State-Of-The-Art Farm-Built Containment System

State-Of-The-Art Farm-Built Containment System FARM SHOP Miscellaneous “When my dad built a new machine shed last year he wanted to move all of our fertilizer tanks inside so we designed and built our own containment system ” says Bancroft Iowa farmer Tim Renger The 104-ft long containment chamber is made of reinforced 8-in concrete and has 8-in high reinforced ledges It has a 3-in slope across the length to a drain that routes into an underground storage tank Renger is pleased with the new system because it houses all of his liquid fertilizer products and farm chemicals in one facility that meets state requirements The linear design along one side wall of his father’s new machine shed allows easy unloading of bulk fertilizer and chemicals and easy loading into their tender equipment “We wanted something that would keep all our products in one place inside ” Bucky Renger says “and we wanted the pumps and supply lines in a permanent installation Inside the containment walls are four 3 000- gal tanks for fertilizer and one 2 500-gal tank for a specialty micro-nutrient All of the tanks have cone bottoms for easy cleanout Two more poly tanks in the lineup hold 2 500 gal of water for filling the spray tender “We put all of the tanks inline and plumbed 3-in lines with Banjo valves at every junction and on every tank ” Renger says “We also have a 40-gal cone for measuring specialty ingredients and chemicals ” The system has a corrosion-free stainless pump that’s powered by a 7 5 hp motor with 100 gal /min capacity All liquids run through a meter with automatic shutoff that can be set to specific amounts “We wanted the pump and meter to deliver accurate amounts at high capacity ” Renger says “We can fill a 1 000-gal tender in under 12 min including connecting and disconnecting the supply lines ” The Renger’s system includes a 6-ton storage rack that holds three 250-gal totes for chemicals and/or micronutrients Hard lines are plumbed from the totes to the mixing cone He lifts and removes the totes with his forklift There’s also two sets of blocks near the edge of the containment wall where totes can sit and be emptied into the system “Having all of this equipment in one place and plumbed into one system is the ideal way to handle chemicals and fertilizer ” says Tim Renger “Before this we had some tanks outside some inside and we always had to connect and disconnect hoses for different products and use small portable pumps Now we’ve got one high capacity pump and permanent lines with a flush system so there’s no chance of contamination between products The system is also secure in a locked building ” The Rengers figure they spent about $10 000 for the concrete containment chamber and it took them about two weeks to move all the tanks in place and plumb the lines Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tim Renger 1002 390th St Bancroft Iowa 50517 ph 515 320-3287

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