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Mid-Michigan | I'm not really sure how I became interested in sub irrigation, but my situation seemed ideal. I have year round running water in the ditch I drain into. This is a state drain that is one of the biggest ditches in our county. According to my dad's best recollection, it was dug by the wpa during the depression. It drains a very large area of muck to the west of me. This ditch is probably 60 ft wide and 20 ft deep as it goes through my property. It then drains into the river and out into lake Huron.
This system was designed by Dr. Bud Belcher from Michigan State University. He had been all over the world as a consultant for these system. The first thing he did was take core samples of the farm to see what the subsoil entailed. Clay was essential for the system to work. Without clay the water you pump would just run back into the the ground. My situation was perfect (brookston loam and some Carlisle muck). The laterals are all 4 inch. It was supposed to be 15 feet but my contractor has issues getting that close to the next pass without running on the previous trench. The main is 15 inch at the top, 12 in the middle and 8 at the outlet. There are 3 zones which resulted in 3 headstand (where the water is blocked off from entering the main). The tile is very flat. I have never had issues with plugging. I don't know why. No tile is deeper than 48". Id say ave is 30". The farm was very wet when I bought it. This system drains any situation that has arose over the last 35 years. I never lose crops to water injury. Very expensive tile system. Has paid for itself many, many times. | |
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Grain storage or drain tile
