Long-arming Harvestore Silo Unloader

Thanks for watching

[@rcmc7352]

New respect for farmers who are actually engineers, ranchers, chemists, veterinarians, mathematicians and day laborers all rolled into one.

[@heatherritchey3673]

Hgghhgjj

[@Solvang_circus]

I love watching stuff like this because you know it took multiple generations before they had it down this easy

[@dawnreed6229]

I see why Farmers lose their fingers! What an essential but scary looking machine! It's nice to see you and your dad working together 😊

[@markgoessling8704]

i was just thinking there were a lot of ways to hurt yourself on that machine.

[@cx1463]

being a farmer is s bit scary

[@kingcountyband]

I was literally thinking the same thing so many different ways on a farm.

[@kellyconstenius676]

Yup... Both my Uncle and my Mother were missing digits. My mother lost the two middle fingers to a Hay unloader. The ones that lift loose hay from the wagon to the mow. Ran off a hit and miss motor. Pull the trip and up it goes. Fingers got in the chain. My uncle not sure might have been the chain on a swather. Danger danger every where.

[@davepelfrey3958]

For sure, that could be a mean prop in a horror movie. Stay safe guys.

[@Johnnymac66]

That is one of the most laborious jobs I've seen you display concerning Silo feeders. A lot of work for 3 1/2 feet of extension. Thanks for sharing the job with us.

[@Trapper3000]

I have learned from this channel that a good farmer has to be an equally good mechanic. Thanks for sharing Eric

[@virginiaoflaherty2983]

Eric, you are an inspiration to many people. Every day you are doing important work. Every day you give work and life your all. Thank you.

[@MrBashriprock]

Been around concrete silos a bunch in my life. Those are easy compared to what you are working with here. I had always wondered how the “blue” ones worked. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[@step2191]

Now thats some hard work, thanks Eric and Dennis for showing us behind the scenes with the silo unloader maintenance!

[@Imunderpar4win]

Your videos keep me intrigued from start to finish - I don’t find myself fast forwarding at all - thank you for the great content.

[@57143bodies]

An elementary and/or middle school English teacher would have a time showing this (segments at a time) having students identify as many verbs, adjectives and adverbs as they can. Great activity to improve descriptive writing techniques. Genius!

[@michael7423]

My favorite part of your channel is seeing you working side by side with your Dad! Stay safe and keep well!!!

[@gregg7761]

You took the words right out of my mouth when you said “I have a love/hate relationship with all forms of feed storage”. I feel the exact same way, they all seem to have their advantages and disadvantages.

[@gsbrown9641]

I sure do love seeing hard work being done. Unafraid of getting your hands dirty and getting the job done. Great job Father Son Duo!

[@antiquarian3942]

Man... I can't believe that having to work on those silos is still so labour intensive. Dairy farmers are some of the hardest workers I know! - Dave

[@smoke09able]

Good job! You working with your dad reminds me of working with my dad in my younger days, a lot of silent communication and you both know what has to be done. No drama.

[@josecarlosoliveira9644]

I am a scotsman living in brazil and spent all my time on farms and various oil rigs worldwide and i constantly preach dont stick your hand where you would not stick another object well done eric

[@Thebeastwithinusall]

What a tough job! But the way your dad explains it - its 100% worth the work. That unloader is expensive, but i'm sure you guys think of it as priceless for the work it does. Thanks for the video bro - keep em up!

[@robertmiller8336]

There were a few Harvestors on neighboring farms in the NJ county where my Dad farmed. They were a kind of fascinating mystery. Knew that they unloaded from the bottom, had to be opened and closed every time you needed to fill or unload, but know nothing about the maintenance of them, particularly when it comes to this. It has been interesting reading the many comments asking why you do not have some kind of power assist to pull the unloader out and put it back in. I imagine doing this had to be a very careful and delicate operation. get it wrong or slightly out of line and you would be looking at a huge repair bill. Thank you for the very informative video and you and your Dad's explanations.

[@pennyhaldeman5626]

Glad to see your dad's shoulder is better, bet you were too when it was time to put the unloader back in the silo. Thanks for sharing.

[@Adam_Poirier]

Thats definitely quite the job. I only have experience with the top unloading silos. Watching this makes me want to mail you an electric winch lol. Thanks for taking the time to explain and show that it was pretty cool

[@pamelaisaiah-aiken3468]

Dads a handsome fella , thanks for all you guys do !

[@kevindawe9910]

I was a serviceman for Western Harvestore (Alberta) back in the mid 1970's. This sure brought back some memories! One was cutting off a bent arm and the stretched cutter chain with a torch while inside the "dome" at night when it was snowing and forty below... The "Goliath" unloader frozen solid to the structure... Snapping the steel winch cable... The farmer in a panic to get his cattle fed...My second job of the day and that was well over a hundred miles away. My partner was useless and I hadn't seen a bed in over a day. The only thing I remember that I liked about working around Harvestores was the smell of the silage! A 25' x 90' Harvestore was worth about 100K back then and the unloader was another 16K. (Yes, Canadian dollars but ours was worth 10% more than yours back then!) Although there are still a few left in Alberta, they don't sell them here anymore. (Too expensive and dangerous) I think they are still available in Ontario. The Workman's Compensation Board had a pretty thick binder full of injury claims which is probably why they closed up shop. It looks like bunker or pit silos are the way to go now. Dammit man! You are still changing the arm length of your unloader the way I did 45 years ago! Check around! There are better ways and tools available to do that job now. Nice job on this video! Thanks!

[@robertcornell9308]

I used to complain about our Big Jim unloaders when the center hole got plugged. But looking at all the parts on your unloader, makes me think I had it pretty dang easy!🤣🤣🤣

[@joetownsend-]

Dennis & Eric, Thank You for another fine Showing of FARMER INGENUITY‼️ A lot of LOVE there‼️ Great feeling of accomplishment‼️ Many commenters wondered why not use tractor or skid steer to push & pull⁉️ My guess is Yall can’t get one back there- based on overgrown weeds. If it were easy access, I’m sure the area would be maintained to keep rats, snakes and other critters out. I am a Come-a-Long guy, not fond of those straps even though they do have their place. Several have said use a “helper bar” on come-a-long. I use a 4’ galvanized pipe over my handle but with the easier pulling, I over taxed my old cable. Thankfully, no one was behind it when it popped- it would have hurt them badly AMERICAN FARMERS-AMERICAN HEROES‼️ 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 ❤️🤍💙

[@celinskov_pob]

no gloves, no protection, no bleeding, it is perfect!! good job!

[@timnichols9015]

We have 3 of those Harvestores. They are now converted for shelled corn. SOooooo glad I don't have to do that anymore....still have a scar on my right palm from stitches after fixing one of them. The emergency room does not appreciate farm clothes, I can tell you that.

[@waynebehm7853]

When we pulled our Harvestore unloader we used round pipe to support the unloader instead of square tubing. We did not use a winch or come along either. We had support on the far end of the pipes made out of old wagon wheel, tubing and a piece of wide angle iron instead of using wooden blocking to support it. We used a rope/pulley system per Harvestore manual. The rope strung through a pulley system and around a slipping pulley on unloader motor. By tightening rope and jogging motor the unloader would pull itself out or back in depending on rope hook up direction. This system came with the silo. Surprised you are not doing that. Awesome video of showing what, why and how everything works. Brings back memories. Thanks

[@pauledmundson8132]

First time I have seen how the Harvestore unloader works. I know owners complained about how difficult they were to service because they had to be pulled completely out. You guys have obviously done this before and you work very well together.

[@umpireoba]

Morning Eric! Can’t believe how much your channel is growing 👍👍

[@bearasojrnr]

All a the Harvestorers I built back in the day, I never got to see much more after we placed the floor inside and hung the last two sheets. Interesting, thanks for sharing.

[@joykiser6673]

Amazing the amount of work it takes to maintain equipment and keep animals healthy. Hats off to you.

[@steveadams99708]

Nice to see you and your Dad working on a tough project like that Eric. Your talents are impressive! Enjoyed the video.

[@polarizedoutdoors]

No gloves and I didn't even seen any bleeding fingers. Nice job, guys!

[@wardy940]

3:17 you see the dad's index bleeding.

[@polarizedoutdoors]

@@wardy940 I missed it the first time around. Oh well, a lot less than I would have been bleeding.

[@BWYinYang]

Well depends on job, sometimes gloves are in way.

[@tomfaessler6072]

I have worked on those unloaders and have been cut buy those nasty knives and hooks. Be careful!!

[@robynmorris2408]

What a beast of a job! I assume that you have to shorten it back up when the silo is empty/refilled. Very interesting piece of equipment. Let’s hope that is does not break down very often. Thanks for sharing this nasty job with us.

[@rickwoodvine.7529]

I service them unloaders back in the 90s work for Central Illinois Harvestore, serviced all dairy's and all Universities loved that job. Very dangerous to work on. Been many dig outs too. We did it all.

[@rburli]

Wow I was actually 59 years, 9 months and 24 days old when I learned how a bottom feeding Harvestore silo works. Great video as always. I recall the first silo was arm strong unloaded. When my uncle purchased top self unloaders for them

[@charlenewenthold5150]

I marvel at you and your dad. Thank you for showing how hard farmers work to bring food to this country

[@ace_ocall_ttv6175]

Great video Eric Who els gets so exited when Eric posts

[@john34261]

i do get excited the videos are a great view on what diffeculties a farmer has or atleast a part of a farmer as he also has cows so that's another cost to have

[@joeldiaram2268]

Should get a Facebook account and a Instagram account

[@jacobtheawesome2118]

Me

[@lonniejacobs551]

imagine having to learn all this farm work as an adult. when family farms are lost the knowledge gained over years of teaching is lost too.

[@markybear92840]

You really gotta get your brother into the farm! Like your dad had with his brother! This is a LOT of work!

[@ildairyfarmer2436]

I’ve got the exact same come along and I broke the handle off it last week just as yours has done. You gave me a great idea to fix it now... thanks

[@stevebrown2145]

Wow, super cool video. Always wondered how the Harvestor unloader looked. We have lots of Harvestor silos here in Mid Michigan.

[@yankeefarmer6915]

Nice to see you and pops working together so well. When I was younger the only thing I learned from help my dad was how to hold the flash light and get yelled at. 🤣🤣 We work much better together in our old age. Love your videos and miss working on the farm. We sold our dairy in NY in 2001. Sad day.

[@wallaceloan4169]

Wow you boys over there do things different from over hear in the UK. That was hard going but nice to see your dad and you working well together. We have open clamps hear and silos for grain but not silage. Very interesting video thank you for showing us this.

[@helifixer206]

Great video, it brings back many memories of filling the harvestore on the family farm I grew up on. Craziest thing I ever saw was when we broke the upper chain inside and it was about 100 degrees of angle away from the access door. The AO Smith repair guy had to dig his way and crawl in there under the feed dome with a breathing air system on. That guy was a REAL man, I don't know if I could have done that. Like you said we always had a love/hate relationship with the silo as well, great when it worked, super expensive when it didn't and very labor intensive when you had to short and long arm it. I still miss the smell of fresh chopped alfalfa though...

[@pocketchange1951]

👍👌🇨🇦❤, funny thing your video coming out today, I just helped my dad do this last week, on the rails my dad drilled holes and put in a hydraulic ram for pushing the arm back in, after the ram was extended, we retracted the hydraulic ram and moved it up a few holes and proceeded on, this made pulling and pushing the ram alot easier, better on your arms than a come along, hope this helps

[@danielburd9989]

2 adults working side by side and not one curse word!! Mission accomplished!!

[@ivanrmendez8746]

I've never noticed how dirty farming actually is. I have seen other farmer channels and the guy never get his hands dirty but as always Erick shows us the whole picture on what farming really is. Thanks A lot man.

[@magpie5710]

Well that was tortuous. Imagine forgetting one of the bolts after putting it back in. I do like the grease job, nice and slick. Thank you for showing us another one of the unfun jobs that have to be done. Be well.

[@jceades1950]

It is absolutely incredible the things that Dennis and Eric know how to do. Wow - what a task.

[@markemarkpsv1]

What an absolute ball ache of a job, I was sweating and out of breath for you. I would leave the long arm on forever now. 👍😎👍 MDS

[@alexmoyer7412]

I live just outside of Lancaster and I pass your farm all of the time, and t is beautiful keep up the good work

[@funnyfarm5555]

"I have a love hate relationship" When I was a kid I had to stomp sileage when filling and hand fork it out of the silo when feeding, so find some appreciation for the poor machine; cheaper than hiring another farm hand and it doesn't get tired. There were no pit silos back in them days. The first pit silo I saw was when I was in college and drove truck at night hauling corn cannery by product to a feed lot silo pit.

[@carlwicks2088]

This is what seperates you from other farmer KZbinrs. You actually show the work what your doing! The rest just talk about it with the camera facing them all the time. Love your content 👌👍

[@tominkerry]

The close-ups on this video are amazing if not a bit scary! Great collaborative effort

[@raajmiid4576]

A farmer is a hands on man, an equipment handler and must be a good mechanic.

[@lynardok6654]

Love to see you and your Dad working together. Good hard work & well done. What a blessing. God Bless!

[@DHESS007]

Eric and Dennis, great job and HARD work. History of using a Come-Along is noted. However, here is a suggestion: Not sure you have enough room for a tractor but maybe the skid steer would fit outside the opening and use a winch or use the skid steer to gently pull the long arm out. Just a thought and would make life easier and probably quicker.

[@coopermccosh7553]

Thank you so much for making videos Eric

[@calderdavid2748]

Eric your the best youtuber and farmer on KZbin! Love your videos!

[@grgozdecki9824]

KZbinrs in Poland are great KZbinrs too 😉👍 Watch martinflashgordon, Polish youtuber working in Denmark, a lot off knowledge from him.

[@neilbpence]

We had a few Harvestore silos growing up, I was young and had no idea about long or short arming it. I would guess we had a long arm in it because I can remember using the bar to help it ratchet because of the tight silage.

[@joseocasio3415]

Hello Friends I follow you on KZbin Im from Puerto Rico . I worked for many years in dairy and I like your videos

[@jacksairsoft2015]

“Is this still on”. Haha I love it. Great vids man.

[@seadog6351]

Wow, that looked like a long and difficult job. Thanks for sharing.

[@christinecortese9973]

It’s amazing and a little sad for me to see you guys whaling away at that job when I can’t even open a darn jar with my bare hands anymore. That looked like one heck of a job, particularly for July. I know it’s beneficial to sweat but it never seems to feel that good when you’re doing it.

[@canadianmoth]

Just wanted to say if thats you in profile photo you are quite beautiful.

[@pdkrace]

Thats what you call American team work !!

[@chriscrosby8012]

UGH 😩 that was one hard job especially getting it back in inch by inch WOW 😳 Good way to describe it LOVE HATE RELATIONSHIP. Thanks for showing how it works 😊

[@davidhinson5010]

Your work is never done. Thanks from NC! KEEP IT UP!

[@jesusisGod1434]

My back hurts just watching this! Thank you for the upload and all your hard work! 👍🏼✝️❤️

[@mikeandeddy5680]

Holy smokes! That's some respectable labor. I'd definitely consider an electric winch for that application. You could mount one to the wall and pull it both ways. You could also add some legs to the cross brace at the far end and use the wood as a safety and for set-up. It'd still store pretty small against a wall.

[@randychristian7642]

got your workout for the day, your such a good mechanic

[@gregg7761]

My neighbor repairs harvestore silos for a living. He uses the same hand powered come-a-long. The dude is ripped! 💪🏻

[@theveggieboys]

Eric my man!!! Coming in clutch with another lunch video! I just passed 800 subs Eric I’m catching you!

[@john34261]

you better catch him and surpass him now hurry up!

[@pedrole7036]

the dad is more and more confortable on the cam that cool to see !!! family operation are the best

[@raymitch3768]

That looks like a whole bunch of work, I am glad we have top unloaders.

[@derekjensen5918]

It's very great video I always feel that I am learning something new every time!!! Very good to see you and your dad work so good together...Thanks for another great video

[@Budd56]

Thanks for sharing and explaining. I've heard the term but never really knew what it meant. 👍👍👍✌️

[@condod414]

Great work out, thank you for sharing .

[@donaldshinn1915]

We had 6 harvesters between 2 farms I bought a warn winch after shoulder replacement surgery for front of pickup to pull the unloaded with it was so much easier. But always loved the alfalfa haulage because of production results and improved in cow health.

[@ronmack1767]

Enjoyed the video. Wow that was allot of very hard strenuous work. We always thought we'd like to have upright silos but we got by with three trench ones. Y'all take care and God bless.

[@ronaldpiper4812]

So nice watching DAD working passing on a trade. Nice

[@MrShanester77]

Very interesting how the blue silos work. Great video.

[@danfinley3690]

Always great to see your pops out there with ya as you said not what you want to do but is necvesaasery

[@funnelspider]

ty for all the hard work ..and putting food on my table most i ever did was bucking hay in the summer for my uncle ...at least i had a great meal at the end of the day

[@joeykouba9495]

I'm one for any type of manual labor, but damn dude, get yourself a little electric winch. lol

[@raajmiid4576]

Yooow😂😂😂😂😂

[@brianbauer7666]

Thought the same. Worth the 200$ or so without a doubt

[@seththomas1119]

At the least I would invest in a better come along.

[@annmittelstadt2938]

I am so very greatful for all you farmers giving us yummy milk and beef to fill our bellys God Bless you and your family. I learned something new today.

[@DZ-bo8hq]

who remembers when we used to get these videos about every other day? good old days...

[@Ellenllee]

The video to indeed answer the question,"...why do you not see farmers at the gym?..." lol...great video,lots of hard work but no complaining,what a welcome video for positive thinking :). Thank you.

[@harrietcarpenter2387]

Great video! Thank you for sharing.

[@cjm6271]

Hi guys, I really enjoyed this one. Good job explaining the need to do this operation. It is a simple process, but not necessarily an easy one. Here comes my city boy's two cents... What if you mounted an electric wench on the wall and a block and tackle on the opposite wall to pull the arm out and then back in? Small cheap wench is a minor investment but sufficient if you will only be using it rarely. Dirt cheap at Harbor Freight(cheap enough to replace rather than repair). If you need more pulling force you can just add more pulleys across from one another. It looked like the hardest part. Hope this might be helpful.

[@barbarastedillie1336]

Very enjoyable to watch. If anyone had any doubt about how hard of work it is to farm/ranch, this should give them some kind of an idea. The knowledge base and just sheer strength it takes to complete jobs on this kind of operation is mind-boggling.

[@stevemilam466]

Nice job great team work!! Love all y’all’s videos.

[@franciscosandiego3026]

That was a big job you guys did, good video.

[@joelee662]

HELLO ERIC I SEE WHY EASY JOBS CAN TURN INTO DANGEROUS JOBS THIS JOB WAS QUITE INTERESTING AS THEY WOULD SAY THE WORK IS NEVER DONE ON THE FARM THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS VIDEO 👍👍🇺🇸 .

[@BlenderRookie]

Another video of things I never knew about or thought about. But admire the people who do.

[@bart3877]

wow, you guys really have to put a lot of elbow grease and sweat into this operation. Seems like you are mechanical engineers as well as the other dozen degrees in different fields you must have as a requirement. My hats off to you!!!

[@ML-lg4ky]

Nice work guys. We enjoy our milk products very much!!

[@Marshall_Weber]

Awesome Video and Much Love as Always!!!

[@guyfromme3000]

Eric, you made the google homepage today. I’ve not seen any of your content previous but I’m looking forward to looking further. Well made, nice editing, just enough narration. I still don’t get how the silage drops but I could research. My crazy architect brother is remodeling a dairy barn in Hudson WI. We’ve been talking about the old tile silo he has and how those must’ve been built and used.

[@medicjwilson]

I'd have a winch on my Christmas List for sure!!!