Farmer friendly umbilical

[Cows 'n grass]

I received a grant offer for a 12m dribble bar, pump and a couple of reelers. I'm going to need 1600m pipe to get going.

Any recommendations on where to look or brands to avoid? The pipe will be a big chunk of the cost. Can I go 5 inch end to end? Do I need a massive compressor to blast the pipe through?

We're not moving vast quantities, maybe 10,000 cube a year so I don't need to be doing 2000 cube a day like our contractor does.

 

[frederick]

I received a grant offer for a 12m dribble bar, pump and a couple of reelers. I'm going to need 1600m pipe to get going.

Any recommendations on where to look or brands to avoid? The pipe will be a big chunk of the cost. Can I go 5 inch end to end? Do I need a massive compressor to blast the pipe through?

We're not moving vast quantities, maybe 10,000 cube a year so I don't need to be doing 2000 cube a day like our contractor does.

When I considered it the dribble bar a good percentage was paid for. By the time I'd bought enough pipe for the grant I found myself spending a lot of money towards the reeler.
In the end we bought a trailing shoe for the tanker with an umbilical kit to keep options open in the future.

 

[Bramble]

What are you pumping? Slurry/sand/seperated slurry might have a bearing on which pump you buy

5 inch hose as delivery, 4 inch drag hose so you can pull it with a smaller tractor, plus will save a bit of money. Random wrap reelers, stortz couplings

Ive always got on well with hiring/buying stuff off Tramspread, but there are plenty of others

 

[JohnnyF]

I received a grant offer for a 12m dribble bar, pump and a couple of reelers. I'm going to need 1600m pipe to get going.

Any recommendations on where to look or brands to avoid? The pipe will be a big chunk of the cost. Can I go 5 inch end to end? Do I need a massive compressor to blast the pipe through?

We're not moving vast quantities, maybe 10,000 cube a year so I don't need to be doing 2000 cube a day like our contractor does.

Avoid Irish built stuff….here in the UK the parts availability isn’t great nor is the build quality.
5” will get your flow rate up, depending on your topography and thickness you may need atleast some 5” before dropping down to 4”to get that sort of distance on one pump.
Feeding a 12meter id stick sign 5” all the way through doing my own, start pumping up mega hills or if your a big unit or bedded on sand I’d even consider some 6” to be honest, you’ll only see benefits in the long run with reduced wear and reduced fuel bills on the pump.

 

[In the pit]

Ferrari pump and 5 inch with 4inch to pull with the tractor
Is the better option to bury a 6 inch pipe under ground with some well placed stand pipes ,making it quicker and easier to setup and pump

 

[JohnnyF]

Ferrari pump and 5 inch with 4inch to pull with the tractor
Is the better option to bury a 6 inch pipe under ground with some well placed stand pipes ,making it quicker and easier to setup and pump

Allot on here beating the Spreadwise drum recently, here in the south the rep is marvellous and understands the job extremely well, afew good reports on Ferrari pumps too which I’m looking at currently for transfer work only. Spreadwise would be Well worth a call, I know tramspread are a very good company in the east of the country but the back up and hunger for a deal down this direction isn’t great from experience.

Similar thread to have a browse through:

Umbilical slurry kit

Looking into getting our own kit as currently use contractor or borrow his kit and do it our self but not always available when we need it. So looking at getting our own. We need 1000m of pipe will get 400m of 5 inch the rest 4. What pipe do we go with? I’ve always used oroflex and liked it...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

 

[TomB]

Bought Tramspread kit 5 years ago. Done well so far. Front mounted reeler holds bobbins of about 1000m pipe. Now just need a remote pump to save tying up a second person looking after pump tractor. Generally spread up to 1000m3 a day through 4” pipe, 5-10ac paddocks.

 

[lazy farmer]

I received a grant offer for a 12m dribble bar, pump and a couple of reelers. I'm going to need 1600m pipe to get going.

Any recommendations on where to look or brands to avoid? The pipe will be a big chunk of the cost. Can I go 5 inch end to end? Do I need a massive compressor to blast the pipe through?

We're not moving vast quantities, maybe 10,000 cube a year so I don't need to be doing 2000 cube a day like our contractor does.

Why the need ?

 

[deleted user 837354]

Why the need ?

I guess the ability to put your own slurry out faster after cutting and when conditions are better rather than being in a queue?

 

[deleted user 837354]

Whatever do you do not buy a trailed reeler.

 

[lazy farmer]

I guess the ability to put your own slurry out faster after cutting and when conditions are better rather than being in a queue?

True
I’m getting old but to me the opportunity cost do the money involved in the kit and HP required to run it and the cost of repairing the pumps and pipes let alone the time spent doing the job which means something else may not get done as well before does raise questions.

 

[Barmyfarmer]

We have had our own kit for 10 years, personally would let someone else do it

 

[Cows 'n grass]

When I considered it the dribble bar a good percentage was paid for. By the time I'd bought enough pipe for the grant I found myself spending a lot of money towards the reeler.
In the end we bought a trailing shoe for the tanker with an umbilical kit to keep options open in the future.

I guess the ability to put your own slurry out faster after cutting and when conditions are better rather than being in a queue?

It's a pretty big investment that I'd rather not be making right now but like many others I've found myself in a queue and have had to spread in less than perfect conditions several times in the last few years.

If the farming rules for water are ever enforced and and we have nvz style limits on spreading then contractors will have no hope of keeping up in the spring.

I feel sure these grants are likely to disappear in the next few years so I'm making the most of them while I can.

We would already have the horsepower and labour to cover it. 1000 tanker loads a year is a slow old job.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Ferrari pump and 5 inch with 4inch to pull with the tractor
Is the better option to bury a 6 inch pipe under ground with some well placed stand pipes ,making it quicker and easier to setup and pump

It's not my farm unfortunately, one is rented, one is a CFA so underground infrastructure isn't justifiable.

 

[Blue.]

We have had our own kit for 10 years, personally would let someone else do it

16 years here and if I build a new lagoon,I’ll get someone else in to spread,I’ve remote control on my pump tractor so I can a least stop and start it.

I’ve dealt with Spreadwise and Tramspread in the past and more recently Mastek,Tramspread front reeler and it’s excellent,my pumps are cri-man and apart from loosing the oil from one and it needing a rebuild have been great.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

What are you pumping? Slurry/sand/seperated slurry might have a bearing on which pump you buy

5 inch hose as delivery, 4 inch drag hose so you can pull it with a smaller tractor, plus will save a bit of money. Random wrap reelers, stortz couplings

Ive always got on well with hiring/buying stuff off Tramspread, but there are plenty of others

We're pumping two very different products unfortunately. The pit that holds slurry from dry cows, IC heifers and store cattle is like porridge and we have to add some clean roof water to make it pumpable.

The dairy herd is largely loose housed but with a fair amount of outside concrete so the slurry is very thin. We already chase cows around with the tanker at this time of year which works well but it's slow.

 

[bar718]

We have had our own system for quite a few years and wouldn’t go back to contractors also. Pumps are like triggers broom as you will get used to rebuilding them at some point in time.
Pump parts direct we find reasonable for the parts for the pump.
We swapped our pipe couplers a few years ago to one’s off Geoffrey Wox which I would fully recommend as you don’t need any levers and are so simple to use.
It will be an investment you will not regret as long as you have the time to operate the machines.

WOX Agri Services - Güttler Rollers, Drag Hose Specialists

Specialist in cultivation, grassland and slurry management.

www.woxagriservices.co.uk

 

[PI Stsker]

We’ve had our own kit for a few years and wouldn’t go back now. We have 800 meters of 5” now, grant last year funded half of that and one of my reelers, and then on to 1200 meters of 4” pipe. Output is around the 100/120 cube an hour mark with a Bauer pump.
As said above I can whole heartedly recommend Spreadwise and the southern rep George, he is very grounded and really knows his onions. I tried 3 times a while ago to get hold of someone at tramspread to no avail, I wouldn’t ring anyone other than Spreadwise now.

Wox kit really looks the part but is very expensive and aimed at high end contractors doing mega cube per year.

 

[deleted user 837354]

True
I’m getting old but to me the opportunity cost do the money involved in the kit and HP required to run it and the cost of repairing the pumps and pipes let alone the time spent doing the job which means something else may not get done as well before does raise questions.

I've done the actual job before, believe me, when you are trudging around in actual slurry in the rain and messing with pipes or leaks, there can be times where you wish you'd stayed at home in bed. You just to balance that feeling with the amazing warm feeling in your tummy you get from putting slurry out in neat lines on freshly cleared fields. You also need to enjoy playing with machinery as well so it's not for everyone.

As someone else mentioned on here the other day, umbilical is one of those jobs where everybody has times where they are obliged to ponder about how they might have wished they'd tried harder at school.

 

[kiwi pom]

Been a long time since I did it but should be possible to keep it pretty simple. I nearly always used mounted spreadwise reelers and liked them but lots more options today. One chap insisted on buying a trailed reeler, god it was junk and made a mess Those front reelers look good.
5 inch down to 4 would be fine but you can drag 5. Remember the higher the flow rate, the quicker you make a mess when it goes wrong
Always better to have someone at least near the pump even if you have remote control.
Yes for a compressor if slurry is thick, no if its thin.
A nice clean job once you've got the hang of it.