Installing tile drains in fields

This type of work is employed to make sodden paddocks viable
This video explains the whole system very well.
It shows 27 acres being installed with poly tile drains.
tile-drainage

I wonder if there's a way to solve that problem without burying poly in the field for the next guy to dig up...  

Sometimes I hear tiling a field causes the next person downhill to have more water and the fix to that is adding drain tile.  And the problem keeps moving downhill with the tile installer there to help all the way.

I would like more backstory to understand the situation that would warrant this sort of installation. Obviously somebody has a lot more surplus water than I do.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:......Obviously somebody has a lot more surplus water than I do.

(Raises hand in the back of the room....  )

I don't have percentages of the Red River Valley running from around Wahpeton, North Dakota  (USA) up through Winnipeg, Manitoba, but a sizable number of acres are farmed with installed drain tile.  Even before the advent of corrugated/synthetic piping, the region apparently needed a fair amount of surface draining (ditches, land-planing) to access the amount of tillable land that was desired for the immigrating population over the past 1.5 centuries.  Apparently, it was just too swampy otherwise.  But I suspect all of the pros and cons have to be weighed, often not really considering future generations, when such an endeavor is implemented.   If interested in more detail, see

https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/tiledrainage/documents/faq-about-subsurface-tile-drainage

As  a side note, the region is finally moving forward on a diversion project on the Red River......similar in many ways to Winnipeg's diversion put in many decades ago.  There will likely be drain-tiled land on both the protected side of the diversion as well as on the "hold-back" side of the diversion.  Will the hold-back water during significant flood years negate the efforts of drain tile in those fields immediately upstream of the flood-gates?  Looks like an experiment in progress.......   Again, more detail if interested here>>

https://fmdiversion.gov/

For our own small acreage an needs, we do not see a need for drain tiling, although the flooding and high water table can be problematic at times.

Hey,

I am watching the video and typing down notes as I go!

very similar to agg pipes,

The presenter had a contour survey for the farm, this was done with a truck and a mounted GPS, which was connected to a base station,
This is easy to do because it is a "paddock" an open field,
They used Trimble instruments which are cheap and easy to operate.

The tripod connected to the car batter is the base station,
so the survey is a relative survey!

the accuracy of a GPS in 2021, for a civilian with this set up is roughly 2cm for position, and 5cm for height, this is fine for the purpose.

clearly has some benefits with preventing the soil from becoming water logged.

But I am concerned about
1. wasting fertilizer
2. why they did not apply a membrane around the pipes
3. why they did not put aggregates around the pipes.
4. environmental issues, from the fertiliser run off.
5. did not apply a bioreactor to catch this fertiliser.

I personally have my own system I am still perfecting with some kinks yet to be designed out.

So I use pumice French drains, but I also use igneous rocks to speed up and encourage movement, at key points, I do not do this to remove water But to channel it to where I desire it and that is deep under my garden beds where it wicks up into garden to water the garden. My goal is to make the system out of fly ash tile pipes, so many issues with moulding it, with the right porousness. and for it not to disintegrate due to weathering!
I have taken a huge break from this project!


Cool video, nice share!

I am glad you are watching and then commenting.
Its a very detailed explanation of the whys and wherefores.
Basically about 27 acres of this farm was soaked with water in may and the growing season extends to thru to september .
By draining the water the grass growth improves by as much as 50% which in his case means he hopes to gain 4000 lbs of extra weight from cattle in the paddock.
Such draining only works on ground that is poorly drained so large areas of the countryside will not be flooding pastures down stream.

The system install here is 6 miles long for the 27 acres.
I think it's impossible to make french drains etc on this sized project.

The use of tile drains has been working for about 150 years and the issues of blocking, fertilizer loss dont seem to be a problem.
I think membrane socks are not used because they are not needed in this case but is used where the soils are fine sane etc.

Basically it is used because it works and pays for it self.

Johns link to the paper from Canada mentions this;
The greatest benefits of tile drainage typically are realized in wet years, but because drainage promotes deep root development,
crops often will have better access to soil moisture in dry years. During extremely dry growing seasons, a
tile-drained field certainly might have less available water at some point during the growing season
than an undrained field.
Whether such an effect would offset the early season positive effects of drainage is unknown, and highly
site- and year-specific. In general, where poorly drained soils exist, crop yields will be more uniform from year to year with tile drainage

FLOODING DOWNSTREAM
Tile drainage impacts on downstream flow and flooding have been the subject of much debate for
more than a century. The influence of tile drainage on stream flow involves complex processes that
depend on many factors. Therefore, generalizations Tile drainage impacts on downstream fl ow and
fl ooding have been the subject of much debate for more than a century.
Some of the important factors that will determine the impact of tile drainage on downstream fl ow and
fl ooding include soil types, rainfall (or snowmelt) amount and intensity, point of interest (near the fi eld
outlet or over a larger watershed), time frame of interest, existing soil moisture conditions, and the
extent of surface drainage (including surface intakes) and channel improvements. “

The golden rule of drainage water management is to drain only that amount necessary to create adequate fi eld conditions
and retain water that may contribute to crop production

John C Daley wrote:I am glad you are watching and then commenting.
Its a very detailed explanation of the whys and wherefores.
Basically about 27 acres of this farm was soaked with water in may and the growing season extends to thru to september .
By draining the water the grass growth improves by as much as 50% which in his case means he hopes to gain 4000 lbs of extra weight from cattle in the paddock.
Such draining only works on ground that is poorly drained so large areas of the countryside will not be flooding pastures down stream.

The system install here is 6 miles long for the 27 acres.
I think it's impossible to make french drains etc on this sized project.

The use of tile drains has been working for about 150 years and the issues of blocking, fertilizer loss dont seem to be a problem.
I think membrane socks are not used because they are not needed in this case but is used where the soils are fine sane etc.

Basically it is used because it works and pays for it self.

Johns link to the paper from Canada mentions this;
The greatest benefits of tile drainage typically are realized in wet years, but because drainage promotes deep root development,
crops often will have better access to soil moisture in dry years. During extremely dry growing seasons, a
tile-drained field certainly might have less available water at some point during the growing season
than an undrained field.
Whether such an effect would offset the early season positive effects of drainage is unknown, and highly
site- and year-specific. In general, where poorly drained soils exist, crop yields will be more uniform from year to year with tile drainage

FLOODING DOWNSTREAM
Tile drainage impacts on downstream flow and flooding have been the subject of much debate for
more than a century. The influence of tile drainage on stream flow involves complex processes that
depend on many factors. Therefore, generalizations Tile drainage impacts on downstream fl ow and
fl ooding have been the subject of much debate for more than a century.
Some of the important factors that will determine the impact of tile drainage on downstream fl ow and
fl ooding include soil types, rainfall (or snowmelt) amount and intensity, point of interest (near the fi eld
outlet or over a larger watershed), time frame of interest, existing soil moisture conditions, and the
extent of surface drainage (including surface intakes) and channel improvements. “

The golden rule of drainage water management is to drain only that amount necessary to create adequate fi eld conditions
and retain water that may contribute to crop production

Thank you for replying about my concerns,
its good to understand these things,

In regards to My pumice system is in its infancy stages.

In addition thank you for sharing this forum!

Tile drains can really help dry out wet fields, but it’s worth thinking about where that water goes. Might be good to combine with swales or retention areas to manage runoff better.