Farmers don't usually think of an old grain bin as an asset waiting to be unlocked. Most see it as a fixture from a different era of farming, standing empty most of the year except for a bit of overflow storage. Redstone Industries, the company behind Hoppercone, builds a case for looking at those bins differently.
Working With What's Already There
Every operation has at least one bin that doesn't pull its weight anymore. Maybe it's too small for modern combines to fill efficiently. Maybe the flat bottom means someone has to climb in with a shovel every time it needs emptying. Redstone's answer isn't to tear it down and start over. It's to retrofit it with a steel hopper bottom, welded or bolt-together, built to the bin's exact specifications.
That approach changes the math for farmers weighing storage upgrades. Instead of pouring a new foundation and erecting a bin from scratch, the existing structure gets a second life. The steel, the ring, the years of use already invested in that bin stay put. What changes is how grain moves in and out of it.
Solving Problems Farmers Live With Every Fall
Redstone built its hopper systems around a specific list of headaches: bins that sit unused, floors cracked from years of shoveling, grain spoiling because it can't move efficiently, and slow load-out during the busiest weeks of the season. Add in the safety risk of climbing into a bin to break up clogged grain, and it's clear why gravity-fed hoppers matter beyond convenience.
A hopper bottom lets grain flow out on its own. No shoveling. No entering the bin and breathing in dust. No standing over a slow trickle while a truck waits at the load-out. For farmers running tight schedules during harvest, that difference shows up in how many trucks get loaded per hour, not just in reduced labor.
Built for the Operation, Not Off a Shelf
Redstone works directly with farmers and millwrights rather than selling a one-size-fits-all product. Hoppers get customized to match the bin's dimensions and the farm's handling setup. The company also supplies hoppers for industrial applications outside of production agriculture, along with bin parts and accessories for operations maintaining existing systems.
Manufacturing happens in the Midwest, close to the farms that use the equipment. Redstone ships nationwide, so location isn't a barrier to upgrading a bin sitting in a field in another state.
Old Bin, New Purpose
The pitch here isn't complicated. A bin your grandfather set up decades ago doesn't have to sit half-used forever. With a hopper conversion, that same structure can hold more grain, empty faster and cut the physical risk that comes with manual unloading. It's a way to add capacity without adding a new bin site, and to fix inefficient grain flow without replacing equipment that still has years of service left in it.
For farms watching every dollar of capital investment, that's the appeal. Upgrading isn't about starting over. It's about getting more out of what's already standing in the yard.
Getting Started
Farmers interested in converting a flat-bottom bin or adding a hopper to new construction can request a quote directly through Redstone Industries. The company's team works with details specific to each bin, from diameter to existing structural condition, to build a hopper that fits the operation rather than forcing the operation to adapt to a standard part.
Visit hoppercone.com to request a quote or learn more about hopper bottom systems for grain bins.
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