We had an old silo that we used to store high-moisture corn for many years. Over time, because of freezing, thawing and age, many of the cement staves in the top half of the silo started to crack and break. It got to the point where we could see it was getting dangerous to keep using it in that condition.

We talked it over as a family and came up with a plan. Since the bottom half of the silo was in good condition, we figured we could have the top half taken down and rebuilt. When silos are built, they have a lot more metal hoops or rods around the bottom than they do around the top.

I said to my family, “If they would have put more hoops on the top half, the staves wouldn’t have cracked and broken up as much. The hoops add a tremendous amount of strength and support to the staves. That’s why the bottom half is in such good shape compared to the top half. We need to get the top half rebuilt, but I’m going to insist they put a lot more hoops on it than what it had in the past.” As we stood there looking at it, my whole family readily agreed to that.

I contacted the owner of a silo-building business, and he came to the farm and looked at the silo with us. He agreed the top half was in bad shape and should be redone.

“One problem with that, though, is those are the old style of staves,” he said. “They’re tongue-and-groove, not ball-and-joint like the new ones. They’re also thinner than the new ones, so there is no way you can replace the bad staves with new ones. And, I don’t know where there are any old staves like that anymore that I can get.”

“No problem,” I said. “I don’t need that silo as tall as it is now. We can take it half down and save the good staves and rebuild it with them. The silo won’t be as tall as it is now, but we don’t need it that tall to store a year’s worth of corn for our cattle here.”

He was a little hesitant, “You’re rebuilding with old staves. I don’t know how many years that will last.”

Then I told him about my idea of adding a lot more hoops to strengthen it. His reply was, “That would make a world of difference. It would add a fair bit to the cost, but that silo should last a long time then.”

He wrote up a job description and figured out a price, we both agreed on it and for the job to be done the following summer when we had the silo empty. Well, things don’t always go according to plan. We got the silo empty, but by then, to our surprise, he had gone out of business. So, then we went to our Heavenly Father in prayer for an answer to our big problem. We were quickly able to find another silo-building crew, headed by a man named Nevin, that could just fit our silo into their busy schedule. How we thanked the Lord for that.

We took the silo unloader out of the silo ourselves, and then Nevin and his crew came and took the silo two-thirds of the way down. It was in worse shape than what it looked like. They rebuilt the silo with the good staves that they were able to save and put a lot more hoops on it. Also, the old metal filler pipe with the gooseneck hood up on top was in terrible condition, so we replaced it with some silo pipe and hood that I had bought at an auction about 10 years previously. The pipe and hood came off of a small silo from another farm. It was in excellent condition, and since mine was getting in worse condition, I thought it wise to buy it and put it up in my barn’s haymow until I needed it. With rebuilding the silo, now was the perfect time to put it on. I don’t want to tell you how much duct tape my old silo pipe and hood had on them.

The silo crew was very impressed with the pipe and hood Joshua and I got out of our haymow. They wanted to know where I got it, so I told them. Then they wanted to know what I paid for it all: $37. They stared at me in utter disbelief.

They said, “There’s only one company left in the country that makes that type of hood, and they charge over 1,500 dollars for it. Plus, that metal filler pipe isn’t cheap either.”

They stood there laughing and shaking their heads.

Nevin and his crew did an excellent job rebuilding our silo, which we are very thankful for. This last fall we filled it; so now our cattle are eating high-moisture, rolled, shelled corn out of it.

It took a lot of planning, work and money to do all this, but it is sure good to have it done. We have the best corn silo that we’ve ever had to store corn in. We are very blessed to have it. It took a lot to rebuild it, but it was well worth it.

In my own life, God has been rebuilding it for years. Taking bad, busted, broken stuff out of it and making me more like Jesus. Sometimes it isn’t easy, but it’s always worth it. I always end up better than what I was before. The people around me are more blessed too. It may cost or hurt at times, but in the end, it is always worth it to get rebuilt by God. You will end up better than what you were before, and God will be glorified. You can’t put a price tag on that.

Pictured here is the crew as they rebuilt our silo. Image provided by Tom Heck.

Here we are filling our rebuilt corn silo. Image provided by Tom Heck.