ADVICE ON PIPE RIPPERS . CAN ANYONE HELP?

[Little Karoo]

If you have an old clay tile drainage system those things will destroy them as they aren't very deep. "Modern" plastic drains that were machine laid are usually a lot deeper and will be fine.

I'm pretty sure they are modern plastic. Thames Water owned part of the land in the 90s. Very strange as they put in a concrete road diagonally through one field. Was handy when we had issues with a farm gateway!

 

[upnortheast]

If you have an old clay tile drainage system those things will destroy them as they aren't very deep. "Modern" plastic drains that were machine laid are usually a lot deeper and will be fine.

It's the opposite here. Clay system hand dug in the mid 1800 s are around 4 ft down. Plastic drains 2 ft 6" to 3 foot

 

[Little Karoo]

It's the opposite here. Clay system hand dug in the mid 1800 s are around 4 ft down. Plastic drains 2 ft 6" to 3 foot

Interesting. I have no idea how we can check. Does anyone know

 

[upnortheast]

Interesting. I have no idea how we can check. Does anyone know

 

[Kiwi Pete]

As per the above comments about pulling through rock - don't, it's no shortcut

Better to trench through the worst of it, I have taken out 73 joins and replaced the pipes properly by trenching them and placing turf then backfilling. That's only 650m out of a 26km system ...

Our rock is schist rock (in the middle of a dead volcanic field, the crater is half a mile from my house) and once pulled through, it turns into needle-like or icicle-like structures and a pipe under tension soon rubs and leaks.

Pre-ripping in this type of rock means you're laying a pipe into more trouble than laying it first pull so it's up to your judgement based on the type of stone you expect to encounter, it won't be like this but I've read the well intended advice about doing a dry run - if it's at that stage, consider trenching it

 

[upnortheast]

Our rock is schist rock (in the middle of a dead volcanic field, the crater is half a mile from my house) and once pulled through, it turns into needle-like or icicle-like structures and a pipe under tension soon rubs and leaks.

That sounds a pain in the butt. Not aware of anything like that in this locality.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

That sounds a pain in the butt. Not aware of anything like that in this locality.

Yes some of it looks like a ripped-up construction site, they used a big dozer and just pushed the worst of it aside.

Have put 100 hours on the digger just fixing it up to the point it's properly watertight, in places it is a joiner every 2 feet for 30 feet or so.
Add to that we are in a 14 inch rainfall area with -15 to 35 temperature range, and the soil swells and shrinks so much, it was just a bad idea pulling pipe in.

100 hours trenching would have saved several hundred hours of fixing, I really do pity the guys who have gone in here with spades and front-end loader buckets. Diggers are good and now I can use one

 

[Little Karoo]

View attachment 1165869

Ha ha. There's a lot of blummin Pipes. I was thinking about something more technical like when you need to locate wiring. Now there's an idea for an invention + isn't Rishi giving away millions for innovation ideas with DEFRA ? !!

 

[Farmer_Joe]

Divining rods, you will laugh but they do work,

we moled some in with relative success even in rocky areas, and bad rocky areas just dig out still million times faster than digging the lot in

 

[Ffermer Bach]

why not just lay the water pipes on the surface, behind the fence?

 

[Spencer]

You need one of the old type trailing mole plough with a beam on and load it with a ton of weights
The above type won't go deep enough if its hard

Our Fendts have DA linkage so you can power down the entire weight of tractor onto rear implement. No extra weight required. Also makes swapping row crops a doddle with a couple of axle stands..

 

[Spencer]

why not just lay the water pipes on the surface, behind the fence?

You farm down south?

 

[Ffermer Bach]

You farm down south?

West Wales

 

[Spencer]

West Wales

Not very frosty then..

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Not very frosty then..

no, you are right, but are you grazing cattle out when there is frost?

 

[ploughman1963]

why not just lay the water pipes on the surface, behind the fence?

Rats, squirrels,

 

[Spencer]

no, you are right, but are you grazing cattle out when there is frost?

No but we have to pay for water, and time spent putting a pipe in properly is better spent than wandering round looking for a split pipe.