diggerjones
Member
- Location
- South cheshire, audlem
Not really relevant to this thread, but gives you an idea how Victorians drained land. This plan probably covers just over 100 acres.
How much drainage stone in a trench please?
- Thread starter Steevo
- Start date
suffolksmallholder
Member
- Location
- Suffolk
A 5 ton machine may have a narrow enough dipper end to fit a bucket narrower than 12”. My 7.5 ton machine is 12” wide so this is my smallest bucket. My micro- digger will do 6” but to dig 700mm would be beyond its capabilities.
I’d say your calcs should be LxDxH and then the weight per metre.
I use 1 ton bags and hang these over the trench, slash a slit in the bottom then move these along as they empty.
ss
I’d say your calcs should be LxDxH and then the weight per metre.
I use 1 ton bags and hang these over the trench, slash a slit in the bottom then move these along as they empty.
ss
Lincs Lass
Member
- Location
- north lincs
Cost a fortune on bags ,850kg a pop and then all the bags to get rid of
suffolksmallholder
Member
- Location
- Suffolk
I haven’t a hopper trailer with the conveyor belt fed sledge trench filling thingy hence the bag use. For the sake of a few bags this is my way of back-filling. 50% are useable so not a total loss.Cost a fortune on bags ,850kg a pop and then all the bags to get rid of
loan of a loader and a sugar beet pad may help but in my case needs must.
Alternative is a bag fill hopper but they have slits in their bottoms so no…..
SS
Plenty of trench to put the old bags in also will do as in fill.Cost a fortune on bags ,850kg a pop and then all the bags to get rid of
Lincs Lass
Member
- Location
- north lincs
They do make a cheap replacement for Teram membrane ,,buried loads of them under patios
Boohoo
Member
- Location
- Newtownabbey
So the existing silted up ditch is catching surface water from the fields above?
Nothing catches water as well as a clean open ditch. If you want to pipe it you'll have to put clean stone to the top or the water will continue into the fields below. A new drain filled to plough depth won't do much to catch water running downhill.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
It’s not visible surface water. I assume it is travelling through the soil profile below. Subsoil is mainly clay with interspersed gravel.
Boohoo
Member
- Location
- Newtownabbey
Rising water then. The water is in the gravel and rises through gaps in the clay then spreads out between the clay and the topsoil making everything wet.
Easily cured if you can find the water in the gravel. I've seen swamps dried with one good drain and drains that never stop running, even in the height of summer.
Last really good one I helped with was around 12ft deep and the 4" pipe runs half full 24/7.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Boohoo
Member
- Location
- Newtownabbey
@Steevo a couple of posts from another thread showing the deep water.
thefarmingforum.co.uk
thefarmingforum.co.uk
draining ,ditching & jetting lets get this water flowing
~And I am sure, here, we have guidance that you don't clean out the whole length of a ditch in one go, rather leave parts of it clogged up, to clean out the next year!!!! Hard to credit isn't it. Problem is , farmers think land it there to produce food and (hopefully) do a bit for wildlife too...
thefarmingforum.co.uk
draining ,ditching & jetting lets get this water flowing
All that land was drained 20 years ago . It improved but not 100 % . Since found out water is 6 ft under the drains . Running in red shale and bursting up when it hits a wall of clay . So as advised by some clever chap on here . Cant rember his name . I went deep and found the water . Same on...
thefarmingforum.co.uk
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
@Steevo a couple of posts from another thread showing the deep water.
draining ,ditching & jetting lets get this water flowing
~And I am sure, here, we have guidance that you don't clean out the whole length of a ditch in one go, rather leave parts of it clogged up, to clean out the next year!!!! Hard to credit isn't it. Problem is , farmers think land it there to produce food and (hopefully) do a bit for wildlife too...
draining ,ditching & jetting lets get this water flowing
All that land was drained 20 years ago . It improved but not 100 % . Since found out water is 6 ft under the drains . Running in red shale and bursting up when it hits a wall of clay . So as advised by some clever chap on here . Cant rember his name . I went deep and found the water . Same on...
Wow!!
If I dug holes that deep I’d never have the fall get the water out of the field.
Boohoo
Member
- Location
- Newtownabbey
There's very little fall in that second post, I took that photo on our own land. The drain is between 2 and 3ft deep but at the end of it there's a sump hole around 12ft deep. That sump is filled with clean field stones and topped off with clean quarry stone. The water always takes the easy way out so it rises in the sump until it reaches the pipe and then runs to the ditch. It's like a soakaway in reverse.
- Location
- Ceredigion
As above I never drain now without digging deep test holes first
You can drain a whole wet field sometimes with one drain if yiu can find where it is underground first
You can drain a whole wet field sometimes with one drain if yiu can find where it is underground first
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
How do you know where to dig the test holes?
- Location
- Ceredigion
Start at the top of the field , but a lot I do has rush lines so you know where it rises , but even then if I can get it at top the top even better, I just follow the fencing line dig holes as deep as possible then leave it for a day and see which fill
I drained a whole field once then some clever dick on here said I'd done it all wrong , "go to the top and don't stop till you find water" , I dug under an old tree at the top down about 10 ft , never seen water like it , like an underground stream
Clever duck was right all the time
Boohoo
Member
- Location
- Newtownabbey
Always go to the same place as Jack and Jill went to find water.Start at the top of the field , but a lot I do has rush lines so you know where it rises , but even then if I can get it at top the top even better, I just follow the fencing line dig holes as deep as possible then leave it for a day and see which fill
I drained a whole field once then some clever dick on here said I'd done it all wrong , "go to the top and don't stop till you find water" , I dug under an old tree at the top down about 10 ft , never seen water like it , like an underground stream
Clever duck was right all the time
You'll usually find the water under the driest part of the field.
- Location
- East yorks
What happens if you have 15cm of fall in half a km
Boohoo
Member
- Location
- Newtownabbey
Are you likely to have rising water in that situation?What happens if you have 15cm of fall in half a km
If you do you need to give the water an easy way out. Even if your drain is level it'll be easier for the water to go along that drain than rise to the surface.
Last edited:
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