mole plough or drain?

jersey101

Have two 15ac fields here and in the spring they cant be traveled on at all they a so wet. They are fine in the summer and the autumn but in the winter they just open up again. Its a spring that's causing it all and its right in the middle of the field so it wets a big area. One field has been drained but they were done wrong- dug too deep in my opinion.

Should i have ago at draining them again or should i invest in mole plough?

whelan1

redrain and stone mole them...

ABlur

Whats the soil like, how deep is topsoil and whats beneath it? Is this subsoil porous or impermeable clay? This determines what type of drainage will work.

agriman27

I would put in some shores first. Mole ploughing usually works better if there are shores to catch the water coming down the moles. The two combined is a great job the moles really burst it up:pac:

jersey101

ABlur wrote: »

Whats the soil like, how deep is topsoil and whats beneath it? Is this subsoil porous or impermeable clay? This determines what type of drainage will work.

it would be fairly good soil. Top soil could be 8 inches deep. Some areas of feilds beside it have sand banks and there was gravel dug out of another part of the farm. And you could find marle if you dug deep enough. Most feilds have headland drauins with clay pipes going into them. These work well if you rod them every year

just do it

Surely you need to capture the water coming from the spring and pipe it away to the nearest trench? Depending on how big the area of the spring a mini-herring bone design with stone and pipe leading to a pipe to take it away. Maybe then you'll find you've no need to drain the rest of the field?

I've heard lads say that springs can move around though....

Timmaay

The mole plough will obviously do nothing in the fields with sandbanks, but I'm assuming those 2 15acre fields in question aren't sandy if they are wet most the time?

jersey101

just do it wrote: »

Surely you need to capture the water coming from the spring and pipe it away to the nearest trench? Depending on how big the area of the spring a mini-herring bone design with stone and pipe leading to a pipe to take it away. Maybe then you'll find you've no need to drain the rest of the field?

I've heard lads say that springs can move around though....

ye when they were being drained last time my father wanted to drain from the source of the spring but the lad digging insisted that it was better to stick the drain below the spring. He was obviously wrong

Money well spent anyway

jersey101

Timmaay wrote: »

The mole plough will obviously do nothing in the fields with sandbanks, but I'm assuming those 2 15acre fields in question aren't sandy if they are wet most the time?

ye well the ones with the sand banks are dry. Its mainly thats the clay pipes in the feilds have collapsed due to neglect over the years, they work grand in the rest of the farm

ABlur

Would it be worth getting in a diviner to find the source of the springs? Often they surface far from the source so difficult to drain correctly.

Figerty

What will surprise you is that the amount of water from the spring that it takes to mess up a field is very small. It doesn't take more than a small constant feed of water to soften a place up.

Put a drain right into the spring, drain it away with a pipe right through the mess caused by the spring. Come back next year and see the difference.

just do it

Figerty wrote: »

What will surprise you is that the amount of water from the spring that it takes to mess up a field is very small. It doesn't take more than a small constant feed of water to soften a place up.

Put a drain right into the spring, drain it away with a pipe right through the mess caused by the spring. Come back next year and see the difference.

+1

jersey101

Ye i hope to reseed this field next year again so ill have another go at getting the spring, there was a load of drains put in it before but id say they were down too deep

jersey101

ABlur wrote: »

Would it be worth getting in a diviner to find the source of the springs? Often they surface far from the source so difficult to drain correctly.

what is that ABlur nwver heard of it??

just do it

jersey101 wrote: »

what is that ABlur nwver heard of it??

jersey101

just do it wrote: »

ah i know what it is now i seen me father walking around the field one day bending a sally branch in his hand. Didnt know what he was at.

Am i right in saying that it starts to move back and forth in your hand when your near a spring?

just do it

jersey101 wrote: »

Am i right in saying that it starts to move back and forth in your hand when your near a ******?

Jeez jersey, I'd hate to take that sentence without the context:D:D

jersey101

just do it wrote: »

Jeez jersey, I'd hate to take that sentence without the context:D:D

i may be more carefull with me sentences with ye lads around :P ha

mf240

just do it wrote: »

Jeez jersey, I'd hate to take that sentence without the context:D:D

Ya when ya get near the wet patch!!!!

mf240

Figerty wrote: »

What will surprise you is that the amount of water from the spring that it takes to mess up a field is very small. It doesn't take more than a small constant feed of water to soften a place up.

Put a drain right into the spring, drain it away with a pipe right through the mess caused by the spring. Come back next year and see the difference.

+2

nashmach

Just after doing something similar here over the past few weeks.

I think it is also important to go a little beyond the source of the water and then straight through it and then to the stream/river.

The field here was all piped to one collector drain which was below the level of the stream. Took a lot of digging to find that pipe