- Sep 19, 2000
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I live on a farm and have to move pipe to irrigate the feilds, Just wondering how many people out there know what moving pipe is.
For those that don't know, Plants need to be watered (duh!), But getting the water there can be tricky. One early and still used method is ditch irrigation, where an elaborate system of ditches goes through the field to water all the plants. This is a PITA to do though, because if the ditch ever breaks or the water floods, parts of the field will not get watered.
Then there is pipe moving. This involves pumping the water from a well or a ditch threw a network of pipes. Each pipe (ours are 3inch round and 40foot long (the metal is about 1 cm thick)) has a sprinkler head on top and waters the plants. Those pipe lines are connected to valves which control the water flow. At the last pipe, or the end pipe, there is a plug, which allows the entire line to pressure up. But the lines do not water the whole field, and have to be moved to reach the entire field, here you have the hook and latch pipes, and the macdowl pipes. The hook and latch are just as their names sound, they have a hook, and a latch, that keeps the pipes from pulling apart from the water pressure. The macdowl, much easier to move IMO, have ring of iron at one end of each pipe and a metal spring (help me out, I think it is copper) at the other ends. Anyways, the spring contracts from the cold water while the iron stays about the same size, that holds these pipes together.
Well, to move each line you have to disconnect one pipe, move it to the next position, and latch it in. Lines can be anywhere from 20 pipe long to 200 pipe long all depending on the farm. Empty the individual pipe weigh about 20 pounds. but when they have water in them (not fun at all ) they weigh around 300 pounds, usually we pick them up to drain them faster. Each move is about 40 ft apart on our farm.
So now you know about pipe moving, so are you a hydrotubular technitian?
For those that don't know, Plants need to be watered (duh!), But getting the water there can be tricky. One early and still used method is ditch irrigation, where an elaborate system of ditches goes through the field to water all the plants. This is a PITA to do though, because if the ditch ever breaks or the water floods, parts of the field will not get watered.
Then there is pipe moving. This involves pumping the water from a well or a ditch threw a network of pipes. Each pipe (ours are 3inch round and 40foot long (the metal is about 1 cm thick)) has a sprinkler head on top and waters the plants. Those pipe lines are connected to valves which control the water flow. At the last pipe, or the end pipe, there is a plug, which allows the entire line to pressure up. But the lines do not water the whole field, and have to be moved to reach the entire field, here you have the hook and latch pipes, and the macdowl pipes. The hook and latch are just as their names sound, they have a hook, and a latch, that keeps the pipes from pulling apart from the water pressure. The macdowl, much easier to move IMO, have ring of iron at one end of each pipe and a metal spring (help me out, I think it is copper) at the other ends. Anyways, the spring contracts from the cold water while the iron stays about the same size, that holds these pipes together.
Well, to move each line you have to disconnect one pipe, move it to the next position, and latch it in. Lines can be anywhere from 20 pipe long to 200 pipe long all depending on the farm. Empty the individual pipe weigh about 20 pounds. but when they have water in them (not fun at all ) they weigh around 300 pounds, usually we pick them up to drain them faster. Each move is about 40 ft apart on our farm.
So now you know about pipe moving, so are you a hydrotubular technitian?
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