speaking of old barns and silos!

Seen the post below of barns and new Jersey got me thinking how mad dad made me when he made me help take sledge hammer down are 20x 60 Madison silo grandpa put up in 70 it was junk but I liked the looks of it just standing thier! It was fun Goin inside and yelling at the pigeons and watching them fly out! We still have a 24x80 star silo we use! And it kinda made me mad the last time the wife and I drove up to elk country here in pa! I use to do alot of work up thier with my old job and the game commission got a old farm and it had a barn and a tile block silo and right down the road from it is another tile block silo that is dated 1919! And Goin up thier everyday at the time always looking at them and thinking back in the day thier must of been some serious farming Goin on up thier that they were building silos now thier isn't a working farm that's making a living for 40 miles from that area coal company's came in the 60 and 70s and turned them upside down and now it's worthless ground and the pennsylvania game comission has most of the open field ground! But just made me mad when I seen that old barn and silo survive so many years and then leveled because they didn't want the public Goin in it! OK I'm done ranting!

Trouble is,something like that 20x60 gets assessed on your property taxes. If you have no use for it,there isn't a lot of sense paying for it over and over.

Yeah, an old silo like that might add a TINY bit on your taxes around here but if you like the looks what the he!! does $10-20 a year matter?

I can go you one better. I picked up an acreage a few years back that has an old ratty house sitting on 2.5 acres sitting right in the middle of my road frontage. Young couple living in it. About 1000 sf and they have 7 kids. House had a large, very nice cement silo next to a slab which had once been a dairy barn. Apparently, their dream was to buy the acreage but never gonna be able to afford it and never made an offer, but they treated it like it was theirs...hunting, cutting wood, dumping trash in the back, riding motorcycles. So along comes me buys the property. Weeks go by and they just stare at me while I clean up what turns out to be their trash. So over I go to introduce myself. Not friendly, don't want to know me. Seems odd since I am their only contiguous neighbor. After a bit they revert to old ways. Poaching, stealing wood, trespassing. I ask nicely can it stop, worried about liability etc. They were pretty clear, going to do whatever they want when I am not around. BUT, they put the place up for sale, never asked would I be interested. So I went over to see them, said I would be writing an offer, but that the price was a bit high because the house is really bad. Told him I really wanted it for the silo and barn foundation. Along comes PITA yuppie fools and gives him full price. Want to remodel it and sit and enjoy "THEIR" view of my property. The last thing the former owner did was to take a sledge hammer to the silo. Did it without permission of the buyer after the contracts were signed. Kind of a parting shot. There was no other reason to do it.

I live in Central Ohio and as I drive in any direction I can count hundreds of silo's that are not being used any more...our family nearly built on in the early 70's for our brood cow heard, then the decided not to..They do make a for a pretty setting..but just not practical to use any more..I always enjoyed silo filling days, with the fresh smell of the silage and all the power involved with the work to fill them...

Well Brian those old silos cost you money even just standing there. Mine run me about $100 each on the property tax alone. Then those "Cool" pigeons you like are disease carrying, flying rats. They crap in feed bunks and on equipment all over.

Also if the bottom blocks are eat up from the silage acid then they are a hazard. They can fall over real easy. In real cold weather some of the empty ones would freeze crack the bottom blocks and then fall when it warmed up.

As for the public owned property tearing down the barn and silo it is because of liability. Some dumb butt climbs it and falls. He then sues the state/county/town that owns it for him getting hurt.

The old up right silos where a good idea when they came out but they have been replaced with more modern ways to store silage. I have three of them still in use but I would never build another one. For the cost I can put a concrete pad in and use bags instead. Plus I have a lot more flexibility with the bags.

Dave trying to bargain on the place cost you the sale. Was the extra money you where trying to save worth the hassle you have with someone else owning the house right in the middle of your land????

There have been three places that came up for sale around my property. I went and made the deal as soon as I heard of them being for sale. One of them I ended up giving more than the asking price in a bidding battle. Junk house and garage I had both torn down within a week of the transfer. NO more druggy welfare bums on the place.

Lots of old unused silos around eastern iowa. Testament to pile of money made in 70's, then lost in 1979,1980. Wonder if all hog confinement buildings going up now will end up same.

We have a fair share of unused Harvestores in my neck of the woods. In a county next door to me a farmer told me he could get his silos taken off the tax roles if he could prove they will never be used. I don't know how that works. I would think a silo that isn't safe to use should not be left standing.

First rule(s) of buying property from someone who doesn't like you- offer full price, and do it through a third party that they don't know. Depends on the level of animosity, but some won't even sell for full price to an enemy neighbor, hence the third party.

Yeah, you are right! But he had the place listed high hoping I would take the bait. I spoke to him face to face, more than he ever did for me given a choice, and I told him what I knew that wasn't in the listing...roof was SHOT, complete tear down needed. Septic field was owner installed, red tagged at inspection and he covered it over anyway and left it red tagged. It was a dry year, in normal years the sump ran almost constantly to keep the water out of the cellar and it had two pumps down there. Well was shallow and the water krap, likely contaminated from 180 plus years of agriculture. That is just for starters. The only places that perked when tested were on my side of the fence. I couldn't possibly have given him what he asked for.

I imagine you have seen a lot of that over the years! I am pretty sure you are right. When he found out that the offer he had coming in was from me, you could see the storm clouds in his eyes. I think he would have let me have it for full price but it needed, and still needs, about $40K in TLC and it will still be dump. The folks that bought it are nice enough...no enemies there now. I'm building a barn behind their house that pretty much puts an end to anyone buying it for the view, although it's a good looking barn. Maybe I'll get it next time around.

It must not have bothered you too bad or you would have done like JD said and bought it,tore it down if you didn't want it there or fixed it back up.Being CHEAP backfires at times and now you have no right to complain about anything.I had the FD take care of a house+4 buildings and made a nice yard so wouldn't have people trying to want to rent it.