Blue Barrel Culvert Idea, Is it Crazy?

[nwut05]

Hello everyone, I have a ditch that is about 8 ft across at the top tapers to about 3 ft at bottom, around 6-8 ft deep and about 75 feet long . The pond drain runs in this ditch all the time as i have a spring fed pond. The pond drain is 10 inch and handles the pond water just fine until heavy rain then the overflow takes over. What i want to is tile the ditch as cheaply as possible and i have had a few ideas. Truck tires, old Tanks welded together, Barrels welded together, and then Blue Plastic Barrels. Ideally i would just buy a culvert new or used in the 24 to 36 inch range and go from there, But they aren't cheap and the blue barrels around here are sometimes 5 bucks a piece and i was thinking if just getting those and cutting both ends out and using treated 2by's to screw them together. they would be at least 4 feet under ground and all that would be ever going over them is 4 wheeler and tractor and cows. Would they hold up? would they work? would i need to reinforce them somehow? just something i am mulling over here.

 

[/pine]

Hello everyone, I have a ditch that is about 8 ft across at the top tapers to about 3 ft at bottom, around 6-8 ft deep and about 75 feet long . The pond drain runs in this ditch all the time as i have a spring fed pond. The pond drain is 10 inch and handles the pond water just fine until heavy rain then the overflow takes over. What i want to is tile the ditch as cheaply as possible and i have had a few ideas. Truck tires, old Tanks welded together, Barrels welded together, and then Blue Plastic Barrels. Ideally i would just buy a culvert new or used in the 24 to 36 inch range and go from there, But they aren't cheap and the blue barrels around here are sometimes 5 bucks a piece and i was thinking if just getting those and cutting both ends out and using treated 2by's to screw them together. they would be at least 4 feet under ground and all that would be ever going over them is 4 wheeler and tractor and cows. Would they hold up? would they work? would i need to reinforce them somehow? just something i am mulling over here.

Before I resorted to using something that is most likely going to cause problems much sooner down the road I would look for used culverts...there are several sources...municipalities and the contractors that do work for them are good places to start...leaving your name with local utility suppliers (anyone that sells culverts etc.) won't hurt either...scrap and salvage yards are another possibility...

Good Luck...

 

[Streetcar]

Problems would be strength of material and sealing joints. Surrounding backfill would put large load on pipe. Save the future problems and use correct materials

 

[LouNY]

On a smaller scale we have one made from 5 gallon buckets,
just cut the bottom out and keep stacking till you get the length you need.
You only get 3-4 inches per bucket, it has held up to trucks and tractors for a couple of decades and is still working.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Have you ever thought about just building a wooden bridge?

I built this 8 foot bridge (an 8 foot span, 12 feet wide) that is plenty strong enough for my tractor for $16.50. I could have used a culvert, but it would have been more expensive, and culverts are kind of ugly.

 

[JerryK]

I would procure a double wall plastic culvert of the size you want, and bite the bullet on cost. Concrete culverts are great, too, but a little more complicated to get installed correctly. Plus, they are really expensive. I would stay away from steel culverts, unless they are thick wall steel pipes that are astronomical in cost. You have to figure the cost of the culvert long term, and ' fixing it right ' instead of patching up something that you will have to redo... probably correctly the second time anyway. A barrel would probably eventually cave in just like a corrugated steel pipe eventually rots/caves in....

 

[oosik]

Blue 55 gallon barrels were never designed to be used as a culvert. However - properly laid & backfilled they just might work. Then again - they might soon collapse. I certainly would NOT consider them where equipment would be crossing. Do something else.......

 

[Shaneard]

Once you cut the end off the side strength would be gone. I wouldn't use them.

 

[CADplans]

Nothing is free,, you are comparing a DIY plastic blue barrel drain pipe that has many parts and pieces that need assembled,,,
to a simple culvert that is dropped in place, and covered up.

By the time you total the cost of the blue barrels, bolts and lumber, then the value of your time,,
the standard plastic culvert will end up being cheaper.

The other negative of the blue barrels is that the interior is not smooth,,,
the blue barrel drain system will catch trash, roots, twigs, leaves, etc,, and soon clog,,

The smooth interior of a plastic culvert can only possibly clog at the entrance, or exit,,
The center is so smooth, anything that gets in,, will exit when the water flows,,,

Buy the double wall plastic culvert (NOT the stuff at Lowes,, which is single wall, and rippled inside)

 

[Egon]

Chances are good that it will work as long as there is sufficient fill over the top.

Do price things out first though.

 

[chim]

I recall seeing somewhere that the ribbed exterior of real culvert pipe serves the purpose of preventing water from washing alongside the pipe and messing up the installation.

 

[nwut05]

Thank for the replies. Like i said i'm just mulling over the idea, I have not set on any for sure fix yet but a standard double wall culvert or three. I have considered a bridge but by the time i construct that i would also have a lot of money in it being that it would be at least 12ft long and 75ft wide. that gives about 4ft on each side of the ditch for support of the structure. I do also understand the strength of the barrels comes from the two ends and yes, cutting the rings off the ends would severely weaken the overall barrel. guy down the road from me put in a whole bunch of large truck tires placed end to end and screwed together several years ago. he probably used 350 tires to make a culvert and then back filled and has been great since. I just think those would be more prone to clogs than the barrels but is has worked for him for about 15 years now Lucky, Maybe? i am just looking at options plastic culvert in my neck of the woods is around $800-1000 depending if you get double wall or single and they are 20ft sections which means i would need at least 3 of them and just be short.

 

[searcyfarms]

Thank for the replies. Like i said i'm just mulling over the idea, I have not set on any for sure fix yet but a standard double wall culvert or three. I have considered a bridge but by the time i construct that i would also have a lot of money in it being that it would be at least 12ft long and 75ft wide. that gives about 4ft on each side of the ditch for support of the structure. I do also understand the strength of the barrels comes from the two ends and yes, cutting the rings off the ends would severely weaken the overall barrel. guy down the road from me put in a whole bunch of large truck tires placed end to end and screwed together several years ago. he probably used 350 tires to make a culvert and then back filled and has been great since. I just think those would be more prone to clogs than the barrels but is has worked for him for about 15 years now Lucky, Maybe? i am just looking at options plastic culvert in my neck of the woods is around $800-1000 depending if you get double wall or single and they are 20ft sections which means i would need at least 3 of them and just be short.

what is your reason for wanting to tile the ENTIRE 75' ditch, are you trying to access the other side?

 

[WranglerX]

Proper culvert is only solution (ribbed black plastic)...Half baked ideas are ok for others, but i find for me it only causes me grief down the road a bit when it fails from lack of structural strength or poor concept or not really thinking project through, or not listening to people with better grasp on concepts (issue may be who has better concept)...

Dale

 

[oosik]

My concern - the weight of a heavy piece of equipment or tractor would cause the barrels to collapse. Possibly causing a tractor to tip over on its side. I have three blue plastic barrels. All three have the tops cut off. They are very weak - even with the bottoms still intact. Cut off the bottoms - they are nothing as far as strength.

 

[WranglerX]

Thank for the replies. Like i said i'm just mulling over the idea, I have not set on any for sure fix yet but a standard double wall culvert or three. I have considered a bridge but by the time i construct that i would also have a lot of money in it being that it would be at least 12ft long and 75ft wide. that gives about 4ft on each side of the ditch for support of the structure. I do also understand the strength of the barrels comes from the two ends and yes, cutting the rings off the ends would severely weaken the overall barrel. guy down the road from me put in a whole bunch of large truck tires placed end to end and screwed together several years ago. he probably used 350 tires to make a culvert and then back filled and has been great since. I just think those would be more prone to clogs than the barrels but is has worked for him for about 15 years now Lucky, Maybe? i am just looking at options plastic culvert in my neck of the woods is around $800-1000 depending if you get double wall or single and they are 20ft sections which means i would need at least 3 of them and just be short.

Why would it be 75ft long, it is no longer a bridge, its a covered drain..... A bridge is usually a limited width to accomodate live stock, vechicle or foot traffic... I would go with most reliable option of ribbed culvert and proper splices....You willing tp crawl into it to remove clog if somethink gets caught on funky splice or collapse of blue barrel design....

Dale

 

[ovrszd]

I recall seeing somewhere that the ribbed exterior of real culvert pipe serves the purpose of preventing water from washing alongside the pipe and messing up the installation.

The corrugation is for strength. It actually adds to the possibility of washing alongside the pipe on the outside. To minimize this a seep collar is often used. The corrugation also slows water flow on the inside.

 

[Egon]

The corrugation is for strength. It actually adds to the possibility of washing alongside the pipe on the outside. To minimize this a seep collar is often used. The corrugation also slows water flow on the inside.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

The angle of repose, Backfill placement, compaction and coverage depth over a culvert also are related to its strength.

 

[CADplans]

The corrugation also slows water flow on the inside.

I installed three types of culverts last year,,
12" single wall
12" double wall
15" double wall

The single wall lets water pass,, but, not quickly, the corrugations slow the water flow.

The 12 and 15 inch double wall are smooth inside, water coming out looks like it is being moved by a pump,,,
I have three of the 12" double wall culverts, and one 15" double wall, each are 30 or 40 feet long.
the outlet is at least one foot below the inlet.

I suffered with driveway washing for 40 years,, these culverts eliminated the washing 100%

Within one more year, I will have saved the cost of the culverts in driveway gravel I have not had to buy,,
The last two years have been the wettest on record for this area,, the culverts really helped,,,

 

[EddieWalker]

I would not do this. The savings in buying barrels compared to the culvert might be significant now, but they will not last and you will be back to doing it again and again with barrels, or eventually spending the money to do it right with a culvert.

Do you have that much water flowing that you need 36inchs? That's a massive amount of water and if you ever get a quarter of the volume through there, the barrels will wash out.

Sometimes its cheaper to just wait and keep saving until you have enough to do it right the first time.