Trenchless Irrigation Installation with Kubota BX24

[turkeyvulture]

I got tired of putting in 3/4 pvc irrigation pipe the "right" way, so instead I borrowed a ripper tooth, mounted it on the 3-point, attached a length of 3/4 PVC to it, lowered it into the ground, and dragged it nice and slow. No trench to dig or backfill, just a slight pucker in the surface. You can roll that back down with a wheel. It's cool to watch the pipe disappear into the ground.

My attachment method was to bolt a heavy duty 3/4" steel conduit hanger on the back of the tooth, then attach the pvc to it with wire. Be sure to cap the pvc so it doesn't fill up with dirt. I only have tried it in damp ground, not sure if it works in dry. It does go through rocks and roots though, as long as you can pull it. This a Kubota BX24 so not exactly a huge machine.

It doesn't go it very deep, but is it really necessary for irrigation pipe to be 6" down? It really just needs to be hidden and not come to the surface. Then, where the heads are, you can dig a deeper hole for them to live in.

This method works great and is about a tenth the work of a trench.

There is probably a limit to how much you can pull in, since the friction adds up until something breaks, I would think. But then you just dig a hole and start a new run.
I put in probably 300' of 1/2" drip line this way to feed the actual drip irrigated location, worked great also.

 

[Sprinklerman]

The right way is to use something like a Burkeen B30 vibratory plow , vermeer lm42 , ditchwitch 410 . I can plow in 1 in pipe a foot in the ground in moist soil as fast as I can walk . A 300 ft run is not unheard of .

But your way works , here are some tricks , get a chinese finger to attach the pipe , weld a bullet on the blade to make a larger path for the pipe to follow , you dont need a cap on the pipe , use duct tape .