On Sunday, the water intake pipes froze, the third time this winter. It is kind of frustrating when they keep freezing, no matter how much insulation you throw on them.
The temperature right now is about -10, but it feels more like -20, especially when combined with a wind. When we work up there, if there is a film of water anywhere, it freezes. Pronto.
The intake is in really rough territory. There is a rough outline of a road up there, made by the old farmer's International TD-18 bulldozer (It's clutch gave out during this and the "Road" was never completed) before he died. This area is accessible with a quad, but a 4x4 truck will have a little trouble going up it.
The intake is fairly straight-forward. A dam collects water which flows from a pipe to a "Overflow" box. The box keeps water moving while a pipe at the bottom of the box takes the water to the house and irrigation system.
We had some problems with it before, as in the fall, a irrigation valve broke, and drained the system. This caused the old tarp liner in the box to come loose, so when the valve was fixed, and the tank started filling, the tarp covered the intake pipe, preventing any water from entering the system. We had to change the liner out, and it's not a pretty job when the temperature's dropping and you are soaking wet.
The first time the pipes froze, the pipes going to the box were 3-inch plastic sewer pipes (which is strange. I guess they were cheap) so, we chopped them out and replaced it with a length of aluminum irrigation pipe. That only lasted one day, as the next morning, the pipes where yet again frozen solid.
So, we grabbed all the 7-foot sections of 4-inch water pipe we had, and replaced the entire length of pipe to the box. We grabbed a bunch of tarps and wrapped it around the pipe as a form of insulation.
The tarps made a small difference, as they lasted for about a week.
this time, the entire pipe was frozen solid. We worked the pipes apart, and towed them back to the house, where we spent a hour thawing the ice out of them (4-inch-wide "Pipecicles", anyone?)
After the pipes were clear, we hauled them back up, reassembled them, and lined the pipes with garbage bags fill with Fiberglas insulation.
Lets hope that's enough for the winter!
The temperature right now is about -10, but it feels more like -20, especially when combined with a wind. When we work up there, if there is a film of water anywhere, it freezes. Pronto.
The intake is in really rough territory. There is a rough outline of a road up there, made by the old farmer's International TD-18 bulldozer (It's clutch gave out during this and the "Road" was never completed) before he died. This area is accessible with a quad, but a 4x4 truck will have a little trouble going up it.
The intake is fairly straight-forward. A dam collects water which flows from a pipe to a "Overflow" box. The box keeps water moving while a pipe at the bottom of the box takes the water to the house and irrigation system.
We had some problems with it before, as in the fall, a irrigation valve broke, and drained the system. This caused the old tarp liner in the box to come loose, so when the valve was fixed, and the tank started filling, the tarp covered the intake pipe, preventing any water from entering the system. We had to change the liner out, and it's not a pretty job when the temperature's dropping and you are soaking wet.
The first time the pipes froze, the pipes going to the box were 3-inch plastic sewer pipes (which is strange. I guess they were cheap) so, we chopped them out and replaced it with a length of aluminum irrigation pipe. That only lasted one day, as the next morning, the pipes where yet again frozen solid.
So, we grabbed all the 7-foot sections of 4-inch water pipe we had, and replaced the entire length of pipe to the box. We grabbed a bunch of tarps and wrapped it around the pipe as a form of insulation.
The tarps made a small difference, as they lasted for about a week.
this time, the entire pipe was frozen solid. We worked the pipes apart, and towed them back to the house, where we spent a hour thawing the ice out of them (4-inch-wide "Pipecicles", anyone?)
After the pipes were clear, we hauled them back up, reassembled them, and lined the pipes with garbage bags fill with Fiberglas insulation.
Lets hope that's enough for the winter!
Labels: acreage, Bulldozer, Farm, pipes, renovations, tractors, water
posted by Chris at
12:36 PM
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