Irrigation
- Thread starter 504RP
- Start date
Dave
Well-known member
Exactly what do you mean by a side wheel system? Lots of things have different regional names.
It looks like about a 6 or 8 inch diameter pipe irrigation line that stretches i guess 1500 foot. And has a wire spoke 5 or 6 foot diameter wheel perpendicular to the pipe every 100 foot or so. The pipe runs through the center of the wheels holding it around 3 foot off the ground. The irrigation line has sprinklers every 20 feet or so. And has what i think is called a mule ? ( some type of cart that moves the side wheel irrigation line across the field. I think it operates off water pressure to move the line.
They had the irrigation system I am trying to describe on one of the yellow stone episodes.
I have seen them used alot in Colorado and Utah.
They had the irrigation system I am trying to describe on one of the yellow stone episodes.
I have seen them used alot in Colorado and Utah.
Otha
Well-known member
Very common on coastal hay fields in central Texas. The ones we have use a gas motor that drives hydraulics to roll the whole thing. Usually moved twice a day.
Dave
Well-known member
Here in the PNW that is just called a wheel line. Lots of them around. The word side in there is what threw me. I don't have one here on this place but have used them in the past. A lot of my neighbors use them. As I sit here thinking about it almost every single one of my neighbors has at least one wheel line. I am lucky as I am 95% flood irrigated with one small area that gets irrigated with a hard hose reel. As my wife says wheel lines are nice but sometimes the motor doesn't want to start and are just a head ache.
![Pampers Sensitive Baby Wipes, Clinically Proven, Fragrance Free, Unscented, Water Based, Hypoallergenic, Multi-Use, Hand Wipes 336 Wipes Total (6X Flip-Top Packs) [Packaging May Vary]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41KLBHu9CAL._SL500_.jpg)
Dave
Well-known member
The wheel lines I have used were 4 inch pipe. I have never seen one with bigger pipe. A full length wheel line is is a Quarter mile long. Wheels are in the middle of every section of pipe (40 feet). Sprinkler heads are located at the pipe joints. As people started switching to center pivots there are few wheel lines in use. You can see them all over parked in corners and along fence rows. A person can buy used wheel lines real cheap all over the PNW. The biggest problem with buying one is they need to be disassembled (take the wheels off) to move. Then putting them back together with everything straight so the work correctly. In a pasture the cows like to rub on them (not good). In the winter the wind can move them (again not good). Anything that moves them can and will knock them out of line which becomes an issue.
Dave
Well-known member
There is a whole lot of variables in that to tell you the answer. How long of a wheel line? How long of a set time? Pressure is just as important. In fact more important to get it to operate correctly. You can have a volume pump that puts out a lot of gallons per minute but does not develop pressure and the water will just dribble out the sprinklers. That said on a quarter mile wheel line with a 24 hour set about 44 gallons per minute will give you 2 inches of water out the nozzles.
Otha
Well-known member
Also keep in mind you can change nozzle size in most sprinkles to get the needed pressure to operate if you’re a little short on gpm.
Do you have much experience useing a wheel line irrigation system ?
Otha
Well-known member
Some, we’ve moved towards the role up reels now. But I still move one for the people I work for occasionally. We recently sold 3/8 mile of wheel line that say in front of my dads house un-used for 20 years. They ran it for a solid 30years on peanuts before that.
Dave
Well-known member
The NRCS should have irrigation requirement for area. The states are broke down by county and crop requirements. That will tell you how much water you need. The answer will be in acre inches. An acre inch of water is 27,154 gallons. The well drillers I know test pump a well. They pump at a given rate for a given time and measure how much the water level drops in the well. As for using the pond. How much water does it hold and does it refill itself when pumped down.
I bought a 40 acre tract That had 4acre's in one corner that always is either has water scattered across the top and the rest boggy uear round. Even during month's of severe drought. That spot will be a bogg.
Was told by several land owners that joins that corner. That was an artesion well. Was told the original owner had driven a pipe in the ground there and ran it into a water tank for cattle. Said the tank would over flow year round.
Talked with a cousin to the original owner who is 78 years old that confirmed all the stories about the artesion well.
He also said a company looking for natural gas done some sizemech testing looking for gas on the 40 acre told them there was an under ground lake up hill of the bogg area.
I thought maybe the bogg was caused by shallow bed rock. Thought if the bed rock was deep enough i could build a pond and narrow the bogg down of even dry it up.
Bilt a 1/4 acre pond 10 foot deep filled up running over the spill way ever since it was bilt 2 days after it was doug. And it still stays wet every where it did before the pond was bilt.
I think there is a good possibility I might have a good enough water source to irrigate that 40 acres by either drilling an irrigation well or making the pond bigger.
But I don't know how to find out if the water or enough water is there to do it.
Alot of the bottom land farmers along the Arkansas river drill wells for irrigation. But 90 % of the time they hit water because of the river.
Was told by several land owners that joins that corner. That was an artesion well. Was told the original owner had driven a pipe in the ground there and ran it into a water tank for cattle. Said the tank would over flow year round.
Talked with a cousin to the original owner who is 78 years old that confirmed all the stories about the artesion well.
He also said a company looking for natural gas done some sizemech testing looking for gas on the 40 acre told them there was an under ground lake up hill of the bogg area.
I thought maybe the bogg was caused by shallow bed rock. Thought if the bed rock was deep enough i could build a pond and narrow the bogg down of even dry it up.
Bilt a 1/4 acre pond 10 foot deep filled up running over the spill way ever since it was bilt 2 days after it was doug. And it still stays wet every where it did before the pond was bilt.
I think there is a good possibility I might have a good enough water source to irrigate that 40 acres by either drilling an irrigation well or making the pond bigger.
But I don't know how to find out if the water or enough water is there to do it.
Alot of the bottom land farmers along the Arkansas river drill wells for irrigation. But 90 % of the time they hit water because of the river.
Thanks,
I could possibly pump the pond dry and get a ruff idea of how many gallons the pond holds. Then see how long it takes to refill and come up with a ruff estimate of how many gallons a minute it will flow ?
wbvs58
Well-known member
Sounds like you have a pretty handy water supply there. Do you have to have an irrigation licence to use that water over there. Here we have tight control over the use of water, probably because we are the driest continent on earth. Even if we have water like that on our land we can't use it without an irrigation licence and of course paying fees, stock use is OK. New licences are hard to obtain, often have to buy an existing licence from someone to utilise the water.
Ken
