Silage pit and silage clamp repairs & coatings

specialist safe robust materials for the repair & coatings for silage pits

Silage leachate and runoff can be extremely damaging to the walls and bases of concrete silage pits and clamps.  It reacts with the chemicals in the concrete and erodes away the surface, exposing new concrete. The cycle then repeats, attacking the newly exposed concrete, breaking up the surface particles and washing them away to expose more and more.  In order to prevent chemical attack from the leachate, the concrete can be covered with a protective coating.  The type of coating will depend upon a number of factors:

• The silage will be used to feed animals, so the coating must be non-toxic and safe to use in the vicinity of ground water.  It is important to understand what chemicals the coating contains and whether or not they can be transferred to any material that comes in to contact with it.
• Quality of the concrete surface to be covered – some concrete coating products have inherent crack-bridging properties which will be required if the concrete is in poor condition.  Some concrete repair work may need to be carried out before coating, if the concrete is already badly damaged.
• Traffic and equipment – if tractors and equipment are running into the pit or clamp and over the base, then the coating on the base must be durable enough to withstand that.  If the coating can be torn, punctured or broken by tires, forks, ploughs and the like, the concrete will be exposed to chemical attack from the leachate again.   
• Size / scale – highly robust materials such as polyurethane screeds give an excellent level of protection but might not be feasible if the silage pit / clamp is particularly large.  Firstly, screeds are laid with trowels by hand, which is time consuming.  Secondly, they are relatively expensive and might exceed notional budget costs.  Spray-applied or brush applied coatings will be faster to install, but might offer a lower protection from machinery scraping against it.
• Longevity – consider how often you are prepared to recoat the silage pit or clamp, intervals between recoats might be less regular on some products than others, and life cycle cost should also be considered.  
• Cost -  This will always be the critical factor in any project. It is always better to consider long-term costs as well as short-term costs.

REPAIRING SILAGE PIT / CLAMP CONCRETE BASES & BUND WALLS

The appropriate concrete repair material will depend upon the nature of the damage.  The width and depth of cracks.  A thin surface repair. The depth of any pothole.  Our products are optimised to repair specific types and dimensions of damage. 

It is always important to investigate and address the cause of any damage as well as making repairs.  Full depth cracks through a base slab can be caused by ground movement, an insufficiently depth of well compacted hardcore base below the slab, too little reinforcement, an insufficient slab thickness, or other major structural issues. If the root cause of the problem isn't investigated and addressed, repairing a crack will not prevent the slab from cracking elsewhere. Cracks in the walls may also indicate ground movement or insufficient thickness of the walls to retain the tank of sillage when full.   

Once any underlying structural issues are addressed and stabilised, repairs to cracks and patch repairs can be carried out.

Of course, given the aggressive chemicals produced during the silage process, the repair materials must be capable of withstanding the maximum concentration of chemicals expected – this will include if aerobic digestion is unintentionally allowed instead of anaerobic.   

We can supply fast-track repair materials with high early strength gain and quick curing times, which are ideal if you only have a small window of opportunity to carryout repairs.  

Call us on 01925852225 to discuss your silage pit / clamp concrete repair needs and we will help you to find the best product. 

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