attachment to install water line?

twodogs · Jun 4, 2007

I have a Kubota B7800 & I would like to intall a shallow water line to my orchard. I am looking for an attachment & I was thinking of a subsoiler. I thought that if I use the subsoiler I would be able to place the water line in the in trench that it creates. I know that the line would not be below my frost line, but I plan on blowing it out with compressed air each fall.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

jsborn · Jun 4, 2007

I have had success with my subsoiler and PVC pipe on short distances (up to 100') . I welded a swivel on the subsoiler behind the point added a chain. I used a chain small enough that a link would go in the pipe. After I drilled a hole through the walls of the pipe I slipped a bolt in and through the chain link added some tape to keep the pipe from filling with dirt and pulled it in.

I am sure others can com up with better ways to attach the pipe to the chain but this will work on a budget.

If you wanted to use black poly pipe on a roll I am sure you could pull longer lengths I am not sure how many glued joints you can use in regular PVC.

good luck

CDsdad · Jun 4, 2007

Saw a buddy's dad bury 400' of 3/4" PVC with a subsoiler when we were teenagers. He had a hole dug at the end of his run and thats where he pulled it to. The end was taped and chained to the subsoiler. I'm not sure how he secured the chain. That was a long time ago and we were usually drunk or hungover back then. Wish I'd paid attention.

RonMar · Jun 4, 2007

There are quite a few posts on this site about pulling PVC thru the ground using a subsoiler, some several hundred feet at a time(try the search function). If you don't pull it thru, you will still have to shovel. Subsoilers are great at ripping a trench, but not so great at getting the loose dirt up and out of the trench. I had to lay 400' of 2" and didn't think I could pull that large without fabbing a larger subsoiler head. I made a few rip passes to cut roots and rip rocks then used a narrow trench shovel(looks like a hand trowel on a shovel handle) to remove the loose soil to lay the pipe in the bottom. That was a lot of bent over work digging out the bottom of the trench. If you are going to pull, I would reccomend making a pass with just the subsoiler first to cut any roots or find any large rocks along the way then dig a start and end hole to pull the pipe from-to. It is pretty easy to drag the subsoiler along the same path repeatedly since the soil is already broke up. Once you start to pull the pipe, you really can't lift the subsoiler or back up to clear an obstruction.

6sunset6 · Jun 4, 2007

The cable co just installed a buried line to my house last fall. For free. What a deal. They pulled 400 ft of maybe a little over 1" orange chase. I asked them how they got the cable in it ,they said its already in it. They used a vibrating mole, sort of like the subsoiler you are talking about but it vibrated and it only made a slot about 1 " wide on the surface. They went about 18 inches deep and raised up a bit near trees. Rolled back over it with the tractor when they were done and you could not tell they were ever there. ok Have to work on thumbnails for pic files too big.

carrickfad · Jun 4, 2007

This thread might help you.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/14926-laying-pipe.html

Onthesauk · Jun 4, 2007

When I drilled a new well last summer I rented a trencher for a couple of hours, maybe $40-$50. Got me down 2 1/2 to 3 feet for a 200 foot run. Quicker, easier and deeper then trying to use a ripper/trencher.

tawilson · Jun 5, 2007

twodogs said:
I have a Kubota B7800 & I would like to intall a shallow water line to my orchard. I am looking for an attachment & I was thinking of a subsoiler. I thought that if I use the subsoiler I would be able to place the water line in the in trench that it creates. I know that the line would not be below my frost line, but I plan on blowing it out with compressed air each fall.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I have a suggestion for winterizing it when you get it in. I have a campsite with thousands of feet of black poly laying on the ground. I blow it out at the end of each line, then use a utility pump and bucket to pump a few gallons of rv antifreeze in it, then hit it with the air again to blow it through the lines. Just blowing it out with an air compressor let water settle back it the low spots.

jeffinsgf · Jun 5, 2007

carrickfad said:
This thread might help you.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/14926-laying-pipe.html

That was a very informative thread.

Does anyone with experience have any comments regarding the differences between laying the pipe as in this thread and pulling the pipe through the ground?

It seems that laying with the elbow as in the linked thread would be gentler to the pipe than pulling the entire run through the ground. I know irrigation guys pull black poly all the time, but I am dealing with some really rocky ground.