Grain bin calculator: how many bushels will it hold?
Put in the bin diameter and sidewall height. This works out the bushels it holds, the tonnes of your crop, and what a peaked top or hopper bottom adds. A 24 foot bin with 20 foot sidewalls, for example, holds about 7,270 bushels levelled, or 7,949 with the grain peaked on top.
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Grain piles at roughly 20 to 30 degrees. Only used when peaked.
Only used with a hopper bottom.
Grain settles in tall bins, often a few percent. Leave at 0 if unsure.
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How bin capacity is worked out
A round bin is a cylinder, so the levelled volume is π × radius² × sidewall height. A 24 foot bin with 20 foot sidewalls holds 3.1416 × 12² × 20 = 9,048 cubic feet.
Bin capacity is quoted in US bushels of 1.2445 cubic feet, so that bin holds about 7,270 bushels levelled. Grain peaked at 25 degrees adds a cone on top, ⅓ × π × radius² × peak height, which is another 678 bushels here. A hopper bottom adds a cone underneath in the same way.
For the crop insurance production report, the bin tally measures every bin this way, with what you delivered, and totals them by crop and field.
Tonnes come from the crop's standard bushel weight. 7,270 bushels of wheat at 60 pounds is about 198 tonnes. Canola at 50 pounds fills the same space with fewer tonnes, which is why the same bin holds less canola by weight.
What the bins hold is half of knowing whether you can deliver what you sold: compare what is still owed on your contracts with what is in the bins. For another crop's bushel weight, see bushels to tonnes, by crop, and to weigh holding grain against selling it now, the store or sell calculator.
Hopper bin capacity chart
Common hopper bin sizes worked out the same way: the sidewall levelled, grain peaked at 25 degrees, and a 45 degree hopper cone underneath. In US bushels; tonnes are wheat at 60 pounds a bushel. A steeper or shallower hopper, or a different sidewall, changes the figure, so put your own bin in the calculator above, and trust your bin maker's chart where it differs.
| Diameter × sidewall | Sidewall, levelled | Peak adds | 45° hopper adds | Total, bu | Wheat, t |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 ft × 12 ft | 1,484 | 135 | 289 | 1,908 | 51.9 |
| 15 ft × 16 ft | 2,272 | 166 | 355 | 2,793 | 76.0 |
| 18 ft × 16 ft | 3,272 | 286 | 613 | 4,171 | 113.5 |
| 18 ft × 20 ft | 4,090 | 286 | 613 | 4,989 | 135.8 |
| 19 ft × 20 ft | 4,557 | 336 | 721 | 5,615 | 152.8 |
| 21 ft × 20 ft | 5,566 | 454 | 974 | 6,995 | 190.4 |
| 24 ft × 20 ft | 7,270 | 678 | 1,454 | 9,403 | 255.9 |
| 24 ft × 24 ft | 8,725 | 678 | 1,454 | 10,857 | 295.5 |
The hopper cone's height is half the diameter at 45 degrees, so it adds about twice what the peak does. A flat-floor bin of the same size holds the levelled and peak figures only.
Questions
How many bushels are in a 24 foot bin?
A 24 foot bin with 20 foot sidewalls holds about 7,270 bushels levelled at the eaves, and roughly 7,950 with grain peaked at 25 degrees. Taller sidewalls add about 364 bushels per foot.
Why does the same bin hold fewer tonnes of canola than wheat?
Bins are measured by volume. A bushel of canola weighs 50 pounds and a bushel of wheat 60, so the same space holds about a sixth less canola by weight.
What bushel does bin capacity use?
Bin capacity is quoted in US bushels of 1.2445 cubic feet. That is a volume measure, separate from the weight bushels used in grain contracts, which is why tonnes are worked out from each crop's bushel weight.
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Sources and method
Bushel: bin capacity uses the US volume bushel of 2,150.42 cubic inches, or 1.2445 cubic feet, not the weight bushels on a contract.
Volume: the sidewall is a cylinder; a peaked top or hopper bottom is a cone whose height comes from its angle. Grain settles and packs differently by crop and moisture, so the bin maker's chart takes precedence.
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