer safe. We have been wrapping our silage in big round bales. They look like big white marshmallows. We stack them up outdoors until needed. In the winter they are brought inside the barn to thaw and then they are fed to the cows. We no longer do corn silage and only do grass silage now.

    You can go look on an earlier post of September 18, 2012. The title of the post is Is it time for this farmer to retire?

    Thanks for your comment.
    JB

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  29. I loved seeing the pictures. What a big operation!

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