Irrigation question

[NonTypicalCPA]

I just purchased 80 wooded acres with a couple of nice clearings that I plan on putting in some variety of food plots for the deer. I also have river frontage in close proximity to the openings that should allow for some sort of irrigation system. Does anyone do this on any of their properties? I know you can buy a water pump that will pull the water out of the river but how would that tie into an irrigation system. My clearings are approximately 1/2 to 3/4 acre in size. I also don't want to break the bank. Any ideas?

[nyls]

I will start with the fact that I don't do irrigation and know nothing about it.

I suspect that there are systems that will pump directly from a river and distribute the water for you to your plots. That just sounds kind of like an expensive option as I think about the logistics of it.

I would think that if you have the ability to pump up to a pond or holding tank and then distribute water via gravity to your plots it might be more economical. However, this too may not be feasible, depending upon some of the variables.

Someone on here must know better how to deal with your situation.

Dave.

[bjmad]

I have a 1" inch 3/4 horse 115 volt pump. I have about 12 feet of 1" irrigation pipe with a screen and check valve in the water. 100' of 1" pipe (black plastic tubing) is connected to a bladder that goes up hill to my spigot. The difference in elevation from the pump and the spigot is probably about 10 feet or more. Attached to the spigot I have a 200 feet or so of garden hose to water my garden. I also have about 400 feet of garden hose attached to the spigot to water my grass. I use the little tractor that pulls the hose to water my yard. My PSI is about 45 and does a fantastic job. The pressure is better than what I get from my house. I may have to play with the adjustments on the house. More power. Kind of like Tim Allen. :)

I remove it every fall and drain everything and periodically clean the screen at the river. Just about all the homes on this river do this. Make a little shelter for the pump and give it plenty of breathing room so it doesn't overheat. I paid $120 or so dollars for the pump, $15 for 100' feet of irrigation hose, bladder was free and the rest I had already. So it wasn't too bad. It's not hard to do. For longer runs you can also buy a booster that's placed at the end of the line. Crank that baby up to 70 psi if you want. I don't have any need for that much. I use the water on my wife's flowers and little bushes as well. It reaches anywhere I need it to go.

Agricultural operations with the capacity to withdraw over 100,000 gallons per day (70 gallons per minute) are required to report to the state the water withdrawals. So if you pump this kind of water, you have to report it. This is the form. I don't believe any of us fall in this category.

Any owner of property must report if making this kind of withdrawals.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/deq-wb-dwehs-wateruse-reportingform_186955_7.doc

[sjhawkeye]

I just purchased 80 wooded acres with a couple of nice clearings that I plan on putting in some variety of food plots for the deer. I also have river frontage in close proximity to the openings that should allow for some sort of irrigation system. Does anyone do this on any of their properties? I know you can buy a water pump that will pull the water out of the river but how would that tie into an irrigation system. My clearings are approximately 1/2 to 3/4 acre in size. I also don't want to break the bank. Any ideas?

if you don't want to break the bank, just buy the pump for tsc and get a lot of hose. Family and friends seem to always be throwing away "old" hose or hit some garage sales, some even don't need repair. When winter comes, just pull the hose over a low tree limb and drain the pump to winterize. I did this the first year on my plots, but i pulled out of a swamp. i had problems with the pump clogging with weeds, but you shouldn't have that problem with the river. the system was fairly cheap and worked well until mid summer and the swamp/pond dried up.:(

good luck,

sjhawkeye