Farm Drain Tile Install

Another fall, another drain tile installation. This time we are adding a drainage system to a spot on the farm that frequently sees water damage. Even a potential total crop loss in the lowest spots of the field. This is going to be a great improvement to the farm for many years to come. Our neighbors purchased their own Wolfe tile plow a few years ago. They’ve been doing some work for us along with their own projects. The video below uses a drone to show the scope of this install.
Drain tile not only helps the lowest, most effected spots in the field. There will also be yield losses that are less visible until results are seen at harvest. Crops can get hurt in greater areas surrounding the spot that holds standing water for days. Bringing up the average of all these yields is great, but yield isn’t the only benefit.
Benefits of Drain Tile
Inputs like seed and fertilizer can end up being wasted or not fully utilized when the crop is damaged water. A well drained field is also better prepared to handle heavy rains. I like to think of drain tile as getting the sponge ready for the next round of water. The field is able to drain more efficiently between rain events which means the next event can soak in the ground more easily. Water running across the top of saturated ground is where erosion and other issues come into play. Top soil, nutrients, fertilizer, and crop residue can end up leaving the field in these conditions.
I like to say drain tile is cheaper than dirt. Costs vary, but tile for us might cost around $800-1,000 per acre to install. The end result is more production from the same input cost on the same land. The more expensive way to get more production is with more land. Land currently costing $8,000-12,000 an acre in our neighborhood.
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#draintile #farm #drainage #plow

[@TheFarmersLife]

Hope you're enjoying the channel! More videos at kzbin.info/door/OxiZ3nuNXYYo-hDs01oQ6w

[@JS-jh4cy]

Why not just dig a huuuugggge trump sized pond to hold water?

[@JS-jh4cy]

Then in the summer pump the water out like hell

[@jimmoses6617]

Farmers are truly God's people. Thank you for feeding all of us!

[@chriscandies7371]

Surrounded by Sugar Cane Farms down here. Nice to get some appreciation for the infastructure involved. Nice naration. I subed too. Good Luck.

[@cwetfeet]

I'm a non farmer, this video did an excellent job describing and showing tiling. thanks for explaining it.

[@mage3690]

I used to do this, as the new guy on the team. Our plow operator was an old 'Nam war vet who wouldn't get out of the machine for anything short of lunch or dinner. Me, being the new guy, got to install the tees, feed the tile into the plow, connect the lateral to the main, and cover the exposed tile in the hole with a layer of dirt after the plow pulls out of the hole. The reason for that last step is to protect the tile so when the dozer comes over to push the dirt in, he doesn't have to worry about smashing the tile with a stone or a large dirt clod, because especially those small 4 inch laterals are very easy to smash if you don't support the tile properly. Also, being the new guy, I got to replace that handy-dandy little automatic wheel feeder when the tile was too large to fit through the feeder, which for us was any size above 6 inches. That's a better workout than any gym, walking under about 40-80 pounds of load, carrying a continuously moving pipe in the air, above chest and often head level for the entire length of the main, sometimes through mud and swamp along a subcut (where the dozers pushed out a track for the plow to follow so the boot (the thing that feeds the tile into the ground) wasn't buried more than 8-10 feet deep), with massive, slippery dirt clods to jump over all the way. Good times. Your field is a dream to work, BTW. Flat, harvested bean fields are the smoothest thing to drive around in, plus the fact that the entire thing was so dry you didn't have to pull the plow with a tractor/dozer? Sounds like my dream job. On those jobs, I got to sit on the edge of the hole and chat with the backhoe operator, just waiting for the plow to come back around on the long runs. There was literally nothing else to do. Now _those_ were the good times!

[@doonhamer252]

pretty well started as you in Scotland in 70s, , hand dig the ends join the laterals to the mains,, but we also we placed 3/4" crush ontop to within 1ft .. gravel carts with conveyors fed the Barth or Interdrain machine.. eventually ran drainer.. and or Hoe for jobs that didn't warrant or ground conditions wouldn't allow for the trenchless.. came to canada helped a school friend in the Prairies, and also ran subsoilers with D8-9

[@Bnguyen276]

I’m not a farmer, but I love the video because I get a glimpse of life of a crop farmer.

[@bobsnabby2298]

In our country they put rough sand on top of the drain pipe to prevent soil going into the pipe. The machine do it simultaneously while the pipe is being inserted.

[@nealmeier8160]

Another well done video. 65 years ago helped dad tile some farm fields - all foot long clay tiles placed by hand. Lots of work

[@TheFarmersLife]

Grandpa and his dad used to dig up wood tiles and clean them out with a spade and put them back!

[@ohiofarmer254]

@@TheFarmersLife i'm only 41 but remember doing that with my grandpa. we are on the list with the local guy for some tiles this winter on a new field

[@grantquinones]

​@@ohiofarmer254what happens if you don't do it the field floods?

[@wholeearthaccess1679]

Big job.

[@RobertStrader-jb4ty]

Thanks for feeding us!

[@willr69420]

*Great drone footage and explanation of field drainage!*

[@tstokemb]

I had no idea what tile meant in this context but now I know it is essentially a means to drain the water when irrigation takes place. Makes sense but as someone who has never farmed, it never crossed my mind lol.

[@laurahawkins1553]

Thank you for such a good visual and explanation of tiling. I have seen the prep for tiling but have never seen the actual process. My family farms in SE MN and NE IA. I love driving the gravel roads looking at all of the working farms and improvements that are being made to increase crop yield. Whenever I am back in MN my soul feels like it's home. Thank you again.

[@MeagainIA2011]

Grandpa Dan was 9 mos when his mother died in NE. She was from Marion Co, IA. His father was a wanderer, and his mother's brother went by train and brought him home with him. That was in 1890. His Uncle Harvey made a farm tiler and tiled many farms all around the county and then some. When Grandpa Dan was 18 he changed his surname to his mother's in honor and devotion to Uncle Harvey. He inherited a good sum of money and the business from his Uncle Harvey. When Harvey became aged and infirmed Grandpa Dan with his wife took care of him until his death. Uncle Dan tiled farms all over Mahaska & Poweshiek Co, IA. Farms his 4 sons inherited or purchased themselves when they grew up. Grandpa Dan retired from the business, bought a little place in FL where they went for the winter then returned to IA when the grass was green again. His grandsons purchased farms south of New Sharon, IA. in Poweshiek Co. third generation farmers. I remember when Daddy and Uncle Ben had tilers come in and do many parts of their land. Year after year, they also milked cows, raised hogs for market. and us kids helped Mother plant, harvest, and can a garden, and butchered chickens in the fall . I was 12 when one late June evening, sunset. Daddy had just finished milking, Uncle Ben and Grandpa Alfred had gone home for supper. Mother, my little brother (there were 8 of us kids a blended family), a sister, Daddy and I were standing on the bank in front of the house. The corn they planted months earlier was more than waist high. It had been a good growing season. Knee high by the 4th of July meant a good year for farmers. Everywhere a lush green, the creek running more than normal. While standing there he was looking at the setting sun. And I heard a noise come from my Dad. I looked up and a tear ran down his face. I asked, Why you crying? As he spoke and said that you work hard to save a newborn calf that dies, you plant and fix equipment and wonder if its all worth it. Then you finally see that by the sweat of your brow, and you feel proud and grateful that God's word is always faithful. I'm 63 now, Daddy and Mother are gone. All 8 of us inherited what he farmed since he come home from Korea. He was drafted at 18 and served on the 38th Parallel. 21-22 he came home and began farming with his dad, and brother(who also served in Korea). They had amassed a lot of land that went to their kids. And it all began with Great Grandpa Dan whose Uncle Harvey who loved his sister very much, and saved GG Dan's life loved him, fed, him, bathed him, as if his own and gave his tiling business when he retired. Great Grandpa Dan. (Daddy & Mama and our blended family, of course. lol)

[@BrokenRRT]

Had no idea about any of this. Very interesting.

[@patrickmcpartlan5108]

Very informative video thanks for your explanations

[@74joeboo]

Great video. I always thought drain tiles were like giant ceramic floor tiles🤦🏻

[@brandonfoy9583]

Man this is nuts I didn’t know there was that much drain tile out in fields!

[@TheFarmersLife]

Some are starting to go shallower and closer spacing on the laterals.

[@brandonfoy9583]

@@TheFarmersLife yeah that’s what I’m going to have to do is go shallow and was wondering if it would be a problem. Is shallow better? I guess it’s situation dependent. But I see there’s no rocks, is there a sock over the tile or is it just slotted plastic? Does it ever clog up and have to be pulled or cleaned out?

[@TheFarmersLife]

@@brandonfoy9583 we have ever used a sock. Shallow just lets you go closer together. One that did some tile for us was doing 2" tile on 30' centers for another guy. Don't know the depth.

[@mage3690]

@@brandonfoy9583 you put sock over the tile for sandy soils, not necessarily for shallow laterals. Sandy soils will wash into the tile through the knife cuts and plug it up. Newer sand tiles get away with not even using the sock by using a smaller knife to slice the cuts, resulting in a smaller cut that keeps the sand out.

[@symcardnel1741]

Awesome video and explanation. I live in SE WI and have the pleasure of driving through farmland on daily basis. I've seen similar work being done here and wondered why :). Always afraid to stop and ask cause there are so many "POSTED", "DO NOT ENTER", "IF YOU CAN READ THIS YOU'RE IN RANGE" bs signs :). Also thought how the heck they got away without such (draintile) for the past 10 billion years. Hard to imagine your fields might one day be filled with ugly a** cookie-cutter houses and gov't subsidized 'projects'. The rat population will be grateful for your work :).

[@tthomas9160]

Where are these guys? Out fields in Oklahoma are designed to hold onto every drop of water.

[@Slithey7433]

I never realized that too much ground moisture was a problem.

[@jackjones9460]

Did you verify from where the water was coming then going to?

[@swrtsolutionsinc.1092]

Plants free of water deficit events more efficiently absorb available plant nutrients enabling plants to achieve their maximum genetic potential. SWRT membranes installed below plant root systems retain water where it falls, providing continuous delivery of drought-free periods up to 3 times longer than intensely irrigated control sands without root zone water retention membranes (Guber et al, 2016).

[@flipflat4814]

Does all the fertilizer and Roundup runoff flow through the drain tile into the creek?

[@TheFarmersLife]

It doesn't. And I would hope not because fertilizer and crop protection are two of my biggest expenses. I like people to think of tile in this way. When heavy rains come quickly would you rather have those things filter through three feet of soil before the water hits the tile, or would you rather have soil, crop residue, and fertilizer run off the the surface unfiltered. Also Roundup is one the safest herbicides out there. It's basically inert once it hits the ground if it doesn't hit plant tissue.

[@JM24180]

As far as effects on the soil, is installing drainage tile different than installing pipeline? (Excluding the benefit of tile drainage of course.)

[@TheFarmersLife]

I imagine it's a lot easier on the soil. We don't have any gas or oil lines under us, but I've heard the ground directly above is pretty beat up after.

[@12jeeplover]

It must cost a fortune to run all that piping. When do you break even from installing the pipes?

[@TheFarmersLife]

Well I always say it depends on how much it rains. It can take several years to pay back. I roughly figure on costing $1000 an acre to do this. But over time the land should have a higher average yield which means more crop to sell. You can also get more crop by buying more land which around here is $7-8000 an acre.

[@kimtalley8190]

Do you have to mark the ends somehow for servicing in later years? Does this deliver water so you don't have to above ground water? Has tis always been done? Or is it a new practice?

[@TheFarmersLife]

No need to mark. It's all mapped by GPS so it can be easily found if needed. This is designed to take excess water off the field, improving our yields and making better use of our inputs. There's a good size area in this field that would lose the crop in the low spots somewhat frequently. We haven't failed to have a crop in those areas since this was done. We having been doing this in about one field a year lately. It's not a new practice, but putting in these patterned systems has picked up a lot in say the last 10-20 years. There are lots of old tile lines in fields up to 100 years old or more. Usually just running from the lowest spot to an outlet. Counties put in large lines that run through multiple fields into drainage ditches. You can hook your system into those if you want.

[@kimtalley8190]

@@TheFarmersLife Wow, thank you for your response. I never knew such things existed, it fascinates me the work that goes on behind the scenes so to speak, in order to make farming work. I live in a suburb in Southern California and I'm thinking of growing vegetables flowerpots just because food is so expensive. But do do I fear of failure I haven't planted yet but I really want to

[@luwenwan9618]

Great Video! What's the exact place of this?

[@ajullrich3]

Wondering the same thing

[@stewkingjr]

Too bad the foreground tractor covered all but a little bit of the to and right edge

[@armithel3133]

Cool beans! Yall in Ohio or Indiana?

[@TheFarmersLife]

Indiana

[@rogerhodges7656]

What do you expect the return on investment to be? Or perhaps better, stated, how long do y0u think it will take to recover the cost of the work.

[@TheFarmersLife]

The saying is you pay for tile whether you have it or not. Ha! Parts of this field will have fast payback because they often had zero yield in wet years. Haven't had a zero spot since. Depends on how much it rains, but maybe ten year payback. Could be faster.

[@rogerhodges7656]

@@TheFarmersLife In the 1960's I installed concrete tile in fields in trenches cut with a wheel trencher. I was a kid. and was often working in trenches that were deeper than I was tall. There was no shoring and we didn't think anything about it.

[@TheFarmersLife]

Most of the county tile mains here are concrete.

[@chasematthew9410]

What's the tile spacing?

[@TheFarmersLife]

50'

[@sultanahmed4866]

What is the deep?

[@TheFarmersLife]

Should be 2-3' of cover

[@wheelitzr2]

I'm not a farmer but I'm guessing this is so you can reclaim water that would otherwise just sink into the ground? 🤔

[@TheFarmersLife]

You could put gates at the outlet to hold water, but we are usually dealing with plenty of water so we keep it moving out of the field.

The even do this with forests. At least here in Sweden. Apparently avoiding flooding makes the trees grow faster. That's only ditches though.

[@psychiatry-is-eugenics]

If most people get 15 dollars an hour , farmers should get 1,500 . Also they are on the job 24/7 . real tragedy they are to busy to run for political office