Remote, battery-powered watering

[econometrics]

How were/are you filling a tank that's elevated? Do you just fill it remotely and then lift it up?

My neighbors have running water and are kind enough to let me fill my tank every once in a while. So, yes, I just lift it up off the stand by hand when it's empty, put it in the back of my JD Gator, drive it up to the neighbors and fill it, then pick it up out of the bed of the Gator with my tractor and lower it back down onto the stand. It gives me about 2 weeks of watering, so it's not too much hassel.

 

[newbury]

Our cousin took one of my IBC's for watering his watermelons last year during an extreme dry spell in Northeast Mississippi. He put it in the back of a beater truck and drove it down to the water source, then drove it uphill of the watermelon patch and drained it with soaker irrigation hoses. Saved his watermelons.

300 gallons gets rather heavy, about 2,400 lbs.

 

[yeagisyeag]

Jim, that is perfect! This is what I was looking to do, but didn't know where to start. Thank you!

How big is your tank, and how far are you watering?

I have a few 55 gallon plastic rain barrels at home that I will switch out when needed. I'll set the timer to open valve for 1/2 hour each morning. My thoughts on plumbing are: 1/2" pvc is cheap. After my garden is planted and weed fabric down, I'll dry fit the pvc with tee's, unions, caps to reach all. My garden is roughly 50' by 25'. Then drill small holes at each plant, or a few down a row. At the end of the season, I can break down the pipes and store them until next year, just put some caulk in the holes.

The timer and valve aren't weather resistant, so I've got a cheap lidded plastic container from the dollar store that I can hole up to keep them dry.

For filling, I was just going to swap out barrels, but I do have the old 12 volt pump from my camper that had a bad pressure switch. This would probably do fine running on the tractor battery.

Any suggestions are welcome, mind you this is just an idea and will be adjusted as the real world dictates. It'll at least be better than the previous years, when I watered from a 7 gallon bucket once/week!