# Wheel Line Irrigation



## wannabe2020 (Feb 28, 2020)

Hey everyone,

So I need to get some insight on wheel line irrigation. I am a new assistant manager on a cattle ranch. I do not have much experience with moving alot of wheel lines and need some insight with our current operation. We raise our own hay and have about 1000 acres of irrigated ground. About 300 of that is our main hay ground. We currently have about 15-17 wheel lines on those 300 acres. The land runs along a creek and has a slew which cuts through the middle of most of this ground, these two things make it very difficult to have long wheel lines and most of the fields are odd shaped. This also means your always adding and dropping wheels. We have a really hard time keeping guys around that want to work as the irrigation hand. We usually employee one man to be the main irrigator at this site and then have some extra part time help. I feel that there are some things we could do to be more efficient but I think this position is really hard on guys and they seem to burn out or become overwhelmed by it. It seems simple enough but I dont have the experience to be a good judge of whether or not this is too much work for 1-2 guys. Also does anyone have anymore advice on hiring and also training irrigators? Thanks for your time.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Sounds like you might need to do the job yourself for a couple weeks full time to get a better idea of what you are asking someone else to do.

Not being a smart a** , but when a desk jockey doesn't know what is involved in a job it may sound easy when in the field it is not like it looks from behind a desk..

A week or two may give you a better inderstanding of the job and give you a chance to figure out something better..


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## scout (Jan 14, 2015)

I manage a place with 2,000 acres of irrigation, but no wheel line so I can't help you there. Irrigation is hard and constant maintenance. Main thing like SC said above, become good at it yourself. As for keeping the people, listen to them. They may have ideas about making it easier or more efficient. Even if you don't think it will work, let them try it (unless you already have and then explain why it won't work). If maintenance is needed, be there helping. I stay involved, ask what they need, and help when they need it.


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## Hay diddle diddle (Nov 17, 2017)

Should be all over how it works fully anyway. What happens if all your men leave. Hard to train up new guys if you dont fully know all the ins and outs. 1000 ac of flood irrigation here, no help and been doing it for 32 years. Tests all newbie non irrigation farmers out when they move to our area. Many only last a few years as they cant handle the workload.


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## gosh (Sep 28, 2014)

wannabe2020 said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> So I need to get some insight on wheel line irrigation. I am a new assistant manager on a cattle ranch. I do not have much experience with moving alot of wheel lines and need some insight with our current operation. We raise our own hay and have about 1000 acres of irrigated ground. About 300 of that is our main hay ground. We currently have about 15-17 wheel lines on those 300 acres. The land runs along a creek and has a slew which cuts through the middle of most of this ground, these two things make it very difficult to have long wheel lines and most of the fields are odd shaped. Thiso also means your always adding and dropping wheels. We have a really hard time keeping guys around that want to work as the irrigation hand. We usually employee one man to be the main irrigator at this site and then have some extra part time help. I feel that there are some things we could do to be more efficient but I think this position is really hard on guys and they seem to burn out or become overwhelmed by it. It seems simple enough but I dont have the experience to be a good judge of whether or not this is too much work for 1-2 guys. Also does anyone have anymore advice on hiring and also training irrigators? Thanks for your time.


We have several wheel lines. They are pretty good on square or rectangular fields. But when you have to start dropping wheels to get into a triangle, it starts sucking quickly. Reassembly is a pain for me. The line doesn't track in a straight line, so if you drop say 4 wheels to get into the triangle, you can drop them all at once and it's not a big deal. But when you get back, the line isn't going to be aligned so you can just reattach the 4 pieces at once. You have to take each one apart and reassemble one at a time. Time consuming. And if it's not level ground, the wheels want to roll downhill, usually about the time you get the teeth lined up and are reaching for a clamp. When that happens, you have to find a rock to stick under the wheel to keep it still and then rotate it until the teeth line up.

We have a creek that divides our place as well. I started buying up used hand line. I set it up in the corners and leave it there as a solid set until it's time to cut.

You have a A LOT of lines for the amount of ground you're covering. If I could see an aerial photo of your place, it might help me understand better or maybe offer a suggestion.

As has already been said, the absolute best way to learn this is to do it yourself. The second best way might be to contact some of the former employees and see what they have to say. Find out from a person who has actually worked on your place to see what suggestions they might have. Maybe they're just lazy, but maybe they could offer some insight. Maybe there's a bunch of bowed pipe out there and they just got tired of trying to fit it back together. Pure speculation on my part without seeing it for myself. A lot of variables here and I'm probably not addressing what the real issues are.

I am willing to speak with you on the phone if you would like. We still have well over a foot of snow on the ground, so I'm not going to be busy for a while yet. Send me a direct message with your phone number if you want to talk.


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

I have a neighbor that put in a pivot, and he said he was going to get more production out of his hay field. My question is do you get more production having a pivot compared to flood irrigating?


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## Hay diddle diddle (Nov 17, 2017)

Production...I would say no. A good well laid out flood setup in my opinion will yeild more. But there are other things to take into consideration. Early and late season a pivot is probably better as you can put a little bit on. If water access is an issue a pivot is better. If the flood system is full gravity and doesnt require pumping. Then the costs are less. Then there's the inevitable pivot replacement cost (they do fall over in strong winds occasionally)


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

I guess the OP never came back....


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## gosh (Sep 28, 2014)

SCtrailrider said:


> I guess the OP never came back....


Bummer. I would have liked to go over some basics with him. If he's hiring people with no experience, he needs to be able to show them how to do the fundamentals instead of just having them figure it out for themselves.

I feel bad for not checking the website sooner than I did.


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