Looking for some watering ideas

[1930]

You need water not power . Get the small 4stroke Honda pump, put a splitter ( hose Y ) in the discharge . Run one side to your watering hose and the other return to the tote to keep a constant flow.

This a a 5 acre lot that I drive around. Trees are at the perimeter of this lot

 

[1930]

Are the trees close enough that you could hook them up to a poly pipe with drip irrigation and pump into that a slow rate ?

No

 

[Ford850]

I have no way of elevating a 275 gallon plastic tote to get any decent pressure. To use a smaller container with my FEL elevated would mean numerous trips to the well to replenish. More time is something I dont want to give

Maybe my soil is slow to soak in the water, but I cant water the trees with a heavy flow. Even with the tank sitting on the ground, there is enough water flow that I have to keep the valve partially closed until the tank is less than half full. Otherwise the water is running off away from the trees. I try to give them a deep soak every couple weeks if we don't get rain. Oh, but I'm talking about small newly planted trees. Maybe you have larger trees and could use more water flow to cover the larger area.

 

[TractorGuy]

I have a little over 300 small trees, It takes an approx count of 6 1000 to dump 1 gallon of water on a single tree under the pressurized system I use now, I do this for every tree, I need pressure to get this amount of water in a realistic time frame.

I spend already a little over 9 hrs every weekend watering the trees on my property ( the others get a 5 gallon bucket filled by gravity ) which is about 400 in total, I am trying to lessen the burden if possible not increase.

Why can you not use gravity feed from the 2" hose straight from the IBC? You might have to drive to each tree and use a short hose... Just trying to figure out why this will not work.

For what it's worth, I fill a 50 gallon tank from my IBC and put it in the FEL so that I can raise it up high and get more pressure just from gravity. Then I drive to each tree and water. Have to fill it a couple times but 2" line from the IBC fills the 50 gallons pretty quick.

How about plumbing it with a 2", 12v solenoid valve off to the side of the tank so you can see it.

This guy ran a test and got 25 gallons in 25 seconds at full open.

Here is a valve you could hook up to the Ranger supply with a momentary or on off switch.

Amazon.com

 

[old and tired]

I would add that once a tree is established, you want to stop surface watering so that the tree will grow it's tap roots to reach deeper in the soil for water. If this was in a desert, watering would be different.

52 inches Rainfall at Ocala Florida... why do the trees need watering? Which species?

 

[1930]

I would add that once a tree is established, you want to stop surface watering so that the tree will grow it's tap roots to reach deeper in the soil for water. If this was in a desert, watering would be different.

52 inches Rainfall at Ocala Florida... why do the trees need watering? Which species?

These are in a desert, Candler sand. Im hoping once established they will require alot less maintenance. Some of my other trees are fairly newly planted and larger which require 6 months to 1 year for root establishment.

 

[WranglerX]

Are the trees close enough that you could hook them up to a poly pipe with drip irrigation and pump into that a slow rate ?

IF they can do it in large orchards and vineyards, I do see why not in plot with 300 trees, Sure it is a up front expense but it will save you time in long run, which is also expensive ....

Dale

 

[WranglerX]

I have no way of elevating a 275 gallon plastic tote to get any decent pressure. To use a smaller container with my FEL elevated would mean numerous trips to the well to replenish. More time is something I dont want to give

That is why they make plastic pipe and gas powered pumps....... Walk away from concept of using tractor.... IN central Valley of California almost all irrigation of any crops (other than hay and grains) are all using plastic (drip) systems... These people irrigate hundreds of acres with thousands of pistachio and fruit trees....

 

[Rctex]

I have been hand watering about 300 trees on my property using my generator, a small 120V 10 amp pump and a 275 gallon IBC tote. I pull these around using my trailer and Ranger.

Im gonna burn up my generator, it takes a few hours to accomplish this and Im looking for an alternative.

I thought that I may have been able to use the small pump from my RV and hook that to the battery of my truck but Ive found that there isnt nearly enough water pressure with a 50 ft hose nevermind once I were to add another 100footer. Its only rated for 3GPM and the large garden hose diam almost kills any sort of pressure.

I could go buy a cheap H.F gen that will supply the needed 10 amps to run the same pump Ive been using but Ive only got to water these trees a few more months until the rainy season is upon us again and then Im assuming I will be pretty much done, they will be large enough to support themselves.

Id rather use the money some other place in other words, any ideas?

I use to take care of an pecan orchard w bout 600 trees. Had drip system. All supply lines under an brought 3/8” line up at each tree. Little maintenance

 

[WranglerX]

Seems like I need to learn a little bit about inverters, I know nothing about them but I think this might be the way to go along with the 120V 10 amp pump I have been using.

Thanks

I think inverters are out of the question .... Keep in mind of you are running a 120v AC pump that requires 10 amps (continuous) , to us a inverter to boost from 12 volts DC (battery) to 120V AC there is a 10X power increase (draw in primary side), that means if you are running a inverter on 12 volt battery power and expect the inverter to push out the 10 amps the pump needs that means the draw on batteries is about 100 amps (continuous) ( you are going to need BIG battery/charger system)....... You will be better off with generator or a gas powered water pump or running in power from utility company...