Watering my Trees

Anonymous Poster · Jul 22, 2002

I bought a 100 gal tank today - it's a poly tank with a molded in base so it won't roll around back there. Comes with a 3/4" FPT fitting at the bottom to which I added the adapters that let me attach a cut-off valve and a garden hose.
For the time being we'll go around with the truck - might get a small trailer to carry the tank a little later after we see if we have any budget left.
Thanks again.

TCowner · Jul 23, 2002

I bought an old manure spreader at a salvage yard for $50.00. I removed the beaters and apron and installed a treated floor and sides. I found an old 300 gallon fuel barrel that had not been used for several years and set it on the spreader chassis. I purchased a pto roller pump kit from Northern Tool. I ran 1" hose from the barrel to the pump and 5/8" hose from the pump to a spray nossel. I am able to water trees under pressure rather than rely on a gravity system. It works slick. I can sit on the tractor seat and drive up next to the trees with water or I can walk with the hose and water several trees before I have to move. Adequate water is the difference in getting transplanted trees to survive. Even if a tree survives the dry conditions it's growth next year is affected because some of the roots die in drought conditions. I have around $400.00 invested including the treated wood I used for the spreader.

Anonymous Poster · Jul 23, 2002

I like it- just what I need though - another cool project to do /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif.
Didn't know I could run a pump to pressurize the barrel - very slick idea. Thanks.

billbobtlh · Jul 25, 2002

When I planted a long row of cedar trees , I used a 55 gal. can to transport water. But most of the water is not going where it is needed(the roots). Get a couple of 5 gal. buckets and drill a very small hole in the bottom side to let the water trickle out.
That way you can water five or six buckets fast and go on to something else until that water goes where it is needed. Then move the buckets and fill them up again. This works great on any new shrubs or trees because of the trickle of water.

Henry · Jul 30, 2002

I've got 65 newly planted trees to water. I fill 4 5-gallon buckets that are placed in the loader. This allows me to easily transport the water across the property. I made a cheap water-scoop by cutting the top off of a 1-gallon milk jug. It's very simple, but it works!

Anonymous Poster · Jul 31, 2002

Well, the tank arrived and I'm pretty pleased with it - this is so simple even I can do it.
I bought it from www.usplastic.com - it's a one piece spun molded 70 gal tank and they install a 1" fitting in the bottom. It also has leg/stands and gallon markings molded in so it stays put and you can also see how much water you've used. I bought some adapters and a cut-off valve for a garden hose connection.
We just pull up in the truck and fill up the perforated cans we've got at each tree to let the water trickle into the ground as suggested above. Beats the heck out of lugging all those water coolers and cans around.

Now maybe a small utility trailer to put this on so I can use the tractor ..... hehe