Pipe plow ideas

[gopher]

Has anyone built or know of a type of plow that would
hook on to the three point hitch. I have approx. 2500
feet of 2" pvc I want to install in the pastures and I
only want to dig it in to about 12 inches so all I need
to do is open a trench and I can place the pipe by
hand. I realize 2" sounds big for getting water to
pastures but this will also be used to irrigate some
trees.

[Eastcoaster]

In the process of building one now. Being so dam wet here (Nova Scotia) I haven't had the chance to actually bury any pipe with it yet, just did some dry runs with it to see how it actually well goes in the ground. It will go down about to near 30". Trying to get it to lay 2" perforated pipe for some drainage, nothing fancy about it, a 6" tubing frame geared up to fit on 3 point hitch. It has a cylinder on it to get the depth I am looking for. Maybe it would be possible to send you a picture of it if I had your email address?

[gopher]

Eastcoaster -- Thanks for the reply and I would be interested in seeing your unit.
I'm a little nervous about putting my e-mail address out there however if you did
take some pictures I would appreciate a couple. If possible they could be sent
regular mail to " Occupant" Box 25 Monarch, AB T0L 1M0. Please include your e-
mail address so I can contact you though the regular e-mail. Thanks.

[grassfarmer]

I would seriously consider leaving your pasture pipeline on the surface rather than shallow bury it. We have 3.5 miles of pipeline with most of it on the surface, the (original) buried stretches are a pain in the @#$%. We have a stretch still frozen now - going through a boggy area but luckily we were able to bypass it on the surface with 300 feet of extra pipe so the whole system is useable. The underground is nothing but trouble, never had a burst on the surface but plenty underground. Part of the problem is we don't blow the line out in the fall as we usually use it until it freezes up then pull the caps off. Even so laying it on the surface, under an electric fence line works great, the grass covers it over and keeps the water cool enough. We have never had any damage from coyotes or wildlife (they only chew bright colored plastic like gate handles and step in posts). Just dig the pipe in three inches underneath any gateways to keep traffic off it. The only disadvantage I see with surface pipe is it can't be claimed under AB farm water program.

[gopher]

Grassfarmer - I found your info interesting and
have some questions: If pvc pipe is exposed to the
weather and sun will it deteriorate over time? Also
what kind of pressure do you operate at as this line
will be tied into my main irrigation system that
operate at approx. 60 lbs pressure when pumping
otherwise I would have 20 lbs on a continuing basis
as our farm is tied into a pressurized line from the
irrigation company. If this surface line was at 60 lbs
would it have a tendency to move especially at the
corners? As for draining the line it wouldn't be a
problem because there is a slight down hill grade
all the way. Comments ??

[grassfarmer]

They say pvc deteriorates with weather and sun but if you are in a situation where it gets grassed over I think it will last just fine. You wouldn't want it lying on the pasture surface where cows or vehicles can damage it but if it's under a fence line it's not a problem. We aim to have ours around 60psi but I haven't checked what it's actually at recently. We use 75psi pipe and reckon 60psi is a safe working pressure that supplies enough water to the cattle. I've never seen the pipe move other than when you fire it up in the spring and it has air in it. Taking the end cap off a mile stretch for the first time once you've pressured it up in the spring can be a bit hairy - like a champaign bottle just watch where the cap is pointed! Usually blows a camlock cap about 25 yards.

[sundance]

If you go to this link, it will show a picture of a plow that The Special Areas Board has available to it's residents. I have put in around twenty miles with it. http://www.specialareas.ab.ca/shallow.html

[DiamondSCattleCo]

What we use out here for burying pipe is an old
horse drawn steel wheeled breaking plow. We put a
tractor hitch on it and a hydraulic cylinder to lift it.
If you don't have hydraulics available, a ratcheting
load binder would work just fine. It'll dig a line in
about 16 inches. I've seen those old one bottom
plows rotting away in farmers fields all over the
place and most would be happy to give it to you.

To save the kind of grief that grassfarmer is having
with freeze ups, just build a fitting that an air hose
can hook to and blow the line out before freeze up.
If its sealed at one end and open at the other, it'll
push enough water out that the line will stay open
all winter.

Rod

Rod

[grassfarmer]

I know that's the accepted theory Rod but how does it work in practice? I have always wondered how much water would be left in the pipe and whether it wouldn't just flow to the low points in the system and freeze anyway. The parts that freeze worst with me are in these low spots because they are boggy and usually have enough water in them to freeze really hard. Also how does an airline work on blowing out multiple interconnected lines or do you need to blow it out in sections?