New farm... Finding livestock water lines across 126ac?

[plowhog]

I give the witch sticks 50/50. I see people who claim to be experts at it

I was a 100% skeptic disbeliever.

My father had his property witched, and they found a good spot for a well. I visited sometime thereafter and he asked me if I wanted to try it. 100% skeptical, I said sure.

It worked. I can't explain it, but on the exact spot where someone else decided for a well the rods moved 90 degrees. He didn't tell me where on the property it was, and just suggested I walk around. So I walked around for a while, nothing, nothing, then bingo.

I cannot explain it. And I still want to think it is a bunch of baloney .... except ...

 

[Fixastuff]

Yep, works it sometimes.

 

[Fixastuff]

Yep, works it sometimes.

What I'm trying to say is try it 100 times at a bunch of different locations and in my experience it's about 50% right. I put it 40,000ft pf conduit in a city that used that method/along with plans for locating. I cut many water lines with the plow that summer and wasn't billed for a single one because of improper marks.

I also see alot of electronic locator paint markers that are way off so maybe its not the sticks but the user.

 

[Dadnatron]

These are the known waterer locations. There are so many overgrown fencelines, I suspect there are a couple more that I've yet to find. I haven't really had full access to the farm in the beans areas as I'm still in the process of purchase and the current farmer has rights to crops.

I'm trying to decide a plan of action. Certainly digging up lines is an option. I believe, pretty strongly, these are connected to 'city water'. If I didn't have to pull lines again, at least as far as many of these are located, it'd be pretty nice for me and save me a lot of work. If I can connect to them and pull further, it'd be great. And I'd really like to learn this property, which part of the main structure is these lines.

 

[JethroB]

In some cases lines can be spotted by the change in grass color or growth, particularly when it’s very dry.

 

[Barry 1]

Go ask a neighbor who their water company is,then go ask the water company where their meter is located on your property.

 

[WinterDeere]

Go ask a neighbor who their water company is,then go ask the water company where their meter is located on your property.

Not always useful, if an older place. We were lucky enough to have a house where some of the water lines were on the city side of the meter, meaning they were not metered. I’m not sure what favors or kickbacks were involved in getting that arrangement, but it was all done in lead pipe, to give you an idea of the vintage.

Besides, even with meter, supply would likely go into house, before exiting again toward waterers.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I found out that I can do the "withching" with the L shaped metal rods. I have found several things in my yard I never knew existed, including a gas line and an underground telephone line, and lateral lines for my neighbor. I never really know what I'm finding; for instance it took me a while to realize the overhead lines reacted also.

Had an internet friend tell me it was a talent that only occurred in certain individuals, those with Jewish and American Indian heritage. I have been told I have both.

In any case, it's fun, and cheap.

 

[Dadnatron]

I found out that I can do the "withching" with the L shaped metal rods. I have found several things in my yard I never knew existed, including a gas line and an underground telephone line, and lateral lines for my neighbor. I never really know what I'm finding; for instance it took me a while to realize the overhead lines reacted also.

Had an internet friend tell me it was a talent that only occurred in certain individuals, those with Jewish and American Indian heritage. I have been told I have both.

In any case, it's fun, and cheap.

My Grandpa swore by witching with wires. I don't know his 'hit rate' as I think only one well was ever dug. But there was water there.

 

[oosik]

Is there a monthly or quarterly water bill. That would be one good starting point.

 

[Dadnatron]

I do know there is 'city water' to the place. However, I don't know that it is hooked up to the pastures, although I'm pretty sure it is. The issue is how to determine where lines are located across the farm, so I don't tear them up, dig through them, or put a post through them. Also, this will allow me to plan for future water needs better as well.

 

[arto98607]

I've had a Pipefinder II for a long time and it has worked very well and I have also helped couple of my neighbors!

Apparently all pipes, metal or plastic have a magnetic field, and can be found with this & little bit of practice.
It's easy to verify that with one of these, just throw few feet long piece of empty PVC pipe on the ground and see for yourself.

No idea how far underground it's effective, but 2 - 3 feet below surface has been no problem.

You can easily find these on eBay, Amazon etc.


PS.
No witchcraft involved.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I was a 100% skeptic disbeliever.

My father had his property witched, and they found a good spot for a well. I visited sometime thereafter and he asked me if I wanted to try it. 100% skeptical, I said sure.

It worked. I can't explain it, but on the exact spot where someone else decided for a well the rods moved 90 degrees. He didn't tell me where on the property it was, and just suggested I walk around. So I walked around for a while, nothing, nothing, then bingo.

I cannot explain it. And I still want to think it is a bunch of baloney .... except ...

Had a college prof. explain it. It's based on electric fields created by the pipe going thru the earths field. I use wires to find pipes. Dad said he had one of his wells located that way also.

 

[Fixastuff]

I know everyone's paw has done it to perfection but as someone who locates daily I've see them fail often. Here as this mornings "stuff" and my crew does this all day most days. There is a reason why every time the sticks are put to a real test they have failed.

 

[WinterDeere]

I found out that I can do the "withching" with the L shaped metal rods. I have found several things in my yard I never knew existed, including a gas line and an underground telephone line, and lateral lines for my neighbor. I never really know what I'm finding; for instance it took me a while to realize the overhead lines reacted also.

Yes, it is possible that a line with sufficient current flowing in it could pull a dowsing rod around. The trouble is, I strongly suspect the influence of your wrist not staying perfectly plumb to the earth exists a greater force than the magnetic field around most things like telephone wiring (small conductors / small current). The best chance of proving this works would be under high-tension lines, where the field strength is relatively high, and they're not buried in the earth (high attenuation per ft of soil).

But there's nothing I can imagine that would cause static water sitting in a pipe to pull on a dowsing rod. I think that science has been pretty much debunked, but I'll admit I've spent all of 20 seconds researching the subject. I'm no chemist, but I suppose it's (remotely) possible that water flowing in a pipe, high velocity and containing the usual minerals and ions, could create a small magnetic field. But buried in the earth and being very weak if any, again the tilt of your wrist will dominate any weak magnetic field/flux effect on the rods.

Electromagnetics is my field of work, albeit high frequency closed-structure stuff. I had to study free-space propagation for my degrees, but have never worked in the free space / antenna field.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Yes, it is possible that a line with sufficient current flowing in it could pull a dowsing rod around. The trouble is, I strongly suspect the influence of your wrist not staying perfectly plumb to the earth exists a greater force than the magnetic field around most things like telephone wiring (small conductors / small current). The best chance of proving this works would be under high-tension lines, where the field strength is relatively high, and they're not buried in the earth (high attenuation per ft of soil).

But there's nothing I can imagine that would cause static water sitting in a pipe to pull on a dowsing rod. I think that science has been pretty much debunked, but I'll admit I've spent all of 20 seconds researching the subject. I'm no chemist, but I suppose it's (remotely) possible that water flowing in a pipe, high velocity and containing the usual minerals and ions, could create a small magnetic field. But buried in the earth and being very weak if any, again the tilt of your wrist will dominate any weak magnetic field/flux effect on the rods.

Electromagnetics is my field of work, albeit high frequency closed-structure stuff. I had to study free-space propagation for my degrees, but have never worked in the free space / antenna field.

My background is in science (Biology and Chemistry) and law...I admittedly don't know how it works, but like the man said, maybe it depends on the person. I was amazed when I tried it; got hits in places that I still don't know what's there. I was also able to get the forked stick to work the one time I tried it.
I was able to find a covered man hole for my neighbor. Admittedly, I have only played with the rods, and my info is anecdotal, but I think it's real.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

There has been two instances when professionals located phone and electric lines, but were several feet off. In reality they were right where my trusty Pipe Finder indicated.

It doesn't matter if it's an old piece of barbed wire, an empty PVC pipe or one with water in it, or pretty much whatever. It'll indicate it.

Haven't dug a test hole yet to prove anything, but it also seems to be able to find water. There's one small area where nothing else should be, but the Pipe Finder claims there's something.

Coincidentally, that's also where some trees the prior owner had planted are growing nicely. Unlike most of the other ones.

 

[paulsharvey]

For finding water lines, or any buried utility, there is no substitute for a shovel, sweet, and some time. Witching is very iffy; and although I've personally had luck with it, there is too much voodoo to trust it. They say you have to have Indian or Gypsie blood to be able to do it. I've done it, and seen it work, but there is no actual logic to it; and the general thoughts are, you move the witching sticks yourself, subconscious, based on personal knowledge and minor clues.

 

[Fixastuff]

Don't forget to do the 90yr old shuffle walk if you want to be official with it.

 

[paulsharvey]

Don't forget, if you hold at the point the two locate flag wires cross, and stamp your left foot, the number of stamps before the locate wires uncross is your depth in Imperial feet. Witching doesn't work with metric