ROSENORT, Man. — Novid, known for its flat-bottom stainless steel liquid bins, introduced a new stainless steel hopper bottom granular bin this summer.
“Farmers who saw it at the Farm Progress Show were excited about the idea, but they voiced concerns about the cost,” said Novid manager Brent Friesen.
“Like our stainless flat bottom bin, it saves farmers money over time because of the longevity of stainless steel. Our first run of flat bottom bins are over 10 years old and there haven’t been any problems yet.
“A stainless steel fertilizer bin should last at least 30 years. Compare that to some mild steel bins that corrode out in six or eight years.”
Friesen said the company used a high quality T304 stainless steel, nearly all of which is made in North America.
When it does need to buy offshore, he said the shipment has to pass the company’s quality tests.
Although Novid has not yet announced firm prices for the bins, Friesen said farmers should re-member that there are cost savings at the production end with stainless.
Stainless bins don’t need to be sandblasted or powdered coated by baking them in a giant oven. The bin is ready for shipping once the fabrication is done.
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The prototype is all stainless except for the skid, which is mild steel. He said there are inherent problems welding mild steel to stainless.
The shop can weld in a stainless buffer plate between the two alloys or it can weld stainless tabs to the main body, allowing the mild steel parts to be bolted to the main body.
“We can either build it all stainless or build it with mild steel for the skid, legs and ladder. Those are all things we can bolt on. But the main hopper, shell, roof and doors are all stainless.
“There’s really no need for the skid to be stainless. That’s heavy. It’s a lot of steel. A lot of money can be saved with a mild steel skid.”
The hopper will be available in the standard sizes, including 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 bushel bins. Right now, they will be available only with a granular gate.
Friesen is uncertain when and if the company will make a liquid kit available.
“As far as I know, we’re the only company actually doing production runs of stainless steel granular hopper bins,” he said.
“I suppose a person could custom order a stainless bin from any manufacturer, but welding stainless steel is tricky, so they may not want to tackle the job.”
For more information, contact Brent Friesen at 204-746-6843 or visit www.novid.ca.
