Opinions about lay flat hose

Hey, everyone


I've been looking for efficient, cheap ways to get water to my pastures, most of which are over 300 feet from my well.

I grew up using hand line and wheel line. It's expensive stuff.

Recently, I've seen lay flat hose used. 2 inch or 4 inch stuff is used as the main line. I'm interested in using this.

It seems that there's black lay flat that is quality stuff. I've looked at Farm Tek and a few other places, but I've only found the blue shiny stuff that's used as the output from a trash pump.

First, what are your thoughts about using this stuff?

I have a steep incline that goes down to my pastures. Do you think the hose will try to work its way down the hill over time? Solutions?

Is the black stuff what I need? Where can I find it?

Thanks ahead of time for your help.

--JS

P.S. Yes, I'm building up my pasture to hold water. It's a work in progress. For now, I need to irrigate.

Jeremy,

I work on a farm that uses tons of lay flat for irrigation purposes. The blue stuff is a bit thinner, but seems to hold up for multiple years. We've also used a thicker, dark red layflat that i'm assuming is a bit more expensive (i'm not the one buying the materials, sorry i don't know the pricing). The only time there's been trouble is when rodents chew holes in them while in storage. You can use barbed connectors to piece hoses together though, so even if you get a tear here and there, usually no big deal. We were dealing with fields that were pretty far away, like 300 feet or more, and they worked. You want to make sure the pressure from your well isn't so high that it blows through the thinner lay flat though. I'm pretty sure they're rated for such things.

Sorry I don't know more specifics, but let me know if you have any questions-Joe

Thanks, Joe

I have concerns about pressure, so I'm thinking of putting a couple tanks on the top of the hill. I'll put a timer and float valve on the tanks to fill at night. Gravity feed to the sprinklers. I know the pressure can still get high with gravity, but the descent is only 70 feet.

I'll look for the red stuff.

If you run the hose on contour it should not move as much, and if you anchor the hose by looping it around tree or hooks/pegs in the ground it should not move much.

You could also bury the pipe a inch or two. Also sub-surface water is the best type of water, followed by on ground drip type irrigation, the worst is sprinkler/sprayer types.


The idea of water a pasture, doesn't rest well with me.

It seems that your problem is that you want more greener grass. Watering is only one possible solution
Have you tried rotational grazing, swales on contour, planting more nitrogen fixer/aka fertilizer.
Maybe you have to use animals more tolerant of our location. chicken vs duck, goat vs cow, or just a less picky cultivar/breed.
Reseeding the pasture with more drought tolerant cultivars/species, you may have to reseed twice a year one for summer "grass" and another for winter (winter rye).

Here is a pasture list too.
The main thing to remember is that you want 4 types of plants 1.N-fixers, 2.Drymass, 3.Pest control/medicine, 4.Aerating roots
I would plant 7-12 plants in each category.
mustard
burdock
alfalfa
lamb's quarter
fava bean
sweet clover
lupine
landino clover
buckwheat
hairy vetch
daikon
black-eyed peas
comfrey
sun flower
yarrow

Excellent post and I couldn't agree with you more.

I get about 14 inches of precipitation annually. There isn't consistent topsoil. I've noticed that I'm getting the most/best growth in the shade. I believe that's because the sun isn't baking the ground and the wind isn't as much of a factor.

My goal is to build up the soil so that it will hold water.

Last season, I made a couple trials.

I've found that once I get ground cover started (with irrigation), I don't need to water as often to keep things lush. In August, I found I only had to water once a week vs every 3 days.

I've planted the following:

mammoth clover
comfrey
sunchokes
alfalfa
radish
sunflower

Yarrow is native and I encourage it.

I plan to drag a bunch of furrows to create edges in the pasture. I'll make sure they aren't straight lines and I'll run them roughly east west.

Thanks for pointing out that I could run the hose on contour. I've cut three terraces in the slope above the pastures. I can snake the lay flat on them.

Just an update. I figured out that the stuff I saw wasn't lay flat hose. It's oval hose. Here's a link...
toro blue stripe oval hose

Since your best production is in the shade, alleys of some edible shrub might be one solution. The problem would be to find one that will thrive with 14 inches of rain.

Good point, Dale.

I'm going to try a hedge of willow along the south side of my pasture this growing season. It will take a while for the willow to get big enough to notice any differences. I'm also planning fruit trees and oaks in the pasture. I think your idea about the alleys might be something for me to implement with hazelnut bushes and berry bushes.