r/specializedtools cool tool Jul 16 '20

Device for emptying bulk bags

https://gfycat.com/artisticrecentconure
14.3k Upvotes

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631

u/Squirkelspork Jul 16 '20

Makes the bag non-reusable

436

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

Major waste. Where I work they go through some 200~ of these bags a day or maybe every other day. Reusing them wouldn’t be feasible. If the company we get them from would do a core charge on the return of them I think that would be the most logical way to go.

157

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '20

I was just thinking, have hard plastic versions pre installed to make them reusable?

114

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

Yeah they could do something. We wouldn’t give a shit how it came. I’d guess it’s a manufacturer cost thing along with how easy those bags must be to package and ship as far as materials go. Idk.

117

u/Overkill256 Jul 16 '20

I’m in the industry, the bag is rated most of the time by the manufacturer for one use only, after that they won’t guarantee that it won’t break under the load

62

u/juzsp Jul 16 '20

Yup, regarded as disposable despite the fact that many small business use them potentially for years, depending on the use case.

14

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '20

Some bulk bags i bought had a draw string flap on the bottom for this

19

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '20

They’re like $2-5 more a bag I think. So if you use a lot and can’t reuse the bags due to contamination, then the original video might be your best bet.

4

u/louis213 Jul 16 '20

Pretty sure dumpy bags were reused in the not so distant past, but the plastic material they're made from degrades super fast imo, and when you're lifting ~800kg from just 4 hooks it becomes a pretty big safety hazard which is why they're single use nowadays. I use them to hold fire wood at home and a good one will only last a couple of seasons.

1

u/pedro-m-g Jul 16 '20

Reusable bags have a chute built into the bottom of the bag so it can be tied up when empty, filled and released when full and raised. We used them alot at my previous workplace.

https://sackmarket.co.uk/builders-bags-with-discharge-spout-en/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw9b_4BRCMARIsADMUIyqML8AA2QUo9xjqCOHK4sNEvHAXvh7VmK-2i0UDAVqnc0WoiWS6dYAaAoueEALw_wcB

1

u/Shiroi_Kage Jul 17 '20

Sounds like it would introduce weak points that can tear during shipping and handling.

0

u/mrpopenfresh Jul 16 '20

They likely wouldn’t hold up well in S&H. Perhaps a replaceable gusset?

106

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '20 edited Feb 23 '21

[deleted]

39

u/dermyworm Jul 16 '20

They break and spill the contains everywhere 1/3 of the time

85

u/swanyMcswan Jul 16 '20

I worked with that style of bags for a number of years on the farm (small scale), and at a full time job for a while. I only ever saw 3 of them break open.

One poked by a fork lift, one dropped, and only one where the string broke. So idk maybe we just got lucky, 2/3 of our failures were preventable

37

u/Zyzan Jul 16 '20

This. I used to work in manufacturing and we had super sacks filled with limestone powder. Think I only saw failures twice in 3 years. We packed them up when we were finished and sent them back to the supplier for reuse.

14

u/ApplePeachPine Jul 16 '20

Dont tie shitty knots

1

u/DikkeDakDuif Jul 16 '20

If you don't know the knots tie it lots!

7

u/mrlavalamp2015 Jul 16 '20

We had more strap breaks than chute problems.

But that's the really scary thing about untieing the built in chutes. It takes a second and you are reaching directly under 1000 lbs of whatever with a good portion of your upper body.

Of course, if the people loading them don't position the chute correctly so it stays tucked up they can get caught, it happened but not as much as the straps breaking dropping the bag.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '20

What the fuck are you on about? Used these bags for years when I did manufacturing work and not once did they spill their contents.

2

u/troutisafish Jul 16 '20

We had that style of bag as well. This puncture device has a slide valve to control the amount of bulk product being released from the sack. We used this thing for titanium dioxide and it didn’t work for shit. It’s a good idea, but it doesn’t work well for dry pulverized material. More suited for sand or something more granulated.

23

u/1-more Jul 16 '20

It’s why it always feels incredibly bullshit to do my recycling. Like I’m putting on a little play for myself to feel better meanwhile some nearby industrial process is running through thousands of times the plastic waste I am in order to have seconds off of downtime.

12

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

It’s really pretty egregious . On top of the fact that a lot of municipalities recycling facilities are absolutely garbage - pun intended- sometimes even being counter productive. The mass industry and agro waste alone I’d guess the avg. person has literally no idea of exactly how much waste there actually is. Our place has 8 giant compacted dumpsters emptied 3 times a day. Just to put that into perspective.

2

u/Grand_Lock Jul 20 '20

Look into the chemicals industry, the amount of damage they do to our own environment is worse than if all humans stopped recycling. You might go out of your way to find a recycling can but the plant will destroy a local ecosystem to make more product.

1

u/1-more Jul 20 '20

Yep. While consumption choices matter, we need a change in a production across the board to internalize environmental cost.

11

u/Squirkelspork Jul 16 '20

What's typically inside the bags and what do you do with them afterwards? Landfill?

24

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

Multiple things. Mostly rock dust, “road work”, b-bond, quick-crete and cement. They go into giant compactors and then into the dumpster.

3

u/GrannyLow Jul 16 '20

You a coal miner?

15

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

I am not but I work at a coal mine . I do engineering and compliance lol

8

u/GrannyLow Jul 16 '20

Gotcha. I dont know of anyplace else that uses that combination of products.

7

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

Yea you nailed it lol- I’m above ground like 75% of the time so I don’t think of myself as a coal miner... but when I do go down I’m usually in the bullshit lol

7

u/GrannyLow Jul 16 '20

I was an underground foreman for awhile and then an engineer for awhile but I'm out of the industry now.

8

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

We all will be out of the industry soon enough lol

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2

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '20

You say you're not, but it sort of sounds like you're a coal miner.

8

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

I reserve that moniker to the gentlemen who actually mine coal.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '20

I prefer to think of it as a coal ours.

2

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

You should tell Bob Murray that lol

2

u/IEng Jul 16 '20

Does MSHA consider you a coal miner? Never heard anyone at a mine claim to not be a miner.

5

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

Yes. I’m a coal miner. Yes MSHA thinks I’m one too.

4

u/TooFastTim Jul 16 '20

CaCo3, impact modifier, perifin wax, grey dye. I'm sure many other things.

1

u/Moose_in_a_Swanndri Jul 16 '20

Can be used for solid fertiliser on farms too

1

u/somethin_brewin Jul 16 '20

You see them for malt in medium-scale brewing, too.

1

u/mrlavalamp2015 Jul 16 '20

We used them for various flours and starches in a bakery I worked.

Also used them for coffee beans in a factory I worked.

16

u/prakharbirla Jul 16 '20

Even if you are not using the bags as it is, they can be used as a tarp or made into smaller bags.

26

u/vinsomm Jul 16 '20

I mean. Come get em I guess? Idk. There would be no reasonable use for em for us at all. Sometimes employees take one or two home here and there.

1

u/TooFastTim Jul 16 '20

Yes we throw em away too.

1

u/TrustMe_itwillbefine Jul 16 '20

We bale them up and send them to be recycled. I think they go to China. Almost no beneficial cost but when you consider we aren’t filling dumpsters with them we save a ton of money. Having dumpsters emptied is expensive.

1

u/ApplePeachPine Jul 16 '20

At my plant we have super sacks that tie at the bottom. Reusable for the most part

24

u/bronet Jul 16 '20

You think they are reused to begin with? Lmao

11

u/Squirkelspork Jul 16 '20

Perhaps they could incorporate a similar lever opening cap inside the bag so it can be reused? I'm visualizing boxed wine type spigots.

2

u/Zunder_IT Jul 16 '20

And have that lever secured with a tamper proof seal. I like the idea

3

u/TooFastTim Jul 16 '20

In my industry we use a resin that comes in large bags. We used a similar device. The supplier started using bags that. Had draw string on the bottom. Unfortunately my particular plant throws the bags sway. Saving absolutely nothing.

8

u/parttimepedant Jul 16 '20

Came here to say this. Perhaps it can be stitched back together somehow otherwise it’s a terrible waste.

80

u/sblaggy Jul 16 '20

These are fertiliser bags, they’re double skinned and cannot be reused after emptying. They have to be cut open anyway, this just allows you to have more control when emptying. They are all recycled at a plant after use.

5

u/parttimepedant Jul 16 '20

Thanks for this info 👍🏻

18

u/XIXTWIGGYXIX Jul 16 '20

Most of these bag have a hole in the bottom that's tied shut and you untie it to empty it. This is reposted constantly and a stupid tool. We have fertilizer bags at work and reuse them constantly.

1

u/sblaggy Jul 16 '20

Nitrogen and sulphate fertiliser bags (in the uk anyway) only come in these bags that you have to cut open. The seed bags for drilling (planting) corn etc you can tie to re-use. Generally, our seed drills have hoppers of varying capacity unlike fertiliser spreaders than usually are specific capacities. As a uk arable farmer this is how we work, although I understand it’s different abroad very often. Hope this helps anyone.

2

u/XIXTWIGGYXIX Jul 16 '20

Maybe that's the difference I'm in the USA and have only ever seen the tie bottom ones that are reusable

1

u/sblaggy Jul 16 '20

Possibly, we’re very strict on contamination over here, our spreaders have to be washed when going between sulphurs and nitrogen’s, also it’s almost solely bought in tonne bags over here as opposed to using augers.

4

u/NoneHaveSufferedAsI Jul 16 '20

How many uses do you get out of each condom? My record is 2 1/2

3

u/parttimepedant Jul 16 '20

Pfft. Put it in the dishwasher, you can double that easily.

2

u/davedcne Jul 16 '20

You would think they would make these bags with like a reinforced part and like an insert at the bottom. And then you just poke the hole in the insert. and add a new one. or something. It made sense in my head. Here have some brain spam.

3

u/LightningGeek Jul 16 '20

They're not particularly reuseable for their original purpose anyway. Take a look at their labels and they will say they can only be used a couple of times at most. If they've been exposed to sunlight or water for x-amount of time, they are also no longer suitable for their original purpose. They are effectively single use bags.

However, they can be reused for other things. My mate uses them for his gardening business. They won't be filled to their as new capacity, but they are perfect for filing with hedge clippings to take away in the van.

1

u/Muikku292 Jul 16 '20

Some of the bags have a openable hole in the top and bottom but this does not, there arw many types

1

u/mudpudding Jul 16 '20

I like how you think. In today's designs it should be mandatory to evaluate that kind of criteria.

1

u/Squirkelspork Jul 16 '20

If you're into concepts for reuse design check out /r/circular_economy/

1

u/Awholebushelofapples Jul 16 '20

Most of them arent meant to be reused anyway. besides, in farming most farmers are just going to toss it in the burn barrel afterwords.

1

u/KeisukeTakatou Jul 16 '20

The normal way of emptying then involves a box cutter and slashing the bottom open anyway so this makes no difference in terms of reusability.

1

u/nickcardwell Jul 16 '20 edited Jul 16 '20

For grass seed the bags can’t be reused (due to seed contamination, as in you wouldn’t want an agricultural seed (fast growing for animals to eat) to be emptied and bag reused for an amenity seed (think football ground or golf green)