A shed which can allow a lorry to tip in it is a rare commodity.

Some older round roof Dutch barns will allow grain trailers to tip their load, but for the majority of farmers buying straights that are coming in on lorries, it’s a matter of tipping the load outside and pushing or scooping the delivered meal inside.

A man who believes he has a solution to this is James Cranston, a Monaghan based builder who is relaunching sliding roof meal stores with his company Agri OpenRoof Systems.

With no other builder supplying similar in Ireland or the UK, James is now offering a nationwide service to supply and erect such. James is already a well-established agri-builder, specialising in all agricultural concrete and erection works.

A demonstration bay has been set up in Joseph Walls’ yard, Dundalk with James highlighting “from talking to farmers, delivery drivers and people within the industry, it’s a major problem. Delivery drivers are facing in delivering larger loads or straights to farms whereby they have to complete it on a dry day as feed is tipped outside the shed door, with lorries unable to tip inside them”.

Grain driven over

Other times they are waiting on the farmer to come back to the yard to push in the feed, and even when they do the grain is still being driven over by a telehandler “which is far from ideal for feeding’.’

The design itself is surprisingly simple.

Bays measure 14ft (4.26m) in width and can be manufactured to 30ft (9.14) up to 35ft (10.66m) in length.

A standard 30ft long bay has sufficient capacity to hold 40t of feed, stated James.

Two hinged doors open at the front, though a roller door that also folds back with the roof can be included if desired.

A manual pulley system located inside the door is then operated, with the front half of the roof supported by wheels sitting on the inner web of the rafter.

The upright stanchion running half way along the wall has been cut back to allow the roof section to move unobstructed until it sits neatly under the section of roof sitting at the back.

From here, the driver simply reverses in to the shed and tips their load.

The driver can reverse close to the back wall of the store and begin tipping, ensuring the store is filled right to the back, edging forward as the lorry body is tipped higher.

Joseph Walls was kind enough to demonstrate on the day that the Irish Farmers Journal visited, and James’ words were solidified by the demo.

Once tipped, the front roof section is then secured back into place by the pulley. The roof is fully bird-proof owing to the fact the front section sits lower than the rear, with the cladding of the front section just touching the top timber purlin at the front of the rear section to seal the shed.

A 0.55mm cladding is used throughout, with 150mm x 75mm timber purlins used on the sides and rear section, while box steel is used to create the movable front section of the roof.

The demonstration unit has been set up with precast concrete panels, but shuttered mass concrete walls will be included in the prices quoted to farmers.

As mentioned, roller doors can be included at an additional cost, with James also offering the option of a motorised roller door that can be operated from an in-cab remote, while heavier duty cladding is also an option.

Farmers can also choose to have singular/multiple bays of the folding roof and additional bays of a standard roof if they so choose.

Prices will start from €37,500 + VAT for a three-bay unit (£32,400), with this capable of holding over 100 tonnes of feed with ease. Smaller units will have an increased cost per bay, while additional specification (as mentioned above) will also cause a price difference to the above. All works will be completed, including all erection and concrete works, at this price.

While the shed obviously benefits from the roof being able to slide back, the low size of the shed also allows it to be eligible for planning exemptions which have seen the gross areas increase in recent months.

While it may not suit every yard, at around 78m² for a two-bay store, there will be some yards that will be able to avail of this exemption.