Neighbor's grain dryer driving me nuts

Need some advice.

My neighbor's grain bin is about 300 yards away from me. He has a "weekend farm" of about 40 acres, and he's got a small (4500 bushel) grain bin, that he puts his corn in.

The bin has one of the older "axial" fans, and it's pointed in my direction. And the noise is driving me crazy.

It's a combination of a grinding sound and a high pitched howl. Like being on the back end of a jet plane engine. The noise penetrates even into my house at night, and I can't get any sleep. And it's pointed right at me. It's really bad, believe me.

Plus, he runs it 24 hours, day after day. I'm wondering exactly how wet his corn is?

I'm thinking of writing a letter, where I suggest that he put one of his big round hay bales in front of it, to at least dampen the sound. Or that he runs it only in the daytime.

Do any others have any suggestions on how to best handle this situation, in a civil manner? Thanks for any advice.

 
My neighbor's dogs would bark at the deer that walked past his yard. The dogs sounded like they were directly below our bedroom window. I would call him and try to apologize for waking him, but he still wasn't happy about it.
I second the face to face meeting and try your best to be as calm about it as possible.
 
Offer to assist in making a buffer or fitting to reorient the dryer to direct the noise elsewhere. A friendly supportive approach is more likely to be received well. Invite him over for a cold malted beverage to hear the level of the sound. suggest a loading dock ramp. or bales, or parking a combine in the path! Jim
 
Agree, gently let him know how much this noise bothers you. An arch of 3-4 round bales, on end, stacked two high, within 10 ft of the fan, will most likely reduce the noise 50% or more
 
Is the bin new???? If the bin has been there a long time this is not a new problem.

If the neighbor is air drying the corn it takes time, as long as 2-3 weeks if the weather is good. Also he can not stop and start the fans. As the corn dries there is a moisture front that goes from the bottom to the top as your air drying. The corn below is dry. The corn at the front is actually wetter than it was to start with. It picks up the moisture from the corn below. If he stops the fans before the front moves clear to the top it can start to heat right there and then you can not get air to flow up in the spots this happens. So basically all the corn above these spots will not dry.

You should talk to the neighbor and see how he responds. You can block the noise some with hay bales or plywood but you will still hear the fan running. The best block I have been around is a stack of straw bales in a "C" shape with the fan inside the "C" so to speak.

I have switched the majority of my fans to centrifugal fans. They are quieter and more efficient too.

If blocking the fan does not help then maybe offer to split some of the cost of a centrifugal fans. A fellow bought the ground right behind one of my bins sites. The fans pointed towards his "new" house. We worked together and put new centrifugal fans in. We took the new price minus the value of the old fans. HE paid 25% and I paid 75% plus all the labor. Some would argue about why the fellow should pay anything towards the new fans. Well the old fans worked fine for the job I needed them to do. They had been there for over 20 years. He is the one that built right in front of them. His property had a higher value after the new fans where installed. I did gained too with energy saving but not enough to make the fans pay for themselves.
 
Back in the 70's I worked for a small mill that ran a grain drier straight from October to January non stop and was just 50 yards from a neighbors house. Needless to say there were lots of battles.
 
I sympathize with you. Two neighboring bins sit about 100 yards from my house and the fans are howling as I type this. Only one of them is facing our house and it's the one we hear the most, the other three are aimed different directions and aren't so bad. These are 10 HP 24" fans on 18,000 bushel bins. Sometimes the smaller fans like what probably is on your neighbor's bin scream louder than the bigger fans though. The pitch is different.

When my neighbors do turn on the fans I console myself by telling myself they are screaming for only two or three weeks out of 52 weeks in the year. I have very good relations with this neighbor and he would do something about blocking the noise if I mention it to him but the noise just hasn't annoyed me enough to say something about it.
 
Don't they make plastic flexible drainage tile up to 18 inches diameter? Might make a big 90 degree elbow out of it. Maybe the fan is bigger though???
 
Can you build the hay bale wall on your prop. at the line fence? Why involve him at all? He's just farming. Farming makes noise. I assume the area is zoned for farming.
 
Well, I have an MC corn dryer outside my window, and two bin fans running out there as well, so I know it can be loud.

But, if he was there first, you have very little chance of getting anywhere unless you are nice. I'd explain your issue, and offer to help construct a barrier. If it is bales, and he normally keeps them inside, offer to pay for the bales, as they will be lower quality if they have to sit in the rain for a month.

I believe in being a good neighbor, but I also put a lot of weight on the fact that he has a right to do what he is doing. Living in the country has its plusses, but also there are sights, sounds, and smells that can be aggravating at times. Rememeber you may do things at times that he doesn't like either. I make noise and odor here on the farm. I don't like the noise of gunfire from hunters at times, or those just target shooting. But I put up with it... they value open space, and so do I. So I try to take the good with the bad.
 
Be glad you live in the country and don't live next to an Interstate hwy.
We have a dryer running up on the family farm and another one across US Rt. 20 from us this time of year.
GET used to it!!!! Life could be a lot worse. Buy a ":My Pillow" and put it over your head at night.
They guarantee you the best sleep you ever had.
Loren
 
There's a farmer not too many miles away from me that asked an older single lady if she'd sell them her side yard and 5 or so acre field. They told her it would make it much better to farm their field since it would be square if she sold it to them. So her, being a friendly lady, decided that she really didn't need it, so she sold it to them. Then they built grain a grain set up and dryers about 50 yards from her house. So much for them just wanting to square their field off, but I guess they farm a couple passes off the rear of the lot they bought. She's too nice to say that she can't sleep at night with their fans running.
 
Them suckers sure scream don't they! LOL Talk to him nicely, if it is an older unit maybe help him pay for a squirrel cage fan, they are very quiet compared to the others. Its your sleep, might be worth it.
 
I can t think of much that would make me madder than have someone wright me a letter and complain. Just tell him it is a problem and see what the two of you can come up with to fix it. I have neighbors who dry grain, but they are only annoying not as close and loud as yours. Just talk to him.
 
I read your post and I read the replies. A couple of them make some pretty good suggestions about putting up dams. One thing that you haven't mentioned is whether or not you've spoken to your neighbor about the problem. How about this...invite him over for a cup of coffee and then try to hold a conversation over the noise. Possibly he might say, "Gosh, that sure is loud" and then you could kindly mention that your wife is going deaf because of it, or...

But I have a question about this whole thing. Is it possible, just possible that you're the owner of the loud dryer and its' your neighbor who is upset and what you're really after is whether or not he has a leg to stand on? And depending what you hear here will determine how you react? One of those hypothetical situations where, "I know a guy that has a friend that knows a guy that talked to a guy that..." and the guy is really you? OK, I'm joking so don't get twisted out of shape. Just speak with your neighbor. Don't let it keep building up to where it's going to cause bad blood. Speak with the guy. Bails of hay do absorb noise.

Mark
 
Nothing makes me sleep like listening to a corn dryer running. Ours was run by a tractor and maybe 300' from my bedroom. Used to love listening to it run and slept just fine. Of course when it was my turn to run it the sleep only came in 3 1/2 hour intervals. My guess is you could get used to it if you wanted to.
 
The thing about these axial-type fans, is that they're shaped like a megaphone. So it concentrates the sound in a narrow band, and it's aimed right at me.

When he put up the grain bin, he was sure careful not to point it at his house.
 
I'd be surprised if the neighbor notices the noise while he has coffee. The noise is probably much louder at his house, closer to the bin.

A permanent solid wood fence with an acoustic lining facing the fan (open cell foam or unlined fiberglass insulation?) might absorb some of the fan inlet noise without reflecting it back towards the bin owners house. That might cost less than a new wall of bales every year. Be careful not to direct the noise towards the metal bin wall, it will reflect most of the noise right back.

If all else fails, think of the fan noise as a bag pipe: "Thank God there is no smell", LOL.
 
No, it's definitely his drier. I also have a grain bin, but mine is the "squirrel cage" type fan, and makes very little noise when running.

As I mentioned in another reply, these axial-type fans are shaped like a megaphone. It puts all the sound forward in a narrow band---and it's pointed right at me! He was careful not to point it towards his house, when putting up the bin. I'm sure he hears very little sound from it.
 
You're right after a while you don't notice sounds.I'm in line with one of the runways of an airport about 3 miles away. I never notice the big jets unless someone is here and says something
about them.
 
Your only hope of a solution is to work it out with your neighbor face to face, or do something on your side of the property line. Either way it will need to be something to deflect/absorb the noise, and it only needs to be temporary.

Starting any sort of legal proceeding, which is why you would be sending the letter, is just going to come back and bite you because you also farm and make noise. Your neighbor will surely turn the noise complaint around on you and take you to court any time you fart on your property if you push the issue with him.

He has as much of a right to farm as you do. Never forget that.

Thankfully it is only temporary, once a year.
 
i take you moved in after, enjoyed the real aspects of farm life,be thankful it could be a 2500 head hog unit???? that will be year around!!!!!
 
No letters , no lawyers . Walk down knock on his door explain the noise is too loud. Only a real jerk would not try to quiet it down for you.
 
(quoted from post at 06:24:55 11/14/17) Your only hope of a solution is to work it out with your neighbor face to face, or do something on your side of the property line. Either way it will need to be something to deflect/absorb the noise, and it only needs to be temporary.

Starting any sort of legal proceeding, which is why you would be sending the letter, is just going to come back and bite you because you also farm and make noise. Your neighbor will surely turn the noise complaint around on you and take you to court any time you fart on your property if you push the issue with him.

He has as much of a right to farm as you do. Never forget that.

Thankfully it is only temporary, once a year.

I lived on a busy street before I moved to the country. I put up a fence using barn steel....boy did that help. It reflected the sound better than I had ever thought. Even the neighbors on the other side of me thanked me for putting it up. As an added benefit, I made a lean-to out of it and had lots of storage.
 

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