Draining with no gravel

[tr250]

What are people's thoughts of putting drains in with a trencher 10m apart with no gravel rather than 22yards apart with gravel

 

[Hilly]

What are people's thoughts of putting drains in with a trencher 10m apart with no gravel rather than 22yards apart with gravel

Depends on soil type, clay total no no free draining soil ok but I suspect if you draining its not free draining soil.

 

[mushnt grummmble]

is it worth scrimping?gravel or crushed and screened concrete would be cheap enough

 

[tr250]

It's a neighbour having 60 acres done I'm not convinced but is quite a saving

 

[Hilly]

It's a neighbour having 60 acres done I'm not convinced but is quite a saving

Saving will be massive, it will work well for so long then problem areas will appear after about 4-5 years, seems to be my experience I stone all problem areas now, even did some with straw which is working very well so far.

 

[multi power]

It's a neighbour having 60 acres done I'm not convinced but is quite a saving

It will be about as much point as buying a big modern tractor but running cross ply tyres to save a few quid

 

[Hilly]

It will be about as much point as buying a big modern tractor but running cross ply tyres to save a few quid

Stoning 60 acres worth of drains will buy the new tractor ! probably a fendt !

 

[tr250]

Yes think he said its 400 ish pound an acre not 1000 the issue I have is mole draining would be a waste of time the last we had done we did a drain every 2 chains and mole. We have got a field that is ridge and furrow was wondering if it may be an idea to put a drain up every furrow it's on a slope straight up and down the furrows

 

[Fuzzy]

Saving will be massive, it will work well for so long then problem areas will appear after about 4-5 years, seems to be my experience I stone all problem areas now, even did some with straw which is working very well so far.

Without the stone how will the water find the drains ? Mole draining likely to be less successful.
We tend to place drains further apart if we need any but fill them right to the top with stone.

 

[multi power]

We only ever put drains where the wet bits are. Never drain an entire field

 

[Hilly]

Without the stone how will the water find the drains ? Mole draining likely to be less successful.
We tend to place drains further apart if we need any but fill them right to the top with stone.

No doubt stone is rolls Royce job but you can evaluate soil type with experience and get away with not doing it all, just depends on soil and that's it really.

 

[multi power]

Stoning 60 acres worth of drains will buy the new tractor ! probably a fendt !

Then 're draining again in 5 years time will cost the price of another new tractor

 

[Hilly]

Then 're draining again in 5 years time will cost the price of another new tractor

Yes but he could just stone the wet bits and the dry bits where your only moving water from A TO B leave without, im surprised only 400 acre but a trencher will cut a neat hole and use less stone than a digger I suppose but 25k is a lot of money easy to see why folk don't so it.

 

[tr250]

So how come the old tile drains take so much water with no gravel

 

[Hilly]

So how come the old tile drains take so much water with no gravel

soil type, they don't work in clay either without it, but they do work better than plastic.

 

[multi power]

We have dug up most of the 1970s/1780s drains at home that were plastic with no stone.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

So how come the old tile drains take so much water with no gravel

some i know of, are back filled with straw, and they work very well

 

[Kidds]

Hardly a drain on ours has stone, they run well and I think you can be sure the men that put them there are generally a touch deeper than the tiles they laid.

 

[Hilly]

Ive 25 acre field drained in the 60s with 50mm plastic is a foooking nightmare to say the least if I could afford it I would dig the lot up but I cant lol

 

[tr250]

Thanks all think it's fairly unanimous that stone is a must on clay ground