Trench Digging

We had been using aluminum 2 inch aluminum pipe for our irrigation line that fills stock tanks and waters the garden and lawn. The years have taken their toll on the line, and I do mean years, these pipes came with the farm when we purchased it in 1978, and they had more than a decade wear on them at that time. There has been a lot of repairs over the years from frozen water busting open long slices to cows that have trampled, flattened or bent the pipes into irregular shapes. The pipe had finally been too ‘holey’ and worn to fix any more.

Since we had moved the main herd across the field and river to the far acreage and out of our way, this would be the perfect time to replace all the warn, patched, and broken line. But when Mike went in to purchase replacement pipe we were informed that the 2 inch size isn’t manufactured any more and would we like to re-plumb the pump so a different size would fit. We really didn’t want or need to go to larger pipe, the pump we had is only a few years old and would not be strong enough to draw more water than the 2 inch pipe.

We opted for PVC plastic and while we were at it decided to bury the line where it runs through the grazing area. Underground solves two problems. The insulation of dirt over the pipe should keep the pipes from freezing in winter where we had to pick up the irrigation each autumn and replace it in the spring. And the cows could not stomp the pipes into irregular shapes.

The field is not without its hazards,  the land is not flat and there are remnants of several old growth stumps that lay below ground. We will not know how much of the root systems are still intact until we start to dig them out.

Mike has a big job to do to get a trench dug so the pipe can be put down along 200 feet of field. And when I say not flat, this picture gives you an idea. Just past the large elderberry tree is the top of the cage where Mike sits on his 450 C bulldozer. Yes, this is the logging caterpillar that we use in the forest. The stumps and roots were rotten enough to break into chunks, any of the pieces that weighed more than 100 lbs. were rolled over by the bank to assist in erosion control. With the known roots out of the way, the trenching began.

Mike is the master of tiptoe-ing through the forest and this trench had him working on his tipping  without tipping over skills. He angled blade on the dozer to make a groove on the first path through then, with the blade still tipped, the second swath gave him a nice trench area level enough to lay the pipe with minimal manual shoveling. The heavy equipment made the 200 feet easier, but still was a two day job to get the trench ready for the new pipe.