GaryDG
Well-known member
I am considering the use of in-ground sprinklers that are on timers for part of our pasture. What approaches have others taken to prevent cattle from stepping into/onto the sprinkler head?
Thanks
Thanks
Automatic Pasture Sprinklers
- Thread starter GaryDG
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
bullred
Well-known member
Oh boy! Here we go! :shock:
GaryDG":106iz5yt said:
I've seen some pretty hefty ideas of protecting them in years past. The only 2 I saw that worked was one guy fenced them off so the cows couldn;t reach them the other was a guy that tore them out and went to a water cannon. Thw cannon was outside the fence
dun
Running Arrow Bill
Well-known member
We have pasture irrigation on about 8 of our "near" acres, with the smaller pens. Another several acres are watered using portable (homemade) sprinkler units on small skids, serviced by 3/4" hoses (100-125' maximum run to preserve PSI). We have freeze-proof faucets at all stock tanks and couple at midpoint of 2 alleys. Have some other water outlets in pastures below ground, with 1" ball valves on them with hose connections.
We also have several hundred feet of sprinkler lines on top of ground secured at fence row. Impulse sprinkler heads are spaced about 50-75' apart and screwed into T-fittings on the pipe. All of our water lines for pasture areas are 1.5" and 2.0" Sch 40 PVC.
The in-ground valves are secured inside of round 10" valve boxes with lids that one can drive over. No cattle have hurt any of these boxes.
We water the areas with portables when the cattle are not in that pasture. Then, rotate pastures.
Our portables are Rain Bird Falcons with #18 nozzles which put out between 10 and 15 GPM on a 40-60' radius. We also use prevailing winds to "stretch" water coverage downwind as needed. Our heads that are attached to the fence row piping are Rain Bird Impact rotors that put out around 5 - 8 GPM. We'll run any group of sprinklers 6 to 10 hours a day before starting the next group. You need at least 25 PSI of pressure at the sprinkler location to properly operate the sprinkler head.
Occasionally one or more of our cattle with scratch their heads or horns on one of the fence row sprinklers. To prevent their breaking the PVC T-Fitting, we use polyethlene and polypropalene threaded bushings and/or nipples that will break off when hit aggressively without damaging our PVC, making occasional weekly repairs easy.
We also have several hundred feet of sprinkler lines on top of ground secured at fence row. Impulse sprinkler heads are spaced about 50-75' apart and screwed into T-fittings on the pipe. All of our water lines for pasture areas are 1.5" and 2.0" Sch 40 PVC.
The in-ground valves are secured inside of round 10" valve boxes with lids that one can drive over. No cattle have hurt any of these boxes.
We water the areas with portables when the cattle are not in that pasture. Then, rotate pastures.
Our portables are Rain Bird Falcons with #18 nozzles which put out between 10 and 15 GPM on a 40-60' radius. We also use prevailing winds to "stretch" water coverage downwind as needed. Our heads that are attached to the fence row piping are Rain Bird Impact rotors that put out around 5 - 8 GPM. We'll run any group of sprinklers 6 to 10 hours a day before starting the next group. You need at least 25 PSI of pressure at the sprinkler location to properly operate the sprinkler head.
Occasionally one or more of our cattle with scratch their heads or horns on one of the fence row sprinklers. To prevent their breaking the PVC T-Fitting, we use polyethlene and polypropalene threaded bushings and/or nipples that will break off when hit aggressively without damaging our PVC, making occasional weekly repairs easy.
NorCalFarms
Well-known member
I have never seen pop up sprinklers in a pasture, and I can't imagine any of the ones I've seen standing up to the abuse of cattle. We have to irrigate all spring, summer, and fall so I have been around lots of different irrigation methods way more than I care too! :roll: If you have some you think might work I am all ears.
After learning the hard way WAY to many times, my conclusion is cattle will simply tear the hell out of anything. Pivots are about the only thing that does very good, only because they are too big to move, and everything they can chew, rub, get caught in, crap on, etc is tall and out of reach. Solid set sprinkers (aluminuim) aren't bad if you use the biggest, sturdiest sprinklers you can find, and don't mind if you pipe gets bent and you can put it back together (not hard, just takes time) every time you irrigate. Wheel lines (side rolls), HA! Cattle really enjoy rolling them around, getting heads stuck in the wheels and otherwise mangling them. They will rub on them all the time, and eventually you have scrap aluminium and a pile of broken sprinkler heads.
Now for the good news ;-) if you can irrigate one paddock while grazing another and can move everything out before you graze, almost anything would work. I have also seen small areas with buried sprinkers (Big like Rain Bird 80's) work really well (other than high installation costs) if a guy puts a tire around each head to protect it. Looks like heck but it works, I am not so pround I wouldn't do it! My own hope is that this K-Line stuff will be the ticket, affordable, portable, supposed to be cow proof, we will see. Looks like it might work, I would encourage you to check it out, I have enough to irrigate 20 acres or so on order. Check it out at http://www.k-linena.com/. Not sure where you are in OR, but I am guessing Ernst is your closest dealer, http://www.ernsthardware.com/stpaul_irrigation/ .
After learning the hard way WAY to many times, my conclusion is cattle will simply tear the hell out of anything. Pivots are about the only thing that does very good, only because they are too big to move, and everything they can chew, rub, get caught in, crap on, etc is tall and out of reach. Solid set sprinkers (aluminuim) aren't bad if you use the biggest, sturdiest sprinklers you can find, and don't mind if you pipe gets bent and you can put it back together (not hard, just takes time) every time you irrigate. Wheel lines (side rolls), HA! Cattle really enjoy rolling them around, getting heads stuck in the wheels and otherwise mangling them. They will rub on them all the time, and eventually you have scrap aluminium and a pile of broken sprinkler heads.
Now for the good news ;-) if you can irrigate one paddock while grazing another and can move everything out before you graze, almost anything would work. I have also seen small areas with buried sprinkers (Big like Rain Bird 80's) work really well (other than high installation costs) if a guy puts a tire around each head to protect it. Looks like heck but it works, I am not so pround I wouldn't do it! My own hope is that this K-Line stuff will be the ticket, affordable, portable, supposed to be cow proof, we will see. Looks like it might work, I would encourage you to check it out, I have enough to irrigate 20 acres or so on order. Check it out at http://www.k-linena.com/. Not sure where you are in OR, but I am guessing Ernst is your closest dealer, http://www.ernsthardware.com/stpaul_irrigation/ .
danthecattleman
Member
Go with a gun if you can...have tried different ways with buried sprinklers with the same unfortunate result.
MrBilly
Well-known member
I'd take a look at K line irrigation. I haven't used it, but if I go with irrigation this is what I will use. Look at the video on this site below. It can be used with cows in the pasture and is on top of the ground and relatively cheap compared to guns.
Billy
http://www.k-linena.com/
Billy
http://www.k-linena.com/
