Watering Food Plots

[EastTexun]

Anybody ever attempt to water their summer/early fall food plots? I have seen pics of guys that had access to center pivots, but curious if others have tried/succeeded in other methods.

[hog_down]

Just want to ask, do you have access to a well, or will this be a self sustaining system? I'm trying to figure out the same thing...

[gingib]

I wish I could on my 2.5 acre plot in the summer

[Drycreek3189]

On the 217 acre place that I sold I had the same idea. I drilled a well and put in some pvc to three food plots. I had a sprinkler “gun” that would spray 75’ so 150’ circle was what I could water. I found that it was impossible to maintain them with my system, mainly because well water is not nearly as good as rainwater. It takes much more of it to do the same thing. I worked my butt off on weekends watering those plots but it was a losing battle. If I had put in an automated sytem like I have in my yard it would have been better but I wasn’t willing to spend that money nor dodge multiple sprinkler heads while planting.

[Calrob]

Anybody ever attempt to water their summer/early fall food plots? I have seen pics of guys that had access to center pivots, but curious if others have tried/succeeded in other methods.

IF (big if) you had a well that would feed it, look up waterreels.com. I use to have one for hay that would throw water 100' on a 100' hose. You set the reel, pull the hose out, turn the water on and it shuts off when the head gets back to the reel. You need alot of water volume though.

[BrandonA]

IF (big if) you had a well that would feed it, look up waterreels.com. I use to have one for hay that would throw water 100' on a 100' hose. You set the reel, pull the hose out, turn the water on and it shuts off when the head gets back to the reel. You need alot of water volume though.

How much water volume?

[EastTexun]

My well was not designed for irrigation, and the distance to my plots would make that impossible unless I was running very large pipe, which is expensive. I do have 2 year around live creeks that are reasonably close to a few of my food plots, and a couple artesian wells that I have considered augmenting to make a pool of sorts. The model that I have been toying with on and off is either a rain catchment system/roof that drained into IBC totes or a pump triggered by a float valve (or combo of the two) that pumped into IBC totes as necessary. Using irrigation math, for a portion of the food plot, 6-8 IBC totes would get me started on one location with partial coverage assuming sporatic ETX rainfall and 1x per week watering per station. All the pumps would be 12v with solar charge capabilities so it can work when I am not there.

I tested in theory last fall at my house using 12v pumps, a water barrel and found that I the pump I already had will push 1 50ft radius rotor per station w/o issue and could push 2 barely. Lot of pump upgrades available, but all $$$. To combat the issue of dodging heads while planting and mowing, I thought about adding unions so I could break it apart when necessary. I am more than slightly concerned the hogs will use the sprinkler heads as battering targets and bust them up, so that may be a challenge.

My current plan is to attempt this with a float valve triggered pump that will take water from a creek that runs right next to a food plot to fill a single IBC tote (acting as a pressure tank), with another pump driving 6-8 stations. This plot is long and narrow, which gives me good coverage with a 50ft radius head.

[EastTexun]

How much water volume?

Each setup is different and has specs.

[Low Fence]

I can and have in extreme situations. The cost is astronomical. You ain’t gonna do it with a water well.... or a tank that’s towable. And irritating ain’t the same as rain. It’s better than nothing but crazy expensive

I pump out of 2 holding tanks, with a 300ci. Ford on propane. Takes a LOT of water... and a LOT of fuel

[Calrob]

How much water volume?

Well, that I dont exactly know. They are all different depending on alot of things. I was fortunate to have already had a well drilled for a pivot when I bought this place. It was a 2" line with a big in ground pump( I think 45hp) and an above ground pump to assist. I just hooked a reducer and a fire hose to it. Im sure it exceeded 30 gpm

[SNKETR]

Here's an interesting read. Obviously based in Hawaii, but the principles are the same. After going through this thread my first question was what's the total gallons i would need to water 1 acre to a depth of 1". General google consensus is ~27,150 gallons. On my well that produces an average of 15gpm, that would be 30hrs per week to produce that much water.

The other thing would be storing it. A 30k gallon tank is roughly 26' in diameter and 7' tall. The only available price i could find online for a tank that size is $18,000. Of course you could do a smaller tank and water one section at a time. I'm just doing big budget numbers.

I'd love to do this one day, but gonna have to pay down the house a bit first.

[steve morton]

Smaller "kill plots" maybe an arena waterer?

[EastTexun]

Thanks for all the input so far. There is no way on a limited budget to do even 50% of my food plots with irrigation, but doing a portion of even 2 plots would make a big difference in my opinion. I can grow the forage, but between pressure and high summer temps I don't get much benefit in August/September. I do have afternoon shade on the edges of a few of my plots, and it would be those that I try to irrigate to some degree.