MrBilly
Well-known member
http://cattletoday.com/photos/showphoto ... &ppuser=87
Click on the links to see the pictures.
http://cattletoday.com/photos/showphoto ... &ppuser=87
Having barely made it through last year's drought we could not take the risk of another bad year. In the winter we installed the K-line pod system on only 35 A to see if this is something we wanted to do. Well, we are glad we did since we are now in the third drought stage and most pastures are looking pretty bad and we are feeding hay to those cows on a farm without irrigation - this is May!!! We put it on one hay field and the rest is on pasture. The cattle love it, some of the calves really get into standing over the pods, drinking from them and licking the sprinklers until they unscrew them. There is a cattle guard to prevent this, but it happens so infrequently that we haven't considered installing them.
We selected K-line over other pod systems because the pods are one piece, are very sturdy and there was a dealer in a neighboring state.
There is a learning curve to pulling the pod lines but we have finally mastered it. It works well. The slow sprinkle does not lead to ponding or run off, the grass hasn't looked this good in years. The cost of irrigating for 12 hr per day has been under $6 per day so far. This puts on 0.8 inches of water per week. We use a single phase electric motor and pump to draw from a lake - we have a permit to draw much more water than we do - 142 gallons/min works for us. We have ten rises. The total cost , excluding running the electric was in the range of $45,000.
We are planning on adding another 35 A to the system, which will require a second 10 hp motor and pump.
For us it has been well worth the expense, considering we would be selling off the herd if we hadn't done this.
Billy
Click on the links to see the pictures.
http://cattletoday.com/photos/showphoto ... &ppuser=87
Having barely made it through last year's drought we could not take the risk of another bad year. In the winter we installed the K-line pod system on only 35 A to see if this is something we wanted to do. Well, we are glad we did since we are now in the third drought stage and most pastures are looking pretty bad and we are feeding hay to those cows on a farm without irrigation - this is May!!! We put it on one hay field and the rest is on pasture. The cattle love it, some of the calves really get into standing over the pods, drinking from them and licking the sprinklers until they unscrew them. There is a cattle guard to prevent this, but it happens so infrequently that we haven't considered installing them.
We selected K-line over other pod systems because the pods are one piece, are very sturdy and there was a dealer in a neighboring state.
There is a learning curve to pulling the pod lines but we have finally mastered it. It works well. The slow sprinkle does not lead to ponding or run off, the grass hasn't looked this good in years. The cost of irrigating for 12 hr per day has been under $6 per day so far. This puts on 0.8 inches of water per week. We use a single phase electric motor and pump to draw from a lake - we have a permit to draw much more water than we do - 142 gallons/min works for us. We have ten rises. The total cost , excluding running the electric was in the range of $45,000.
We are planning on adding another 35 A to the system, which will require a second 10 hp motor and pump.
For us it has been well worth the expense, considering we would be selling off the herd if we hadn't done this.
Billy
