Oh,the joys.....

DeltaRed · Aug 13, 2016

.......of gated pipe. So much easier(and faster) than the 'old' open ditches.

Thought you 'nonirrigators' would like to see how we do it.

kub6040 · Aug 13, 2016

Steve , if you move to the south you wouldn't need any irrigation , you would be trying to figure out how to get rid of water. LOL. Farmers here use a plastic pipe that lays flat when not in use and can be rolled up , not pvc, but about a 40 mill plastic sheet.

DeltaRed · Aug 13, 2016

We have the same stuff here too. We call it "poly pipe" or 'NuFlex' tubing.Kind of a disposeable,or a poor mans gated pipe.Suposed to be used for a year,then thrown away.I've even used some from time to time. I once got 3 years out of some once. Kind of a pain to set up though.

Bruce from Can. · Aug 13, 2016

Delta , you have done a lot of digging with that shovel to wear it down like that.All the shovels I have ever seen on the back of township trucks have perfect round , almost pointed tips . Your irrigation system is always interesting to me. No pumps or fancy over head plumbing . Just water , gravity, hard work and know how.

Dopp Creek · Aug 13, 2016

I could never start a siphon tube. I think I could manage those gates. Do you do them by hand or have a tool so you don't bend over, and over, and over.

FBH44 · Aug 13, 2016

Always like to see other methods of irrigating. We use Drip-In tubing, goes drip-drip-drip every 2 feet, over several acres of berries, runs off the old farm well my grandpap drilled a hundred years ago. Takes a few hours, works pretty good.

CenTex Farmall · Aug 13, 2016

In photo 2 is that Grand Mesa in the background?

Dr. Walt · Aug 13, 2016

Steve, where do you buy 'gated' pipe; or do you just buy regular PVC pipe, drill the holes and put in the gates yourself ?

Doc

Eagle Beagle · Aug 13, 2016

Hey Red, got any 6 inch tubes laying around that you can take a picture of. Lots of fun watching the city kids try to start those!! I'll bet they never knew what that rubber playground ball was for rolling around in the back of the pickup.
Dad always cut the legs off of old jeans and tied them around the end of the tube with twine. Get it wet and full and pull it over.

Beagle

John(OR) · Aug 13, 2016

I sure liked when we went to siphon tubes, after shoveling a lot of ditch with the old feeder ditch system, I got where I could set tubes about as fast as I could walk. Those pictures sure brought back some memories, thanks!

s,mac · Aug 13, 2016

My dad used a small football to start 3" pipes. Steve

DeltaRed · Aug 13, 2016

Sorry,no 6" tubes here. We usually use a chunk of inner tube to start. tie one end of a 12 to 18" or so on the end.

DeltaRed · Aug 13, 2016

We buy the pipe as 'gated pipe' the holes are there already. We buy the gates separately.

DeltaRed · Aug 13, 2016

Photo 3(dirt ditch) is GrandMesa

DeltaRed · Aug 13, 2016

I walk beside and use my shovel to tap open or closed. Some guys use a golf club(putter),others use a garden hoe.

DeltaRed · Aug 13, 2016

That is the third(I think) shovel I've worn down in my 40+ year career. It's about time for the fourth.LOL.This one is getting thin and starting to crack/split and roll the edge. I go buy a cheap shovel.Trim to size with the 'fireaxe'. Then clean and sharpen with a grinder. It will be sharp enough to 'shave' with.

Lazy WP · Aug 13, 2016

I hated gated pipe when we first went to it. I think Dad only bought 10 joints, so you had to move pipe every other day. Later I cut a lot of holes in the old 6 inch main line with a router to make it gated. Probably why I can't hear now.
I enjoyed siphon tubes as long as you didn't have a neighbor with a Saint Bernard dog that like to lay in the ditch.

dmiller · Aug 13, 2016

I do a bit of flood irrigating. I always thought they called them dams (damns) for a reason. Sure beats having the crop burn up when there's no rain though.

CenTex Farmall · Aug 13, 2016

Ok, now I see the slope behind the trees.

caterpillar guy · Aug 13, 2016

I have never done it, though I have been involved with it. We cut a lot of sprinkler,handline and corrugated. In ID if you hit the handline laying there you owned that section.
I was told a guy working handline would walk about 30 miles per day doing the change.

Erik Ks farmer · Aug 14, 2016

How are your soybeans doing Steve?

Oh,the joys.....

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