How to drain out a wet field?

[AndyM]

Here was my project from last spring. This was the lowest spot on my property... it sloped down from the house to this spot and then back uphill again towards the road. I came up with an interesting way to fix the problem, but it has worked so far. I'll have a few puddles now after a heavy rain, but they're gone within a few hours instead of a few months.

Drying up the front yard

 

[flenn]

OK guys, thanks for the input. I received my Howse Middlebuster today from Northern Tool. Although it seems to be a little too long, I think I can get it to work with my B7500. I'm going to make some trenches this weekend (per my diagram) and see how things drain. If it looks good and the field dries up, I can plan on widening the trenches and burying pipe this summer when everything is dry.

 

[GerardC]

Good luck with your project.

 

[RobA]

I am considering doing the same thing to parts of my property. Middle buster looks like it's easy to use. 2 questions come to mind:
- how deep of a trench can you dig with a middle buster?
- if the pipe is installed above the frost line will it heave?

 

[tillboy2001]

I buried a perforated 4" pipe behind my house and put gravel (about 3/4" round) on top of that. It runs like a river when it rains /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif It worked for me. There's a slope that comes toward my house and the water was resting there too long so it ended up creeping into a crack in my basement wall. Even with the crack still there it doesn't leak now that I have the drain in.

 

[flenn]

UPDATE:
I made a small trench with my middle buster (~4-6" deep x 12" wide) in a little different layout than my original plan. I was afraid to go too deep on the first pass because of how wet it was (didn't want to get the 'bota stuck). If you look at the attached drawing, I stayed high on the property and tried to catch all the water before it makes it's way into the field. Well, water started flowing almost immediately after I made the shallow trench. I pretty much had created a small stream from the high end of my property then directed it to the low end. I thought that my troubles might be over when I saw all the water flowing, but soon realized that there is water coming up in other areas of my property that are lower in elevation than the trench. Ground water must be flowing under the trench, and up through the ground in the middle of the field. My thought is that I need to go deeper. Does this make sense? My next move is to make another pass with the middle buster and see if I can get down another 6-8". If that doesn't do it, I have access to an excavator but would want to be sure that I was on the right track before I begin a project like that.

 

[Junkman]

Give it a few days to drain and then reassess what needs to be done. I have the same problem and am still working on a resolution. Once I have one area dry, it seems that another area is still wet and not draining like I though it would. I just keep attacking it a little at a time until it is all resolved. It is just that every time it finally gets dry enough to work the area, the next day it rains.

 

[flenn]

Junkman,

I should have mentioned that it's been 10 days since I dug the trench.

The water has been flowing through the trench the entire time, but the field looks the same. It really hasn't made any difference as far as I can see.

 

[Highbeam]

Wow, sounds like lots of water. Worth setting in a deep drain tile with laterals into the field. If you can make a single open ditch work, then you are money ahead but if you must go deep and with a bunch of finger ditches then you really start chopping up your land.

 

[Tiltphobic]

High Andy,
I realize some years have passed since you originally worked on this project.
I am pondering a similar problem in several separated places.
If you could tell about how it all worked out it would be very helpful
Thanks in anticipation.
Tiltphobic