Water for the garden

[tcreeley]

I planted a new garden in the back field, along with some young trees. It is too far to run a hose, so I got a 55 gal rain barrel from Walmarts and stuck it on my carryall. The siphon action was ok until the barrel was 1/2 empty. then it stopped. So I bought a small pump- 1 gal/mn and set it up to run off the tractor. I kept the gpm low so the draw would be low.
I've got a garden hose hooked up and it works great I have a 60' hose on it. For watering new trees- I can drive up along side and water them from the seat.

I always leave the tractor running and have a quick snap in electrical connector from the pump to the tractor. The pump is a diaphragm pump with a built in pressure switch. Works well.

 

[TomSeller]

I have two 55 gallon barrels that I lay on the side with a spigot for a garden hose out the bottom of each. I have them strapped to a pallet and use that to haul water with my FEL to my young trees. I find that 110 gallons isn't enough so I am picking up a 275 gallon tote with a 2" discharge. I don't have electricity or a pumped well on the site where I use the water tanks, and I fill up with a 5 psi artesian well supply (takes forever). So I will be getting a submersible 12V bilge pump and dropping that in the creek to refill.

 

[tcreeley]

275 gal is a good amount of water. I thought of putting a spigot on my barrel at the base but I had no way to tighten from the inside. I was worried about the barrel not holding together structurally if I layed it on its side, so I went with the pump.

Are your barrels doing fine on their sides?

 

[Cord]

We did something similar, but layed it down inside a atv trailer. I have a 2" pvc ball valve coming off the bung with a 90 to point it down and then a short length of lay flat hose to make sure the water ends up in the bucket and not on your shoes. Can fill a 5 gallon bucket in about 2 seconds. Works great for watering the trees. Need to make sure the barrel is vented though otherwise it doesn't drain fast enough.

 

[TomSeller]

Are your barrels doing fine on their sides?

So far so good. I have free white ones and they live outside in the sun, I think I set up the pallet 3 years ago. My Tote will probably be stored in the barn, however. Mostly I want faster discharge and less refills. I graft and plant about 20 heritage apple trees, fig trees, pears and walnuts a year and use the tanks to water them. Once established they can get down to water, but the first 5 years they need water.

 

[TomSeller]

I picked my used 275 gallon tote Friday and got it all washed out. It was used for a non toxic oil so it cleaned up easily. I filled it up to the brim in the attached picure but I think in the future I will only fill it to 250 gallons. At the full 275 gallons the top of the oil cans a fair amount. Also, that is a lot of weight to have up high for the required gravity discharge.

 

[Old Junk Man]

I use a old V bottom boat on a trailer. I fill it from the rain gutter or my pond using a gas powered 2inch relift pump. a plywood cover keeps down the sloshing. the drain at the rear has a hose attached

 

[TomSeller]

I use a old V bottom boat on a trailer. I fill it from the rain gutter or my pond using a gas powered 2inch relift pump. a plywood cover keeps down the sloshing. the drain at the rear has a hose attached

Very creative. Someone tossed an old boat on my property, I never thought of using it that way.

 

[NHBill]

We planted about 125 seedlings as part of an invasive species control project. Too far for a hose, so I was trying to figure out what to do when my rain barrel caught my eye.
More than enough water for my purposes (100 gallons) and it already has a hose outlet. Strapped it to a pallet and carry it around with the forks on the loader. I can fill it with a hose or set it back down where it normally sits and let mother nature do her thing.
I love redneck engineering!

 

[4570Man]

I have a steel tank off a tandem axel water truck. If my math is correct it holds about 2,800 gallons. Paid $700 for it, but it was worth nearly that in scrap metal.