land drainage

annubis

Lads
thinking of doing some drainage and reseeding later in the year..weather permitting, alot of the place wouldnt have had any work since the old fella did a bit maybe 30 years ago, anyway dont know much about drainage myself in terms of positioning etc and all that crack, I mean I have seen plenty of drains but just wouldnt know which way to run them in a big field etc,would you be just get in a good digger man and rely on his knowledge or would teagasc advisors come up with some kinda drainage plan or whats the best way to go about it, any ideas, all going well plan to try and do a bit every year for the next few years so want to get it kinda right if I can

roadtripman

A good digger driver experienced at land drainage should have a good head for it, get him to walk the land now when its wet and draw up a plan. In my experience stay away from teagasc, there the best crowd to waste money for you. Get a proper professional if your not happy what the digger man says, it might cost a bit but doing drainage wrong is a total waste of money. PS dont spare the washed stones.

roosterman71

PS dont spare the washed stones.

Best advice I have ever read on this forum

A good digger man will know what to do. This is a good time to have the place looked at. You'll see the wet spots much better.

Also, try not to have open drains. They are a complete waste of space in many situations. Underground shores, when done right, are a better option and need only a fraction of the maintenance

roadtripman

Your dead right about the open drains, keep them to the minimum, we have a moor that had loads of open drains and we filled in most of them, just kept the main ones. It was a great job, alot easier to run longish shores plus bigger fields now. Have you seen the new type drainage pipes? supplied by connaght agri, just wondering have you any thoughts on them, they appear to work out cheaper than the yellow pipe/washed stone job but i'd be a bit nervious of them.

haybob

Well annubis,
Could you ask your father for advice just to see what he thinks, if you’re putting pipes in use the good ones if you can at all, it's worth having a chat with the teagas lads, like everything I have heard good and bad reports about the Connaught agri pipes!! What way are you fixed from a gravity point of view, water won’t run up a hill

Lads this is my first post here I have been lurking around for a while I hope I didn't make a mess of it

annubis wrote: »

Lads
thinking of doing some drainage and reseeding later in the year..weather permitting, alot of the place wouldnt have had any work since the old fella did a bit maybe 30 years ago, anyway dont know much about drainage myself in terms of positioning etc and all that crack, I mean I have seen plenty of drains but just wouldnt know which way to run them in a big field etc,would you be just get in a good digger man and rely on his knowledge or would teagasc advisors come up with some kinda drainage plan or whats the best way to go about it, any ideas, all going well plan to try and do a bit every year for the next few years so want to get it kinda right if I can

roadtripman

haybob wrote: »

like everything I have heard good and bad reports about the Connaught agri pipes!!

What are the problems encountered with them pipes, dont know anyone who has used them and no point asking a sales rep!

haybob

1) Expensive but that is the opposite of what is posted on this thread.

2) Was told the crack but also was told they were bullet proof

Not making any judgement on the Connaught agri pipes, they could be the bomb as I haven actually seen them used, but I have seen alternatives to the yellow pipes that split

roadtripman wrote: »

What are the problems encountered with them pipes, dont know anyone who has used them and no point asking a sales rep!

roadtripman

Was just curious, prob wouldnt chance using them. There was a piece on the farmers journal about them a few months ago and they maintained it was cheaper than the other system, only thing is to find someone who has tried them out.

vanderbadger

haybob wrote: »

Well annubis,
Could you ask your father for advice just to see what he thinks, if you’re putting pipes in use the good ones if you can at all, it's worth having a chat with the teagas lads, like everything I have heard good and bad reports about the Connaught agri pipes!! What way are you fixed from a gravity point of view, water won’t run up a hill

Lads this is my first post here I have been lurking around for a while I hope I didn't make a mess of it

i havent a clue where my old drains were run so will just have to start again, ya wondered about that new pipe but I would be a bit worried about it, my ground is all hilly at least so there should be a good run off, alot of lads around here seem to be using lengths of black pipe instead of the yellow stuff, that yellow pipe seems to collapse handy enough

pakalasa

What's peoples experience of using just sand. The problem I see with all these pipes/washed stones etc is that over time the clay makes it's way through the stones and blocks the pipes. I cant imagine that clay would ingress into sand. Say you dig 2 feet deep, put in 6" of cheap sand, fill the top 18" again with the clay. Near the open drain add small bit of stones/pipe to stop the sand washing away. ???

sea12

Wouldnt agree with the yellow pipe collapsing vandebadger.
Cleaned up some drains last year and got the yellow pipes cleared at the entrance. Ran 1/2 inch piping inside it as thought it would be blocked. Ran it for over 120 yards and was pipe was running perfect. Piping was put in by father in 1984.

the al kid

Have to agree with last poster.Clay pipes put down in early part of last century still running without any stone backfill and just a very small amount of buildup on the bottom of the pipes - probably no more than 1-2 mm in a standard 40 mm pipe or inch and a half as they were then.This also applies to yellow corrugated pipes laid early eighties -I think the porous fill allows quick access to the pipework and if there is a reasonable fall on the pipes the corrugations cause turbulence which keeps the pipes clear.That seems to be the case on my land anyway which I would describe as a heavy North Kildare loam.

Al

P.S. Dont know much about the new pipes as supplied by Connaught Agri but my gut feeling is that you need a quick route for the rainfall to get to the pipes and stone is the best way to do this especially if the pipework will be put in at 2ft 6in to 3 ft depth.Also try and get hold of an older fellow that put in drains in the sixties and use his experience to pinpoint falls and design -most parishes have such a person if you enquire .Local knowledge is invaluable in most circumstances.

Neddyusa

the al kid wrote: »

Have to agree with last poster.Clay pipes put down in early part of last century still running without any stone backfill and just a very small amount of buildup on the bottom of the pipes - probably no more than 1-2 mm in a standard 40 mm pipe or inch and a half as they were then.This also applies to yellow corrugated pipes laid early eighties -I think the porous fill allows quick access to the pipework and if there is a reasonable fall on the pipes the corrugations cause turbulence which keeps the pipes clear.That seems to be the case on my land anyway which I would describe as a heavy North Kildare loam.

Al

P.S. Dont know much about the new pipes as supplied by Connaught Agri but my gut feeling is that you need a quick route for the rainfall to get to the pipes and stone is the best way to do this especially if the pipework will be put in at 2ft 6in to 3 ft depth.Also try and get hold of an older fellow that put in drains in the sixties and use his experience to pinpoint falls and design -most parishes have such a person if you enquire .Local knowledge is invaluable in most circumstances.

I would say that the Connaght Agri pipes would be best suited to a peaty soil. Have seen them used in peat and they work very well - Given the saving on chippings they do work out cheaper than yellow pipe and stones. However I wouldnt trust them to do as good a job in a clay soil.

BeeDI

pakalasa wrote: »

What's peoples experience of using just sand. The problem I see with all these pipes/washed stones etc is that over time the clay makes it's way through the stones and blocks the pipes. I cant imagine that clay would ingress into sand. Say you dig 2 feet deep, put in 6" of cheap sand, fill the top 18" again with the clay. Near the open drain add small bit of stones/pipe to stop the sand washing away. ???

You know what they say about sand!! It is constantly moving back to where it came form ........ the sea!!! I would say, sand as a drainage material instead of stone / pipe, would be a very short term measure.

I have seen some people in recent years in my area, putting in drains, filling most of the way up with 5 inch clean stone, topping with finer clean stone right to the top. Not putting back the soil. The grass from the edges grows in over the stone drain withi a year or two, to form a kind mat, or carpet. Seem to work well.


B

annubis

have seen old drains in the wettest parts of the farm where that yellow pipe is totally blocked up, its like some crap grows inside in the pipe

motorman

pakalasa wrote: »

What's peoples experience of using just sand. The problem I see with all these pipes/washed stones etc is that over time the clay makes it's way through the stones and blocks the pipes. I cant imagine that clay would ingress into sand. Say you dig 2 feet deep, put in 6" of cheap sand, fill the top 18" again with the clay. Near the open drain add small bit of stones/pipe to stop the sand washing away. ???

I have expierience of putting down slit drains.. Sand drains like you speak of will only have a shelf lif eof approx 7 years. The silt part of te clay will eventually wash doen into the sand and block it up like it was never there.

Sand slit drains are commonly used on golf courses and football grounds but will have to be done again 7 - 10 years later. So the initial high investment in pipe and pea gravel drains is well worth it.

When draining land it is important (in my own opinion) to only use porus pipe where drainage is required. Where drainage lines are only carrying water to the outlet use solid 4 or 6 inch pipes. By doin this you are reducing your chances of blockage.
And as regards the fall on the pipe, if you calculate the fall correctly then the silt that does get into the pipes will be carred by the water to the outlet.