How to water trees with barrels in loader

[PHS79]

My father ran into this same problem when he planted the "new" trees at his house. He started using a 250 gal tank, he would fill it with water and then use his Bobcat to carry it to the trees. But he got sick of making so many trips and also he needed the Bobcat at the house in order to do this, which didn't alway work since it would sit at jobsites for 3-6 days at a time. So he then found a 500gal poly tank that he put in the back of one of his F350's. That worked for a while until he disided to down size the number of trucks he had, and didn't want to load/unload the tank all the time. Then dad a old gravity box with 5 ton running gear. We ripped the gravity box off and welded in some supports and mounted the 500gal tank on that, and this is still the set-up that he is useing now. It works out pretty good since he can use either the BX2360, L4200, his truck, or even the 4 wheeler to move it around the property to do the watering.

 

[sixdogs]

Here's an addendum to an old thread. Watering tree seedlings during droughts has been difficult but using a 1/4" hole drilled in the bottom of the bucket has made life easier. Just put bucket by the tree, fill all or part way and let it drip out. Most of the water goes to the tree this way rather than running off to the sides. FYI

 

[KennyG]

I've tried the hole in the bucket approach, but it didn't work so well for me because they keep getting clogged with leaves, etc. I have to put fences around my young trees because of the deer so it was a pain to keep pulling the buckets out. I have just built up berms now to keep the water near the tree.

 

[WranglerX]

I think the cost in man hours watering trees far exceeded cost of installing irrigation system if this is long term endeavor....

 

[Deere Dude]

I've tried the hole in the bucket approach, but it didn't work so well for me because they keep getting clogged with leaves, etc. I have to put fences around my young trees because of the deer so it was a pain to keep pulling the buckets out. I have just built up berms now to keep the water near the tree.

View attachment 698743

I use something like that.
I use a 180 gallon square tank for water and hook a 25 foot 1.5" sump pump hose to it. By the trees I use 6 gallon buckets with a 3/8" hole in the base near the edge. I just make sure the buckets are clean so they don't plug up. They fill very fast.

 

[KennyG]

I think the cost in man hours watering trees far exceeded cost of installing irrigation system if this is long term endeavor....

True, but in our area, you only need to water for the first year or two and then the trees do just fine on their own.

 

[sixdogs]

KennyG--Someone told me that chunks of restroom urinal cakes keep deer away. Haven't tried it , but it sounds good.

 

[MoKelly]

KennyG--Someone told me that chunks of restroom urinal cakes keep deer away. Haven't tried it , but it sounds good.

Do they have to be used?

Maybe that’s why no one has tried.

MoKelly

 

[czechsonofagun]

I built this for the same purpose, I can water from the tractor seat.

3pt watering solution

I built this to water rhododendrons my wife planted on the other end of our property, out of reach of the hose. We used to haul water there by wagon and bucket, now I can water from the tractor seat. It is just a barrel and roller pump for the PTO.

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[sixdogs]

I built this for the same purpose, I can water from the tractor seat.

3pt watering solution

I built this to water rhododendrons my wife planted on the other end of our property, out of reach of the hose. We used to haul water there by wagon and bucket, now I can water from the tractor seat. It is just a barrel and roller pump for the PTO.

www.tractorbynet.com

That is a better way to do it. Watering from the tractor would cut the time needed by a lot.