Tuesday, December 1 and Thursday, December 3
When I learned that the 90-year-old silo was being taken down at the homestead, I knew I wanted to document it. Grandpa Hershey mentioned the silo in his book “A Time to Every Purpose.”
My brother Dale remembers our dad saying that Grandpa built the silo with cantaloupe money – and I found that was documented in a later book “Hershey Reunion.” He raised lots of cantaloupes which grew and ripened nicely in the sandy soil of our valley.
December 1 was a cold, rainy day. I was glad I didn’t have to be on top of the silo. Plus, they set up the scaffolding during the early morning when it was still dark.
I took this picture, just in case you need to have an old silo removed. 🙂
The one man took it down, block by block – with a sledgehammer – in the rain.
His helper stayed on the ground and kept pieces from going on the road. When I told the one on top of the silo that I grew up here and would be taking pictures. He replied, “Take all the pictures you want.” Then he asked if I knew where they could find a barn broom to keep the road clean.
They created this hole to pass parts of scaffolding from inside to be taken to their truck. I also noticed that they used the hole for removing metal parts from the silo – like the metal ladder that went to the top.
I took this picture – on the back side of the silo – when I walked to the barn to look for a broom. I did find one.
I went home after a few minutes and came back again – just before 10 am. I knew they were only working until 10 the first day.
I went to the farm again after they were gone, to get some closeups.
Looking inside the silo brought back memories of climbing the ladder when I was a young girl.
The ground was already full of broken tile.
Wednesday was a much nicer day – even fairly warm and sunny. He was adjusting the scaffolding when I arrived.
As I watched him knocking each block off with the sledgehammer, I thought, “He doesn’t have to go to a gym for his exercise.”
As I went back and forth between our house and the farm – every few hours – it was easy to see that he was getting the job done.
By 2 pm it was a pile of rubble.
If you look closely (center/left), you can see the last part of the ladder that was inside the silo.
All that remains (among the rubble) is the part of the silo that is underground.
Metal pieces from the silo.
I took this picture on Tuesday – at daylight – when the men began dissembling the middle silo. You can see one of the men on top of it. The silo closest to me was built in 1952, the one being taken down was built in 1930 and the one on the other side of the barn was built in 1974.
The new view – without the middle silo.
It’s amazing how tidy the 2 men were while they were working! That broom must really have helped! Were you looking straight up in the 13the shot — the one of the rounded tile with the hole in the center? That was a well-built domed top! Will the silo be replaced, or is it not used anyway?
I was also impressed with how tidy they were. Yes, I was looking straight up. It made a unique picture There used to be a domed roof on the silo. It will not be replaced. They use trenches for the silage these days. They will eventually take the light colored one down too, but that one will be a bit more complicated because of the structure.