Using concrete blocks 2 by 6 to hold aeration flow up

I moved a nice 7 ring bin from a neighbor's farmstead. Hopefully will complete the foundation this week. All of my other bins have the American Conrad metal stands that hold the air floor up. This bin had concrete blocks with 2" by 6" lumber laying on top of them to support the interlocking floor. Concrete blocks are excellent so I am going to reuse them. Tore it down three years ago and now I can't remember the how the concrete blocks and 2" by 6" boards were oriented. Concrete blocks - on their side or with holes up and down??? I remember the 2 by 6's were parallel with the concrete blocks. Typically do the floor pieces lay parallel to the hortizontal under floor unload auger or perpendicular? How far can I space the concrete blocks? How far should each row of blocks and 2 by 6's be? I can look in my other bins for that. Just trying to figure out how the concrete blocks and 2 by 6's are layed out. Thanks.

concrete blocks are stronger with wholes up and down. side to side you don't have 100% of the concrete up and down. probly way less than 50%.

Fat end of holes up, and always put wood on top. The sharp edge of steel can shatter the block. Many a backyard mechanic has been killed by misuse of blocks.

in my bins with air floors, the blocks layed on their sides with the openings on the blocks facing the dryer unit so the air flows across the bin floor. the blocks are concrete, not cinder block. mine are stacked two high. they are perpendicular to the dryer opening.

While I don't know much about the application the concrete block are being used for, construction term for them is Concrete Masonry Units (C.M.U.)

As has been stated, with CMU's orientated so they are on their sides, the cells parallel to the ground, they are certainly not as strong or intended to have a load placed on them in that position, so beware of that when using these for the intended purpose, sure I realize people use these quite often for unorthodox purposes, and its generally not recommended to ever use them that way with any significant load placed on them.

The second thing that comes to mind is if they have been used before, are they in any way compromised, its not hard to fracture these, given some masons will use a masonry hammer to make ends or short pieces, while some use a wet saw for all cuts.

The only other thing I can add to this is that CMU are available in many forms and there are high strength CMU, 5000 PSI, with 75% filled cells, (supplier should have copies of their certifications on hand, as they are required for submission by contractors for approval) those would be a much better choice, and I am not recommending them to be use on their sides, but if I had no other choice, unique situation, needing support and air flow, be interesting to see some photos of an air floor on one of these to get a better idea of what you are dealing with.

I moved a 18' bin several years ago and I'm having trouble rememberng how far apart the rows of blocks were. I'm thinking somewhere between 3&4 feet. You may need extra support at the wall, just use good sense there. The rows were laid parallel to the unloading auger so that the floor laid perpendicular across the block. My blocks were stacked 2 high that really doesn't make any difference to you. The holes in the block were up and down. hope this helps.

I lost a High school Principle to blocks laid with holes sideways. His 67 Bonneville slammed him to 6 inches thick when he changed the oil with block ramps and 2X12 boards. Jim

On my bins the holes are horizontial and open so air can go through them. Put a row around the outside and along the unload auger and the rest parallel to the auger. Start your floor opposite from the auger outlet. Put your flashing down clockwise so the sweep doesn't rip it up. If your boards are off in thickness, you have to redrill the flashing holes.

Why not use angle iron or formed steel supports like most bins have? Blocks, no matter the layout, plus boards on top are going to cover a lot of the holes in the flooring, eliminating air flow to a lot of the grain. Engineered supports are made to support the floor and the weight of the grain.