Drainage trencher

[Alwaysinit]

Got some heavy ground needs a bit of drainage.
No stones or rocks through any of it and I'm thinking a trencher might be the job for it rather than a 360.
Any of you guys over here in N.I know anyone who runs a trencher for drainage work?

 

[deleted user 436632456]

Got some heavy ground needs a bit of drainage.
No stones or rocks through any of it and I'm thinking a trencher might be the job for it rather than a 360.
Any of you guys over here in N.I know anyone who runs a trencher for drainage work?

One of the Co.Down contractors had one, townley maybe??
There was also a guy Philip Wilson from Antrim direction, I think he has one?

 

[Alwaysinit]

One of the Co.Down contractors had one, townley maybe??
There was also a guy Philip Wilson from Antrim direction, I think he has one?

I didn't know about Townley but will get a chat with him

 

[Farm X]

Got some heavy ground needs a bit of drainage.
No stones or rocks through any of it and I'm thinking a trencher might be the job for it rather than a 360.
Any of you guys over here in N.I know anyone who runs a trencher for drainage work?

We've started selling these Soil-Max Drainage Ploughs in the UK. Maybe something to consider depending on how much drainage you need to install. Farmers have found this machine to be cost-effective since it doesn't require any gravel and can go 2.4 kmh so it's much faster when installing.

What are your thoughts on this machine?

 

[daveydiesel1]

How does it work without stones?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Why does it not need gravel

 

[Doing it for the kids]

We've started selling these Soil-Max Drainage Ploughs in the UK. Maybe something to consider depending on how much drainage you need to install. Farmers have found this machine to be cost-effective since it doesn't require any gravel and can go 2.4 kmh so it's much faster when installing.

What are your thoughts on this machine?

the gravel is more important than the pipe almost. On our heavy land this would be next to pointless without gravel

 

[stroller]

How many £
How many hp to pull

 

[Farm X]

It lifts the soil (so all of the subsoil stays below the topsoil) and lays the pipe right behind the shear. Because we understand that it is very common outside of North America to lay gravel on top of the pipe, we do make an AggBox (lays pipe and also has a hopper on top to fill in).

From all the plows that we've sold in North America, farmers haven't had the need to lay gravel and their drainage works great. Even with the plows sold throughout Europe, very few farmers find the need to lay gravel. And all of these farmers have all types of different soils from soft and sandy to hard clay.

With that being said, I do understand that gravel is a common practice throughout the UK. What is nice about owning your own drainage plow is that you have the ability to experiment on a few runs and see for yourself if laying gravel is needed with this type of machine or not.

We plan to visit the UK to host a demo day in late August. If you're interested in checking it out, feel free to PM me. Or if you have any more questions too. I'm always happy to continue our discussion on here as well!

Do most of you contract your drainage projects or do you do it yourself? I'd be curious to know what the costs are per hectare if you contract it out.

 

[daveydiesel1]

How does it deal with large stones in the ground?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Would it not work better on a track layer

 

[Farm X]

How does it deal with large stones in the ground?

Most of the time, the shear will lift the stone up out of the ground. If it's too big, the tractor tires will spin so all you'd have to do is take an excavator and dig it out. No need to lift the plough out, you just dig a hole next to the stone and move it over to that hole so you can continue to install drainage.

If you know you have a lot of stones in your land, you can do all of the pre-runs with the plow in the ground. That way you get all of them out before you install.

 

[Farm X]

Would it not work better on a track layer

Depending on what size of plough, the necessary minimum weight of the tractor ranges from 7 tonne to 12 tonne.

 

[Happy hillbily]

Softer deeper soils in the states ?

 

[Farm X]

Softer deeper soils in the states ?

In the Midwest, yes but there are a lot of areas that have hard clay soil. We've got ploughs in Sweden, Norway, Northern France, Italy, Denmark, Ukraine, Romania and we have yet to find an area of farmland that this plough does not work in.

 

[Exfarmer]

That is no different to a Zor plough is it?

 

[Farm X]

That is no different to a Zor plough is it?

Yes, it's similar to how a Zor plough works. Uses RTK GPS along with grade control. Also manufactured from T-1 steel.

 

[Flatlander]

Seen lots of fields drained with this type of machine. Personally I think they require a lot more power and traction than the majority in the uk would have available. Part of the reason the US Midwest is not using gravel is they are sold the concept that drainage is fir lowering the subsoil water table to make space for the heavy rains during th3 growing season. lots Of surface drainage also the deal with a 6 inch thunderstorm rain event. These tile plots leave quiet a ridge of heaved up soil which will take a few years to settle. I like the idea of tile drainage and have kicked around the idea numerous times as my soil has poor natural drainage and would benefit from a lower water table. Buying the plow is only part of the kit needed to do the job correctly. rtk gps with elevation unlocks is needed if your doing any distance and are in flatter ground.

 

[Boohoo]

Can it lay a pipe 12 foot deep? No point laying a pipe above the water.

 

[Farm X]

Seen lots of fields drained with this type of machine. Personally I think they require a lot more power and traction than the majority in the uk would have available. Part of the reason the US Midwest is not using gravel is they are sold the concept that drainage is fir lowering the subsoil water table to make space for the heavy rains during th3 growing season. lots Of surface drainage also the deal with a 6 inch thunderstorm rain event. These tile plots leave quiet a ridge of heaved up soil which will take a few years to settle. I like the idea of tile drainage and have kicked around the idea numerous times as my soil has poor natural drainage and would benefit from a lower water table. Buying the plow is only part of the kit needed to do the job correctly. rtk gps with elevation unlocks is needed if your doing any distance and are in flatter ground.

The slim shear design makes it easy for tractors to pull through the soil. You're right about traction, that is very important when pulling one of these machines. The smallest plough requires a 7 tonne tractor and the largest requires a 12 tonne. Soil-Max has also designed the ploughs with a towage link so you can have an additional tractor help pull the plough through any hard spots. These ploughs have been sold all over the world including France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Romania, South Africa, Ukraine, Latvia, Italy, and most recently the UK. We have yet to find a piece of farmland that this machine does not work in.

You're correct, the reason for drainage is to lower the water table to make room. But what this also does is allows for the roots to grow deeper and with proper drainage, you don't have run-off and erosion. I found this excellent visual on Twitter a couple of days ago re-posted by a drainage expert from the UK.

This machine does use RTK GPS which is where it can start to get expensive. If you're looking to save some money, I know that RTKF Net has a network of base stations throughout the UK and you can also rent systems from them if you don't want to purchase the whole setup.

As for the ridge, Soil-Max has designed what they call the Shaper Pro. It allows you to close the tile trench so you don't have to deal with that ridge for the next couple of years.

Shaper Pro — Soil-Max® / The Cutting Edge

Hassle-Free Trench Management

soilmax.com