Irrigation

We have about 6 acres of pastureland to raise hay for our four horses.  One of the biggest projects to get onto in the spring is setting out our irrigation pipe.  You can see this pipe (commonly called gated pipe) in the following photos.  The piping is made up of 30 foot lengths of 8-10 inch diameter polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe, with little openings every 30 inches along their sides.  Each of these openings has a gasket cover, which can be opened for various water flows.  We have almost 1/2 mile of gated pipe crossing the back and side of our hay field with additional pipe providing water for our treed areas.  The lengths of pipe are taken up in the fall and stored on the pipe trailer (note picture) after irrigation is over.  They are then put down in the spring before the hay crop has grown very high, so the crop doesn't get too damaged by the tractor pulling the pipe trailer along.  The pipe is taken up in the winter because we allow our horses into the field to graze, and their kicking at the pipe in cold temperatures could cause it to shatter - they're sort of costly to replace.  In the following pictures, I have used Dick as the model in the operations, but most of it is a team activity for sure!!  The first picture is of Dick opening the gates on a pipe along the back of the hay field.   The second picture is our "empty" pipe trailer parked near the tree area of the property.  The gated pipe for that area can be seen to the right of the trailer.