Irrigating Pastures someone answer please

[Herefordcross]

It's pretty dry here. I understand a pivot system, etc. I have a pond in very good proximity to several pastures. Does anyone manufacture large pedestal sprinklers that would run off of 3/4" water line and a pretty heavy pump. Thanks for your input in advance as I know I will get a lot of info.

 

[Herefordcross]

help

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

You would need a large lake to irrigate much pasture not just a pond. Then when all the water is gone in your pond what are the cattle going to drink?

 

[Herefordcross]

We have plenty of water, theres a natural spring into the pond it has never been dry in the past one hundred years, been in the family a very long time. Our pond has more water than a medium sized lake.

 

[dj]

http://www.nelsonirrigation.com/

 

[Herefordcross]

Thanks DJ that was pretty helpful although the sell a lot of heads and stuff like that I think I would need some assistance setting this up I'll call 'em monday. I just figured that there was somebody out there that made a complete spriknler that you could just plug n play.

 

[NorCalFarms]

Try googling K-Line irrigation. It is the closest thing I can think of to a "plug and play" setup. The other thing I can think of would be a hose reel drag 'big squirt'. The can cover a lot of ground and are good for temporary portable irrigation. There are lots of people that make impact sprinklers that will run off of a pressurized line, but the only thing I believe they are good for is cattle scratchers. Cows will ruin (in a hurry) almost any kind of sprinkler you put out there. Along with the power or fuel cost of irrigation, my advice is to lease some grass somewhere else if you can find it. Cost to irrigate your own grass compared to leasing are usually comparable, and without all the many, many, many headaches of irrigating.

 

[Herefordcross]

We rotational graze, so I could irrigate the field or fields that the cattle are not currently in.

 

[dj]

plug and play through a 3/4 inch line would be rainbirds sprinklers from your favorite home store.
I use these to water the barn lot. You can get them that have a t base to run in a series. As far as getting it from the pond to the sprinkler a jet(circulating) pump would work.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

As a retired Texas Licensed Irrigator, here are a few ideas for pasture (or large lawn acreage) irrigation:

• 
  1. A 3/4" water hose is bare minimum for a portable sprinkler unit up to 100' of hose.
  
  2. Stay away from the "mass merchandiser" line of sprinklers. Most of these (including "MM" major brand names) only deliver 3 to 6 GPM on the average, with only about 30' radius coverage on average with 25-35 psi pressure at the head.
  
  3. Portable sprinkler units in a pasture must be removed before cattle are turned in. Otherwise, cattle will trash the units as "playthings".
  
  4. Using a Rain Bird "Falcon" closed case gear-driven rotor with a #18 nozzle will deliver upto 18 GPM at 35 to 50 psi at the head for a 40 to 60' radius.
  
  5. The "MM" lines are best suitable for small area, homeowner type yards, not long-distance "pasture" type or large yard irrigation.
  
  6. You can see specs and purchase online quality high volume sprinkler heads (several brand names such as RainBird, Buckner, Nelson, Hunter, etc.) at http://www.Ewing1.com They take credit cards. You can also see in the specs of different heads what PSI is needed to deliver X GPM to X Distance.
  
  7. Expect to pay on average $25 to $75 per sprinkler head that will deliver the GPM and distance you need.
  
  8. If you are using pond, lake, or creek water, BE SURE to have a filter unit at inlet and preferably another one at pump outlet. Otherwise, particles and organics will clog sprinkler heads pronto.
  
  9. You'll probably need at a least a 2HP high pressure pump to deliver what you need to sprinklers out of a non-traditional water source. A 3 or 5HP pump would be even better.
  
  10. We have a manual for using alternate water sources, including using a storage tank with a system. You can E-Mail or PM me for how to get one.
  
  In conclusion, the costs of your water lines/hoses, pump, sprinkler heads, etc., will be your biggest expense. Electricity to pump water (220V pump) is not that prohibitive. For example, in our rural area with Co-Op electric company, we can run our 5HP 220V pump at 60 GPM rate for 8 to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for less than $200 a month.
  
  One of our pasture sprinkler photos:
  

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[dj]

3. Portable sprinkler units in a pasture must be removed before cattle are turned in. Otherwise, cattle will trash the units as "playthings".

:nod:

 

[AngusLimoX]

As a retired Texas Licensed Irrigator, here are a few ideas for pasture (or large lawn acreage) irrigation:

• 
  
  

• 
  
  Cool post Running Arrow Bill, helps me with something here too.
  
  Thank You.

 

[Gale Seddon]

RAB, I never knew there was such a thing as a "licensed irrigator." And it doesn't surprise me to hear that you are one! Very informative post, thank you!

I am thankful that it is raining as I type, although a nice chilly drizzle, and not a minute too soon. I promise not to complain about mud. We've had to water our garden occasionally, but there is still nothing quite like RAIN from Mother Nature, if you ask me.

 

[Texas PaPaw]

HC

Check with your local USDA NRCS office. They should have the resources to help design your system. IMO- the first thing would be to calculate how much water you have for irrigation. NRCS should be able to help with this. If my memory is correct it takes over 300,000 gallons to equal 1" of rain on just 1 acre.

Have heard good things about the K-Line systems. There is another similar system called LePod. Do a google search & you should find info.

I have irrigated land in W Texas & no irrigation in central Texas. In central Texas we have been in a drought for the last 12 months, yet the few who have irrigation in the area say they can't afford to run their pumps enough to replace the rain shortfall. IMO-irrigation creates about as many problems as it solves and is costly to install, operate & maintain. On small acreages the cost per acre is usually very high. Just my 2 cents worth.

Good luck & happy trails.

Brock

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

To add some more info and comment on some others comments:

Texas is one of a number of states that have a State Licensure law for people designing, repairing, installing landscape and other "non-agricultural" irrigation systems. This aside...

• 1. Here at Running Arrow we use two types of pen, paddock, and/or small pasture irrigation: (a) 1.5" Sch 40 PVC pipe on top of ground secured at fence rows with sprinkler heads spaced about every 60-75' (we are not trying to do "head to head" coverage, just "water to water" coverage). (b) Portable higher volume units we built to move as needed to water larger areas.
  
  2. The portable units we use heads (Rain Bird Falcons & Brass Impact) that put out 10 to 18 GPM each. We constructed an "H" base out of 2x4,6 lumber with double uprights to secure a verticle pipe onto which the head is attached. The "L" bottom part has a brass MPT X 3/4" Hose connector. We can run up to 5 of these units at one time with spray radius of 40-60'. We use 100' of 3/4" hose to each one which is serviced by freeze-proof faucets and in-ground ball valve connectors (water sources are spaced 200-300' apart).
  
  3. The fence row units are both impact (impulse) brass units that put out 5-8 GPM and we can run up to 12 of these at same time from an in-ground quick-coupler device attached to a 2" PVC mainline pipe in ground; and, Rain Bird Falcons (10-18 GPM).
  
  4. Even though we are pumping "clear, clean" water out of our well, with the 10's of thousands of gallons we pump each month, heads do occasionally clog with sand and have to be cleaned out.
  
  5. If one is able to connect a portable sprinkler to a 1" pipe with a 1" full port ball valve on it, you'll get the best results. "Regular 3/4" faucets" only have about a 3/8" opening which severly restricts water flow.
  
  6. There is no "canned" system for irrigation/sprinkling except the large expensive Center Pivot systems or the large reel rolling units. All the smaller scale units are built on site (heads purchased, of course) to suit one's situation.
  
  7. If one has a limited water supply, the next best option is to purchase a large "black" poly/fiberglas tank (3000-5000 gal), fill the tank, then use a 2+ HP pump to your sprinkler system until the tank empties, of course, being sure to shut the pump off when the tank empties to avoid ruining one's pump (you can get low water level switches to put inside the tank).
  
  8. It is NOT cost effective to run an irrigation system of any type off of city or co-op water. Private water sources are the only viable option. Private water source: GPM pumped output X 80-90% divided by number head GPM outputs = "safe" margin of error.
  
  9. Most sprinkler heads need minimum of 25 PSI at the head to operate the head properly; some require 35 PSI minimum. If you don't have enough pressure, then (a) reduce nozzle size, or(b) decrease number of heads, or (c) reduce length of hose supplying a given head. Again, 3/4" hose should be your minimum; better with 1" hose, but definitely more expensive.
  
  10. We figure about $100 for each portable unit: Wood "skid", PVC fittings, Sprinkler head, 75-100' 3/4" hose. (Take care of it and will last a long time).

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[Herefordcross]

Well, Running Arrow Bill, it is raining here. Dopler shows that it's not gonna be much but, better than nothing. Few more showers tonight and a few in the late morning tomorrow. I would like to see about 5 inches over the next two weeks. I wish you could be here to see some of the hayfields that are only 8" tall, but, these are the same guys that didn't want to "waste" any money on fertilizer or lime. We have already done a complete rotation of our place and I can hold out for a while but, we need it bad!

 

[cowgirl580+]

know i'm a little late (didn't have the images uploaded :roll: ), but here are a couple pics of what we use.

 

[NorCalFarms]

Cowgirl580+ -Just wondering how you keep the cattle from tearing up the wheelines? They always get to scratching on the movers and breaking the pipe right at the mover, bending wheels etc, at least for me anyway. 4" pipe is real bad, the 5" seems to hold up a little better, but I have quarter mile line that is in about 6 pieces right now.

 

[cowgirl580+]

Cowgirl580+ -Just wondering how you keep the cattle from tearing up the wheelines? They always get to scratching on the movers and breaking the pipe right at the mover, bending wheels etc, at least for me anyway. 4" pipe is real bad, the 5" seems to hold up a little better, but I have quarter mile line that is in about 6 pieces right now.

those pastures are only used for hay. we don't turn them in that area except for in winter, then we move the lines to edge of field and tie them together. haven't had any probs so far. (knock on wood).

 

[Dave]

I know a guy who grazes a field irrigated with a couple wheel line. He runs a temporary hot wire a few feet from the wheel line to keep the cows off it. He does IMG. He says you don't want the cows to have access to the wheel line or they will disassemble it for you.