# Building a salt bin with "Mafia Blocks"



## Midwest BuildIt Inc

This is just a few pics to explain mafia blocks and building a salt bin. Me and Grassbusters only unloaded the blocks today but will be putting it together tomorrow.

Me guiding them, grass was taking pics,


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## Midwest BuildIt Inc

look at that beautiful old hough picken them up like nothing, For those of you that dont know they are 4000lbs a piece.


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## Midwest BuildIt Inc

a few more pics for your enjoyment..


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## Vaughn Schultz

Man I am so sorry about dropping that one on your foot How are you feeling


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## Superior L & L

Post some finished product picks when your done !!!! Thanks and good look


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## 06HD BOSS

Looks like you guys are starting to gear up. I wish that was the case here...66 degrees today!:realmad: 
I wanna see some finished pics


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## itsgottobegreen

Whats with the mini forklift with the fold up forks behind the cab of the tractor.


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## Midwest BuildIt Inc

That woulda been nice, 66 degrees, it was like 35-40 with gusty winds. 

Though this bin will not be the "great bin" because it will only be a temp, it is going in rented yard space and will be removed at the end of the season. The reason for it will be that it is right in the center of the salting operation. We have an estimated 14 tons going down per salt event. Time is everything in the middle of the storm. This will be a good example for easy and clean salt storage.


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## Midwest BuildIt Inc

itsgottobegreen said:


> Whats with the mini forklift with the fold up forks behind the cab of the tractor.


I thought that was neet, I ment to ask him about that but never did. It was just some trucking company that Grassbusters hired to move the blocks. Im thinking he does a lot af pallet type work.


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## murray83

Looks to be something similar to a hitch hiker.


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## BSDeality

i see big alum. loading ramps on the trailer. He takes the forklift off and unloads the truck if there isn't a forklift @ the delivery site.


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## DugHD

BNC. Nice old Hough! What did the mafia blocks go for if you dont mind saying. I gotta build something soon and i think those would be nice. doug


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## jcesar

Pretty cool. Please post pics when it is finished.


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## Vaughn Schultz

DugHD said:


> BNC. Nice old Hough! What did the mafia blocks go for if you don't mind saying. I gotta build something soon and i think those would be nice. doug


I paid $25.00 for each in the picture. Real nice, interlocking, heavy cable in it for moving. they are 2x2x6 and the are #4000 lbs

You can get the 4x4x4 for FREE but they are 10,000 lbs


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## kemmer

The blocks are cheap, the trucking isnt, you need to get the blocks off the truck as fast as possible bc the trucks time is still ticking. then it starts to add up. you know how many blocks you had and how much the total cost was?


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## DugHD

JUst called a local concrete company. They are $35.00 each here. SOunds cheap enough to me. Will get some this week.


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## KCAPXIS

I was given a rather large plow contract on Jan 10. ( low bidder was unable to produce,) then my phone rang I Had to const a salt bin ASAP in January, this was all we had time to build, worked out great!!! we are looking to move it 20' to the right & install a concrete floor,


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## NASConst_land

When we built our bin.. we didnt really have to build it. The truck had a lift on it and the guy set all of the blocks for us. I mean to the inch, he measured made it square and all. We went 3 high 4 deep and 4 across the back, made a pretty sweet bin. For the blocks it cost $35.00 a piece that was delivered and set. It was amazing, we told him he didnt have to set them, and he said he didnt mind just throw in some lunch money for him, so we gave him 50 bucks for the whole day that it took him to set the blocks. Not a bad deal. 

Ive talked to alot of guys that put their salt on concrete slabs, and they said they wish they had never spent the money to have concrete poured. I guess over a few yuears the concrete starts to bust apart and when they scoop salt the catch edges and stuff. My best idea would be to pave the area you plan to set salt on, should last a little longer i would imagine. Ours sits on the ground we just scoop about 4 inches off the ground stays away from rocks, yes we do loose salt due to the ground having moisture in it but hey.. you win some u lose some right.


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## Vaughn Schultz

kemmer said:


> The blocks are cheap, the trucking isnt, you need to get the blocks off the truck as fast as possible bc the trucks time is still ticking. then it starts to add up. you know how many blocks you had and how much the total cost was?


Blocks 300 (12)
Trucking 200

Total to date $500.00

TO be honest I could really use some more blocks, but BNC and I are going to mount some half inch treated ply wood to the sides to give it some more hight. This is not a permanent salt bin. This really isn't even are shop but we are renting this space because it is smack dab in the middle of a lots. Bolth other shops are about 15 min away and that 15 min can kill you when traffic is bad and your on the clock.


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## Vaughn Schultz

KCAPXIS Were did you get you canopy ? Thats is just what I am looking for. I have found alot of "car ports" that I think could work but prices are all over the board $300-$1800  Not really sure were to start. I need one 12x24


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## Jay brown

how do they cost $30 each? 4000 lbs of concrete is apx one yard. one yard of concrete cost apx $90 here delivered, plus the cost of the labor to form them up. we made our bin out of highyway dividers, they use apx one yard of concrete and cost around $300 each


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## KCAPXIS

*Garage in a box*

picked it up at B J s buyers club. Tractor Supply has the same ones, it was to be 12 X 24 but we only needed 12 X 18 at the time so we just did not install one section of framing and folded the tarp over the end, The Garage In A Box 12 x 24 was $299.oo

the area that this sits gets severe high winds!!!! I would of bet that it would not last the winter, but it is just fine, infact it will be used as is for at least the next plow season...

we used cargo straps to tie down the pipe frame to the blocks, works great...


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## Vaughn Schultz

Jay brown said:


> how do they cost $30 each? 4000 lbs of concrete is apx one yard. one yard of concrete cost apx $90 here delivered, plus the cost of the labor to form them up. we made our bin out of highyway dividers, they use apx one yard of concrete and cost around $300 each


The concrete companies make the blocks at the end of the day with that days left over mix


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## derekbroerse

Yeah its all the leftover scraps, so it could be a mixture of different PSI concrete, different colours, etc. Makes no difference to us though!

$90 a yard? I wish. We are paying about $225 a metre here... slightly larger than a yard...


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## Midwest BuildIt Inc

well heres one pic, my camera card is taking a crap so ill get more tomorrow


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## streetsurfin'

Would it be possible for you to reset them before you fill it with salt? Ask if you can get half blocks. You really should have the rear corners interlocked like you would build a brick wall and stagger your seams. The back wall will get pushed back too easily otherwise. The half blocks allow you to make a stronger wall. I don't mean to be critical of your project, but hope to save you some headaches.


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## Midwest BuildIt Inc

Well been really busy and had a snow storm to deal with, Here is the picture of the salt bin finished. You can not see it but the bottom of it was paved. We had about 42 tons of salt in it before the storm, we used about half of it..


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## Snoflo

BNC SERVICES;332532 said:


> Well been really busy and had a snow storm to deal with, Here is the picture of the salt bin finished. You can not see it but the bottom of it was paved. We had about 42 tons of salt in it before the storm, we used about half of it..


Hey BNC seems as if things are moving well for ya...If this worked here is our bin. There are 2 ways to go about this. One is to stack the blocks 3-4 high and the roof is about a $2,000.00 project. The other is to use 1-2 blocks high and search coverall systems on the net and they manufacture the canvass domes so you can mount domes on top of blocks and store much more salt. I think the domes are $4,000.00 on average.


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## Superior L & L

Snoflo;332961 said:


> Hey BNC seems as if things are moving well for ya...If this worked here is our bin. There are 2 ways to go about this. One is to stack the blocks 3-4 high and the roof is about a $2,000.00 project. The other is to use 1-2 blocks high and search coverall systems on the net and they manufacture the canvass domes so you can mount domes on top of blocks and store much more salt. I think the domes are $4,000.00 on average.


Now THATS a salt bin, looks great!


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## Midwest BuildIt Inc

Yea we are still working on some way to cover it , dealing with the tarps suck.


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## Snoflo

BNC SERVICES;333057 said:


> Yea we are still working on some way to cover it , dealing with the tarps suck.


Here is some more help for ya if you have any fabrication experience....I do not... however you can go to the local fence place and get the 1-1/2" fence posts galvanized...the ones that push together and make a temporary cover and then cover the structure with tarps until it is feasable to purchase the expensive systems.


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## DugHD

Got started on our salt bin this weekend.


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## DugHD

another pic


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## Midwest BuildIt Inc

nice lookin , did you cut those half blocks yourself. we couldnt get the half blocks here.


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## Superior L & L

BNC SERVICES;337276 said:


> nice lookin , did you cut those half blocks yourself. we couldnt get the half blocks here.


At the concrete plant down the road from us will give you the half blocks if your buying the full sized ones.


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## DugHD

No , our concrete company had them in 2' , 4' & 6' . We did have to cut off one of the tongues of one block with a cutoff saw.


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## Big Dog D

Nice job with staggering them and everything. Looks like you need one more to finish it. Are you going to cover it?


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## DugHD

Yes, i was short one block. I planned it all out on paper and knew just what i wanted. Now i just need to learn how to count.  Yes they are all staggered and interlocked in the corners. It is all level and squared on compacted ground. The blocks arent excactly cast perfect , but they are as good as i could get them. I think i will cover it with a A-frame type roof with brown metal roofing to match our shop which is right next to it. It isnt very big but should be able to get in 2 or 3 wheeler loads of salt.


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## Marbleman

The blocks look great! I would recommend adding some base material to the back of the wall and pitching it to the front. I would also ck into getting a price from a local greenhouse supplier on hoops and plastic. Easy to install, and inexpensive.


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