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.

 

[TomSeller]

I hooked up a 1-1/2" ID and 10' long hose to my 275 gallon tote and man, can I water my trees fast now. I put about 20 gallons down per tree in a very short amount of time. The tote is marked on the side so it is easy to tell when I need to move to the next tree. The tote does not need to be raised as high as my 55 gal barrels with garden hoses. Next I have to get a high capacity bilge pump to use in the creek rather than wait overnight for my 5 psi artesian well to fill the 275 gallons.

 

[Neil L]

Tom, get a PTO pump. I water my garden from a near by pond. Intake hose needs to be made of material that won't collapse, cheap plastic. I took a short piece of 3" PVC to make a strainer of sorts. Cap both ends, before assembly on one end affix a connector for hose or pipe then drill 1/4 to 3/8 holes all around. Toss in the water( after hooking to supply line ) and connect to pump. Enjoy seat time while the tractor does the work.
Neil

 

[muddstopper]

I dont need as much water as you folks are carrying, but I took a 15gal plastic barrel and rigged my 12 air pump up to it to build pressure. I just plumbed in a spicket and garden hose in the 3/4 barrel bung and the larger bung is where I installed a valve stem for the air compressor. I haul the little barrel in the back of my gator and plug the air compressor into the gators power port. My Black and Decker air compressor has a adjustable pressure regulator that I preset at about 15psi. I found that those little plastic barrels will split with anything over about 20psi. Works well for the mater plants, but I wouldnt want to try watering a corn field with it.

 

[TomSeller]

Tom, get a PTO pump. I water my garden from a near by pond. Intake hose needs to be made of material that won't collapse, cheap plastic. I took a short piece of 3" PVC to make a strainer of sorts. Cap both ends, before assembly on one end affix a connector for hose or pipe then drill 1/4 to 3/8 holes all around. Toss in the water( after hooking to supply line ) and connect to pump. Enjoy seat time while the tractor does the work.
Neil

Good idea. thank you.

 

[Jkott]

I put two 55 gal drums on a 3 pt carryall. To fill it I found a 12v 2000gph bilge pump had enough head lift to get water from the lake to the drums fast enough for my liking. Around 5 minutes to fill both barrels.

For watering I drilled holes in the bottom and used 3/4" boat live well fittings and hose to a t and a shutoff valve before a 500gph live well pump. I ran a fused wire from the battery to a switch and quick disconnects to power the pumps. I can either use gravity to water, or turn on the pump.

I built it late last year and It's been way too wet this summer to need to use it so far.

 

[Blaneypark]

I made a stand that two plastic 55 gal barrels sit on, Plumbed the two togather at the bottom. Put up 20 feet of gutter on my polebarn and plumbed the gutter to the barrels. Added a 12V pump from a camper and a battery. Wifey can fill cans or water her garden and green house with rain water.

 

[TomSeller]

I made a stand that two plastic 55 gal barrels sit on, Plumbed the two togather at the bottom. Put up 20 feet of gutter on my polebarn and plumbed the gutter to the barrels. Added a 12V pump from a camper and a battery. Wifey can fill cans or water her garden and green house with rain water.

Very Nice.