Grain bin saga...made some calls as....

...suggested. The new bin salesman gave me a quick price on a sweep that is well within my range. I already have a farm grade motor that is the correct size for the sweep. He is working up a bid on new bins for me. Hasn't called back of yet but I was told it could take a day. I will post the info when I get it.

A used bin salesman provided some info that was interesting. His estimated cost on a bin the size we are looking at (3000/3500 bushel) would be $3-3400 for just the one bin.

The auction bin that I was watching sold for a total of $3016 including buyers premium and sales tax.

I thought this might be of interest to all who rendered their advice. No question involved here...just felt I should provide the info for interest. I am closing in on a decision. Just want to know the price differential on new vs used. Financing is interesting, but not terribly so. I still have to pay for it. Thanks again for all the help.

Dave Look at Golden grain bins. The floor we got from them has been good so far. I am thinking about a bin from them . It would be about 10-15000 bushel with an air floor. they are about half of what the others are for price last time I looked. You deal with them direct instead of dealers. I am going to get another floor for the other bin we already have. I think that bin went for plenty of money with the work of tearing down and reassembling it.

Hunt down a couple pages on classic and find my post from last night. There is some interesting info about those bins IIRC. I think that is the brand. I warn you, it may not be what you want to hear but the source is impeccable.

internet auction gives a fella a little more thinkin time between bids ,,. went about as I predicted,,.. but you never know at a auction ,,

caterpillar guy; RUN from Golden Grain Bins they are cheap because they are cheaply made!!!! They like to advertise they are cheap because they deal direct and do not use dealers. That is BULL hockey!!! LOL The sheets are THIN. The bottom sheets on a Golden Grain bin are thinner than the top sheets on a Brock or Suckup bin.

A fellow close to me bought three of them 4 years ago. His are nine ring 30 foot bins. He has a continuous flow drier that dumps the corn out at about 100 degrees. HE uses a pneumatic system to take the corn to the larger bins. He got along the first year fine as the corn was only around 18-19% moisture in the field so the corn out of the drier was cooler and therefore settles less than would be normal. The second year he had more normal moistures so the corn was hotter and settled more while cooling. The first bin he filled crumpled right at the top of the air floor when he had it about 3/4 full. He called the company and they told him his bins were not designed for an air floor?????? The after he raise cane about that they then told him they where not designed for cooling "Hot" corn in. Long story short they just would not warranty his one year old bins. All their talk about no dealers also meant that the customer has no one to help out with the company either. He made stiffeners out of three inch channel iron and removed the bolts at the end of the sheets. Then he put the channel irons uprights under these bolts. So every 6 inches the bins walls where bolted to the channel iron up rights. He had as much in his bins as he could have bought Brock bins for after the uprights.

So check the actual sheet thickness out before buys any bins. Also the wave or corrugation makes a difference in the strength too.

Hey Dave I just noticed on the southwest minnesota craigslist there are a couple of bins for sale. They are larger than you want but do offer price points. One is 20000 bushel for 4000 and the other is a 12000 bushel for 3000. Location has a lot to do with pricing but I thought it may help in your pricing. Good luck

That auction bin seemed to be in much worse shape and not nearly as well equipped. Now you have a much better idea what bins are worth in your area. I would speak much more favorable of his price after that auction.

I'm still looking around, Bill. Want to see what the new ones cost and I have another set of used ones being offered to me. Waiting to see what these others are being offered for. I agree, though. These first two with all the accessories are looking better. I have refrained from saying it, but I cannot remember the last time I saw a smallish bin for sale around here for less than $1500 and that one was not real nice.

Minnesota is not real comparable. Unless you are in the U P buying out of Minnesota is nearly impossible. Roads are bad and everything is 12 hours away minimum. So I would be in a much different market. Might be possible to get those bigger bins here for those prices though. What frequently happens in SE Michigan is that small stuff sells like hotcakes while larger stuff is hard to give away. Buying 3 pt equipment around here is a fools game. Cheaper new.

Better hope the guy with the 2 nice used ones does not hear what the auction one brought ! Or use YT. His price may go back up. LOL.

I have grain bin I will sell reasonable. 18' about 3500 bu.,full floor,zip 48808,Bath Thanks Vaughn

I have bin to sell. 3500 bu,18' full floor,reasonable,48808 Bath Thanks Vaughn

Sent you an email.

(quoted from post at 21:12:12 12/20/16) Minnesota is not real comparable. Unless you are in the U P buying out of Minnesota is nearly impossible. Roads are bad and everything is 12 hours away minimum. So I would be in a much different market. Might be possible to get those bigger bins here for those prices though. What frequently happens in SE Michigan is that small stuff sells like hotcakes while larger stuff is hard to give away. Buying 3 pt equipment around here is a fools game. Cheaper new.

Click to expand...

What 3 point stuff are you looking for?

The market here is pretty strong for smaller stuff but not grain bins. They sell fairly reasonable here. Last year we picked up 2 butlers that are 5000 bushel bins. Only one had a full floor with the fan, burner and augers. Great shape and I think we paid around 1000-1200 for both.

Dave sorry you could not get a quick quote for new. I think the information will help you make a more informed decision. I may have missed it, but if you buy the used bins what are your plans for getting the ground ready and the cement pads poured. Unless you have done a lot of cement work I don't think it is a do it yourself project. You'll need round forms, rebar etc and you have to get the bolts set in the concrete to match the hold downs on the bins. This can add quite a bit to the used price.

Well there is not much I don't have, but if you are selling something you can always send me an email. If I don't have it, I might just need it, and if I don't, I might just buy it anyway!

The cost of having the pads done is $1900 per pad. About half is material. Fortunately, I have done all my own masonry...block, stone, and flatwork...for the last 25-30 years. I have two nice mixers and a truck that hauls the sand and aggregate, but would have this concrete delivered in. I am still waiting for the bin salesman to work up his price. Guess he is in no hurry. I might have a few questions about reinforcing, but the pour will go smoothly. BTDT...many many times.

Dave, just remember before you skip a good used bin for a better price how many of them you have actually seen for sale and if you have seen any for sale what condition they were in. And when they were for sale or if they are still for sale. I don't think there is near as many out there avaible as a lot are saying. I know here in Ohio they are not avaible like that. And you get 2 for next years crop and for the following year you will be wanting 3 bins or possibly 4 bins.