Hilly
Member
- Location
- Scottish Borders.
Ah I see now !! was going to say
Draining with no gravel
- Thread starter tr250
- Start date
RimmerF140
Member
What Kevtherev said
Goweresque
Member
- Location
- North Wilts
Whats peoples opinion on moling in drainage pipe, with or with out shingle, as opposed to digging or trenching it in?
- Location
- Welshpool Powys
Rip it to death in stones
- Location
- Near Beeston Castle
If it is on a steepish hill you might get away with it, otherwise it's going to have dips in it all over the place.
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Most farms have stone of some sort underground, you just have to dig it, crush it and its pretty cheap.
Its far far cheaper than digging it in, but must be dry for traction.
It works fine if you can see or survey a run. i built a copy of the daisydee drainer pictured above, it works well.
Its far far cheaper than digging it in, but must be dry for traction.
First time post here. I have done a fair bit of drainage and have found that types of drainage vary a lot and are completely dependant on soil type and topography.
Heavy clay is the hardest to get good results, I find that the more gravel the better and keep drain spacing to no more than 10 metres. Lighter soils, which tend to be flatter, we only gravel the areas that are prone to surface ponding again rarely would I go further than 10 metres apart. I have tried 20m intervals but the results are disappointing. my father said it's better to drain half the field right than all of the field half right.......
Heavy clay is the hardest to get good results, I find that the more gravel the better and keep drain spacing to no more than 10 metres. Lighter soils, which tend to be flatter, we only gravel the areas that are prone to surface ponding again rarely would I go further than 10 metres apart. I have tried 20m intervals but the results are disappointing. my father said it's better to drain half the field right than all of the field half right.......
limestone cowboy
Member
- Location
- Notts/Derbys
Results good so far.. a few fields held water due to shape. Shallow limestone soils excavated to bedrock, filled with clean 75mm brick rubble and replaced with topsoil. Drilled with wheat in November and no duck ponds!
- Location
- Bedfordshire
The biggest issue is that if you at some later date want to mole drain the field you cut through all the pipes you laid.
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Obviously you would mole in the pipes a good bit deeper than a standard mole channel.
If moling was done with gravel, it would last 50yrs.
yellow belly
Member
- Location
- south west lincolnshire
I have fields that has been drained in the 1960s 70s and 80s (up to 1984)some with gravel some without some alternate drains some at 20 m most at 40 m spacing
on clay based soils no gravel is worse than double spaceing
there were some trials done the 1980s with close spaced drains with no gravel but I have not heard any rescent reports on the trial
I would now always drain at 40 m with gravel so the field can be moled by the longest run I would add gravel spurs so the headlands can be cross moles
side headlands should have gravel up to the hedge this means turning the drainer round
the field drained this way 1984 and 2014
on clay based soils no gravel is worse than double spaceing
there were some trials done the 1980s with close spaced drains with no gravel but I have not heard any rescent reports on the trial
I would now always drain at 40 m with gravel so the field can be moled by the longest run I would add gravel spurs so the headlands can be cross moles
side headlands should have gravel up to the hedge this means turning the drainer round
the field drained this way 1984 and 2014
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
The sooner more GPS drainage gets around the better as it'll get cheaper and even more widespread. Surveying fields with GPS to determine the most effective way to drain for efficiency, as well as ensuring all drains are the correct depth and have max fall. Will make them much easier to trace in future too.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
With RTK survey and depth control you could go back to drains years after they were laid, and know the exact depth to dig to to find it. Will make managing future drainage installations a lot easier if you ask me.
The RTK gear on the Quadtrac I used in Australia in 2000 for ridging cotton beds could survey the field for gradient within 1 inch accuracy. 1 inch isn't enough for a 1 in 500 gradient needed for irrigation but it was enough to trigger a proper survey & laser grading if the field was found to be uneven. That was 15 years ago so the technology must have improved since then...
These guys do mapping for drainage systems: http://www.bateman-north.co.uk/mapping.html Ask for James North.
These guys do mapping for drainage systems: http://www.bateman-north.co.uk/mapping.html Ask for James North.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
You learn something new every day! Didn't realise they did that.
My turn to pass on some knowledge myself though....James no longer works for BN. He is now running his own business, North & Co. Bateman North have also now become Bateman Hosegood.
- Location
- Worcestershire
Has any thing changed regards stone on drains now the stone is exactly half the cost of the job. 
