I found this pamphlet in some of Grandpa’s old papers.
Do You Want to Buy a Silo?
Sommerer Family Website
Good enough for who it's for
Sommerer Family Website
Good enough for who it's for
I found this pamphlet in some of Grandpa’s old papers.
I’m pretty sure this is the Silo that’s on the farm. I take it that it wasn’t always there?
This was not the first silo that father built on the farm that we moved to that was on the road that led to Henley MO. Route H. I don’t remember where or when Father became so good at building silos . I know that he helped others build their silos. One person I remember that he helped was Adolph Probst. That silo was built down by the spring, south of the house. I was not allowed to go down there when it was being built . Beatrice and Vernon and I am guessing Mahlon helped build it. When the second silo was built I think it was done by others . I don’t know why I can’t remember who put that silo up, or the year it was built.
Somewhere around ’46 to ’48 was when Vernon was gone. Must have been then, maybe the pamphlet has a date.
Dad saw an add in Cappers Weekly for silos. He contracted them and they shipped the tile to Henley by rail. We took team of horses and iron wheel wagon to offload the tile and bring it home. We had to dig the foundation and mix concrete to pour the foundation. Then these two men from Archie that had been recommended by Silo company came and erected the silo. One of them was Herb Tanner and the other I can’t remember his name. They wrote it in the mortar probably on the top.
They put a 3″ pipe in the middle that held the scaffolding to raise them up the silo as it was laid. It was bars and a chain was used to hoist the platform.
They stayed with us in the boys room and Mom cooked for them. Probably a week.
Dad built one on Uncle Henry Haymeyer’s place, Cedar Row. I think he built one for Bud. These weren’t tile but wood ones.
The wood silos had a rock foundation, it had to be level. We cut trees on the farm and had them sawed at Crede’s. Two x fours and one x eights. We set them up on a stop sign pattern. We drilled a hole for a bolt to hold the board to the board under it. At the corners we hand drilled a starting hole on the sides for the nails with a gimlet and a 3/8″ drill in a brace and bit and then we drove in two 30 penny spike nails. The wood was so hard we could hardly get the hole started. The gimlet broke and Dad told me to run up to Brazito and get another one. I told Dad to write it down cause I wouldn’t remember and he didn’t have time. He said to tell Mr. Zillick you need a gimlet it’s the bit that looks like boar’s ….. I always remember what a gimlet is even today. It was four miles to Brazito one way and I’d run all the way.
On the wooden silos we’d line it with tar paper tacked on with plaster lathes. It held moisture better that way. Silage was corn stalks and corn chopped by a silage cutter. This fermented and fed the cattle quite well. Making silage was like making sauerkraut.
At the tile silo – one year when the corn was green and juicy. As it fermented the juices ran out the drain at the bottom of the silo and this one old cow who was the herd leader would go there after milking and lick up the juice. She’d go back several times a day to enjoy the corn liquor. She was determined it was her’s and kept all the cows away.
Mahlon, Thank you for this information. It is wonderful. I don’t remember anything about when the brick silo was built. I love this story!
Mahlon I am so happy that you came on here to tell us about the silos. I wish that you would put more of your remembrances here for us. Can you tell us about your moneymaking deals and what you spent your earnings on. It seems like you always had money. I remember when you went to honey creek you and Harold sommerer did a lot of trading one time you traded Harold something for a memory book that you sold to me for 2.00. Did I remember that right?