Dry my pastures out

[riptides]

Well observation and close inspection says I have standing water in some of my fields. It has been raining a bit this year, I am not sure if this standing water is the norm or not.

I prefer dry pastures, or at least pastures that move the water to water.

What can I do to dry my pastures out?

What did the old farmers use to dry them out? Did they not use a tile? How did they get it in ground?

Ideas?
-Mike Z.

 

[goaliedad]

More info please- is there any place to cut a ditch to? If you tile the ground you need to have the tile run somewhere- a ditch? or to a lift pump, then to somewhere.

Alot of farm ground around my home town was tiled- they have machines that cut the trench, place the tile and then they back fill. You can do it by hand or back hoe as well, but you have to have the proper slope to the tile, no low or high spots and such.

What is your ground- clay, sandy, what?

inquiring minds want to know....

 

[LBrown59]

Well observation and close inspection says I have standing water in some of my fields. It has been raining a bit this year, I am not sure if this standing water is the norm or not.

I prefer dry pastures, or at least pastures that move the water to water.

What can I do to dry my pastures out?

What did the old farmers use to dry them out? Did they not use a tile? How did they get it in ground?

Ideas?
-Mike Z.

Good Questions

 

[RodgerF]

Mike,

We just did this on my uncle's farm this past summer. We used my backhoe and ran the trenches to a small stream. We used the black perforated pipe.

The fields had been trenched probably back in the 20's or 30's. They had used a clay tile and more than likely dug by hand. We found some that ran a considerable distance. That backhoe is the best money I ever spent.

Rodger

 

[JoeL4330]

Mike,
I have read about an old technique like tiling, but without the "tile" ...an implement was pulled through the ground to create underground voids or channels ...the implement was a relatively thin blade with a torpedo shape at the bottom end (think of a subsoiler but with a streamlined business end)...once it entered the ground and was pulled along, a little tunnel was formed subsurface and the slit to the surface healed itself ...took a lot of power ...some times pulled by a drag line from a stationary engine at edge of field if the area would not support a tractor ...the "torpedo" compressed earth around its "bow wave" and left the tunnel with compressed earth sides in its "wake" ...much like horizontal compression boring

 

[LBrown59]

Mike,

We just did this on my uncle's farm this past summer. We used my backhoe and ran the trenches to a small stream. We used the black perforated pipe.

The fields had been trenched probably back in the 20's or 30's. They had used a clay tile and more than likely dug by hand. We found some that ran a considerable distance. That backhoe is the best money I ever spent.

Rodger

Right On

 

[riptides]

More info please....

Have creek with ample room for drainage to run water to.
Ground is muddy right now, good soil, little clay. Just poor drainage.

...backhoe....

No more money, no backhoe, was thinking of a ditchwitch, perhaps w/e rental. Used one before, walkbehind type. Worked better than anticipated. May need to wait until full summer though.

...torpedo...

Cool. I'll need to ask around.

Thanks all.
-Mike Z.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Have creek with ample room for drainage to run water to.
Ground is muddy right now, good soil, little clay. Just poor drainage.



No more money, no backhoe, was thinking of a ditchwitch, perhaps w/e rental. Used one before, walkbehind type. Worked better than anticipated. May need to wait until full summer though.



Cool. I'll need to ask around.

Thanks all.
-Mike Z.

What sort of soil are we dealing with? What's under it? (i.e. shale? slate? limestone?) How compacted are the pastures?

Drainage will help. Getting water to go through the soil helps too. Chisel plow or subsoilers can make a huge difference in soil structure.

 

[riptides]

What sort of soil are we dealing with? What's under it? (i.e. shale? slate? limestone?) How compacted are the pastures?

Drainage will help. Getting water to go through the soil helps too. Chisel plow or subsoilers can make a huge difference in soil structure.

I don't know dirt.

My equipment is leaving ruts that fill with water. I stand in it long enough I sink a foot. I doubt it is compact, because it is muddy as all hades.

Only a few areas actually don't move the water to the creek, they get boggy now. Last summer, no problems, this summer, wet, and now, mud pits. I guess I have to go dig up a spot.


TIA
-Mike Z.

 

[HappyCPE]

Be careful, Riptides. You might have protected wetlands there, and drying them out would run afoul of the DEP, or whatever agency you have in Virginia. At least, that's the case in NJ.

 

[Highbeam]

"I have read about an old technique like tiling, but without the "tile" ...an implement was pulled through the ground to create underground voids or channels ...the implement was a relatively thin blade with a torpedo shape at the bottom end (think of a subsoiler but with a streamlined business end)...once it entered the ground and was pulled along, a little tunnel was formed subsurface and the slit to the surface healed itself ...took a lot of power ...some times pulled by a drag line from a stationary engine at edge of field if the area would not support a tractor ...the "torpedo" compressed earth around its "bow wave" and left the tunnel with compressed earth sides in its "wake" ...much like horizontal compression boring"

That's called a mole plow. Pretty cool but a rare bird.

I bought a subsoiler and ran a series of parallel rows running down the gentle slope to perhaps allow drainage. Of course I also worked the surface to slope the ground towards a ditch. This winter is the first test of the grade and subsoil technique. A subsoiler sure tears up the ground and makes a mess.

 

[Doc_Bob]

What can I do to dry my pastures out?

What did the old farmers use to dry them out? Did they not use a tile? How did they get it in ground?

-Mike Z.

Be discreet, don't advertise what you are doing to avoid running into trouble with the DNR in your state. Being honest with the State or County or City on your plans can sometimes lead to so much regulatory grief you will regret being nice and honest.
Bob

 

[MarkV]

If the contour of the land would support it, how about cutting in a swale to direct water to the stream. Here a swale would be a wide shallow ditch with very gently sloping sides so it would not interfere with mowing.

MarkV

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm with Mark. I will always cut a wide drainage ditch first. It's foolproof and one hundred percent effective.

The downside is you have to spend lots and lots of time on a tractor. hahaha

Eddie

 

[JimR]

As stated by Happy, make sure you know what you are doing legally before you do it. Being discreet and sneaky like my neighbors did when they drained their wetlands is going to cost them a small fortune. Not to mention our lawsuit against them for dumping their water onto our land, destruction of our culvert and washed out land areas. Be forewarned, draining water can and will cost you if you are in a wetlands area, drain the water illegally, or onto anothers property. That also includes increasing the flow of water into a brook or stream which can lead to flooding dowstream from your place. Silt and soil runoff from your project will be another main issue if any Government Dept's get involved. The DEP looked at my neighbors pipes recently and said that there was no signs of silt runoff after the neighbors and I complained of brown water flowing into the pond down the street which leads to a drinking water reservoir. I took pictures of the water leaving the pipes from the neigbors property during the last rain storm a week ago. It was nice and brown. Those pictures were forwarded to all concerned parties, DEP, DCR, Con Com, Water works, Board of Health and a few others.