afternoon.

i need to come up with a cheap way to haul water over tough terrain (1+ mile). i'll be planting a few hundred trees..i'm using a 01 rubi with a moose utility trailer.

the only good idea i have is to use a large trash can with a tight lid. i can fill up 30+ gallons and use a standard water can to 'dip' into the trash can to fill it, then distribute the water to each seedling.

i can secure the trash can to the trailer, then head back to the farm house to refill.. i figure the trailer can hold 2 large trash cans..

any other cheap ideas??

thanks in advance!

 

i suggest u should put heavy duty construction bags in the can b4 u fill it up and then tie it for less spilage and use bungy cords to hold the lids down

 

great idea - i'll do it. i was planning on using bungies to make sure everything stays put..


thanks!

 

for 10 to 20 bucks you can buy empty 50 gallon drums from almost any large oil distibutor. Such as a gas station that has bulk oil or something to that effect. I used to work at one and the core charge is usually 10-20 bucks for a 50 gallon drum. The plasic drums have a lid at the top that is about 3 inches in diameter and you could rig up something to dump it out whre you need it. The problem with trash cans is when you get very many gallons there is alot of pressure on the container, so if you use a trash can you might want one that is fairly heavy, if your going over rough terrain im guessing the sides might split on plastic cans, metal trash cans might work though.

 

I don't know what the load capacity of your trailer is but water weighs 8 lbs to the gallon. If you figure the capacity in gallons that your trailer will haul and then check with a RV wrecking yard in your area you may find a tank suitable for your use. If you hook a hose to one of the outlets on the tank you can use gravity to water your trees.

We have used such a system to water windbreaks when getting them started. A 250 gallon tank on a pickup will water a bunch of trees. We use a 1" hose to speed the process up.

As a side note, we also planted several fruit trees that were about 6' tall. To water this bigger root ball we dug the hole out a little oversize and wrapped a length of the flexable drainfield hose about 2/3 of the way around the root ball. One end of this 4" pipe is left sticking about a foot out of the ground. To water the tree for a week you just fill up the pipe and the roots are well watered. Has worked out great.

What kind of trees are you planting? Sounds like quite a project.

 

I guess I'm lucky, I have 3 - 300 gallon tanks ( left over throwaway's from work )... I use an old compact pick-up box trailer I paid $50.00 for with one of the 300 gallon tanks... the ag stores sell several sizes of ag tanks, & some of them are reasonably priced... I gravety feed mine also, & I've reduced mine down from the valve to a 75 ft 3/4" hose, & I park in 150 ft intervals, so that I can limit the moving of the trailer, & just have to move the hose around... unforunately you have to haul water a mile ( about 3-4 times farther than I currenly haul water ) ... you will find that if you have alot of trees to water, that the smaller trash cans / 55 gallon drums don't last very long... I usually like to water between 3 - 5 gallons per tree, per time, & a 55 gallon drum, with 5 gallons per tree will only do 11 trees ( I used to water with a plastic 55 gallon drum, with the same hose set up ) ...

 

Look at Notherntool.com for different sprayers. Here are 2 examples- CLICK Click2 That's a lot of typing.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img]

 

thanks for the replies - great ideas!

it looks like i have my work cut out for me - i can spend some money for some long range solutions (i think i'll be doing quite a bit of planting over the next 30+ years), or use some of the low-frills ideas to save $$.

i'll be planting walnut, ash, oak and maple - most are 2+ year seedlings.

now, if i can just keep the deer away! (i figure i'll loose more than half to hungry animals!)

 

You could add a pump to a cheaper metal drum and then fasten it to your trailer? Maybe it will rain alot.

 

How about setting up containers that will collect rain water at different locations where you are planting? You can even use a small pump that is powered by a drill and some hose. Then all you'd have to take out each time would be a hose and the pump.

I have a long pipe with a point at the end. You drive the pole into the ground until you hit some water. Then you mount a hand pump on the top of the pipe. You could probably hook a hose to the hand pump. Make your own well.