Agricultural Tanks
GTA Flexible FabricAgricultural Tanks
Historically, flexible tanks have been used to hold fuel and water for military applications. With the development of lightweight chemical resistant fabrics these tanks are now available for liquid fertilizer, diesel fuel and irrigation water. GTA has built flexible tanks for over 25 years and today manufacture’s agricultural tanks in a modern, ISO-9000 registered factory in South Bend, IN.
White Poly-tanks made from polyethelyneare commonly used on farms to store liquids and these are cost effective up to about 5,000 gallons.GTA flexible fabric tanks are an economical alternativeto traditional poly-tanks above 10,000 gallons and can be manufactured up to 210,000-gallon capacities. The flexible tank can be left in place year round or folded and used on a seasonal basis. A quick payback is possible when farmers take advantage of “off season” pricing and bulk delivery of fertilizers.
GTA Flexible FabricTanks are made from polyester-reinforced fabric coated withsynthetic rubbers or other polymers. The fabric hasavery durable 600#/inch tensile strength and puncture resistance of 225#. GTA Tanks are durable enough that they may be walked on for inspections when empty or full. Fittings are aluminum; stainless steel or polyethylene andusually utilizecam-lock connections. GTA can provide a complete turn-key system that includes tanks, hoses, adaptors, manifold valves, pumps and breakaway connectors where road tankers are hooked to larger tanks.
GTA FabricTanks are normally less than 100 ft. in length and can be built to almost any length or width. A 3,000 gallon tank could be 14’ X 14’ and a 210,000 gallon tank could be 75’ X 75’. Secondary containment liners can also be specified and are supplied with drain hoses in outdoor applications where rainwater will collect. GTA Tanks may be placed in an excavated depression in the ground or in a walled area built with cinder blocks or similar. Fertilizer and diesel tanks generally require a contained system where a spill can potentially reach the ground water table. The volume of liquid in the GTA Tank is gauged from the tank height and flowmeters can be added for accurate dispensing.
GTA Trailer tanks can be attached to almost any flatbed trailersthat have stake-pockets. The Trailer Tanks design has been road tested to 55 mph and are extremely durable. GTA Trailer Tanks are generally 3,000 or 5,000 gallon and supplied with 3” webbing tie-downs, ratchet tie-downs and detailed instructions. GTA Tanks can be used with a spray for fertilizer, herbicide or water for dust control. They may also be used on the ground as static tanks. On trailers they can be gravity drained in less than 20 minutes and rolled up for storage in 10 minutes.
All GTA materials are produced in the USA. Custom order GTA Tanks can be built in 4-6 weeks.
Please contact us for a quick quote on your liquid fertilizer, diesel fuel, water tank or secondary containment needs. Contact our sales department at 574-288-3459 or email usat Sales@GTAcontainers.com
Articles from Farm Journal
A New Way To Store Liquid Fertilizer
Storing liquid fertilizer can be a hassle – and an expensive one at that. It bothered Bryan Corn enough that he began looking for an alternative way to store liquid fertilizer that didn’t involve erecting concrete silos and retaining walls. Corn is the operations manager for Indiana-based Wykoff Brothers Farm.
Just 20 miles away in South Bend, Ind., GTA Containers, Inc., was busy manufacturing rugged but mobile collapsible storage containers for a variety of military and industrial clients. The company creates fabrics using polyurethane PVC and nitrile or neoprene rubber coated with nylon or polyester. The resulting fabrics are durable enough to store relatively corrosive materials such as diesel fuel.
The other main advantage is size versatility. The company can build containers that hold between 3,000 and 210,000 gallons. Height determines how much pressure the fabric has to bear, Addicott explains, so the designs tend to be long and low – up to 100 feet long, but just a few feet high.
All of this led Addicott to believe there might be some useful applications in row crop agriculture. And that’s where Bryan and Jason Wykoff entered the picture.
"We talked to a few farmers about it, and Bryan and Jason were the first ones who took off and ran with it," Addicott says.
It was an easy concept to convince Corn, who actually had prior experience using similar types of containers.
"I spent 11 years in the military, so I’ve seen the ones that store diesel fuel," he says. "GTA did tests at their facility to see if it could bear the weight and corrosion of liquid fertilizer. It could, so we gave it a try."
The result was three custom-built storage containers, the largest of which tipped the scales at 130,000 gallon capacity. Corn selected an abandoned hog barn where he could store the containers out of the elements. When they arrived, it took 12 people to unfold the containers and get them installed. But after setup was complete, Corn says they began to see benefits almost immediately.
"We estimated a 25% or more increase in efficiency," he says. "Last year, we were having a lot of problems getting everything we needed in a timely manner. Now, we’re able to get up and running whether or not the coop is open or closed, and there’s no more waiting in line."
Addicott notes that storing the containers inside was probably a good idea – UV exposure is a primary factor that degrades the fabric’s lifespan.
"The military fuel and water tanks made from the same general construction, are used outside in some pretty brutal conditions," he says. "In Iraq, experience has shown that even with the extreme exposure to UV radiation tanks can last as long as 10 years. We expect fertilizer tanks to last five to 10 years outdoors and from eight to 15 years or more if located inside, such as is the case at Wykoff Farms."
The setup also includes a depression in the ground that is covered with a liner supplied by GTA. Drains are installed in the liner to remove rainwater.
For now, the converted hog barn is the ideal place for the containers, but their mobility presents a unique advantage should they ever need to move them.
Storing fertilizer is just one potential use of the containers in agriculture, Addicott says. He speculates that farmers could use them to blow in grain for storage, or hold onto large quantities of water for irrigation purposes.
"There are actually quite a few options possible," he says.