They Tackle Tricky Silo Demolitions

They Tackle Tricky Silo Demolitions Top Down Silo of Sherburn, Minn., specializes in stave-by-stave silo removal in congested areas. “I’ve been tearing down silos for 20 years and saw the need to offer services to pull them down from the top,” says founder Carson Forsberg. “I started doing that about five years ago, then founded Top Down Silo in early 2023.” As silos age, they become liabilities. In fact, several counties in Minnesota no longer insure them. Top Down Silo has invested in specialized equipment to safely dismantle silos in crowded spaces. “We specialize in taking down silos that aren’t safe to tip over,” Forsberg says. “People usually take down silos like a tree, which is dangerous and unpredictable. We take off the roof first, then remove the silo brick by brick.” The Top Down Silo team has removed hundreds of silos from the top, demonstrating that it’s a safe and effective method for removing them without risking outbuildings or livestock. “We’ll take down anything,” Forsberg says. “I’d say 95% of the silos we remove are no longer used.”   Forsberg estimates his team takes down 60 silos annually, mainly in the spring and fall. “The average silo will take a two-man crew about two days,” he says. “Normally, we can reach a worksite within a couple of days, a couple of weeks at most. But we tackle emergencies in 24 hrs. We recently took down a silo that was on fire. That’s a true emergency; you really can’t put them out.” Pricing varies and is finalized before the project begins. The crew will manage every aspect of the job, including a complete site cleanup. This includes the option to remove staves or crush them into clean, usable aggregate. A 20-ft. by 60-ft. silo can yield 72 tons of crushed material, and Forsberg notes that about one in five customers chooses this option.  Top Down Silo currently operates throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. “But we’ll go anywhere,” Forsberg says. Contact the company by phone or email to schedule. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Top Down Silo (ph 507-236-9446; topdownsilo@outlook.com; www.topdownsilo.com).

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