Help with Land drainage pipe please?

eamon11

hello folks,


I am on a large hilly and dykey site with a lot of forestry surrounding it. I recently cleared the site of trees and scrub and filled in dykes and levelled it.
However, the water table is so high in the lower part that its causing a lot of flooding. There was a dyke where the water is but it was dry as the water drain had been diverted previously.
Anyway I want to lay some yellow drainage pipe. There is a large drain 30 metres away which it can be fed into.
My question is what size drainage pipe should I use (I think there is 6 and 9 inch),how deep should it be and does it need to be surrounded by gravel or can I dig a trench to the drain and lay it directly down into it?
All help appreciated.

Many thanks

9935452

3 and 4 inch is more common here,
id be looking at round 2 feet depth dug with a v bucket or tile drain bucket.
Dept can be more or less depending on what you need to get a fall.
IMO if you go to the bother of digging a drain always use stone. use pea gravel to level the bottom of the drain. 2 inch stone drainstone up to topsoil level.
IMO its never a good idea fill in dykes. they were dug out for a reason.
Ive seen them filled in in the past for a field to get very wet after.

buffalobilly

9935452 wrote: »

3 and 4 inch is more common here,
id be looking at round 2 feet depth dug with a v bucket or tile drain bucket.
Dept can be more or less depending on what you need to get a fall.
IMO if you go to the bother of digging a drain always use stone. use pea gravel to level the bottom of the drain. 2 inch stone drainstone up to topsoil level.
IMO its never a good idea fill in dykes. they were dug out for a reason.
Ive seen them filled in in the past for a field to get very wet after.

+1 they were dug for a good reason probably with a spade

kay 9

If you have iron in the ground don't use limestone pea gravel.

corglass

Have you seen this EcoCombi drainage on done deal?

Farrell

kay 9 wrote: »

If you have iron in the ground don't use limestone pea gravel.

Just on that, what is a good stone of ground with iron?

foxy farmer

Don't run the yellow pipe directly into the open drain. Get a length of 4in wavin to carry the water the last 10ft to the drain. Stops roots growing up along inside the pipe. They can get blocked if this happens.

Figerty

Farrell wrote: »

Just on that, what is a good stone of ground with iron?

Sandstone Pea gravel.

Limestone reacts and the sharp edges hold the dirt.

eamon11

many thanks lads,

great straightforward advice there. The dyke was dry as the water which ran through it was diverted by digging a diverting drain last year. At any rate the site is over 100 years old an I have small kids and had no choice but to fill them in. The digger driver reckoned their would not be a problem as it was diverted.
I will be digging the draining trench by spade. I will not be getting the digger back for such a small job. I will try with one pipe only from the lowest point , leading to the drain.

Cheers lads.

jack of all

Is it not advisable to wrap the perforated land drain pipe in a geotextile barrier to prevent it silting up over time?

Miname

30ms at say 2.5ft deep and wide enough for gravel, all with a spade, your either cracked or have a lot of spare time.

eamon11

It will be a good workout! I used to dig an acre of spuds as a kid many moons ago, so it will bring back memories!

9935452

eamon11 wrote: »

It will be a good workout! I used to dig an acre of spuds as a kid many moons ago, so it will bring back memories!

Fair play to you if u want to but personally id use a digger. There were a lot of drains dug in the past with spades. They were never dug deep enough and collapsed .
My personal preference for any type of work is if i can use a machine i will.
Im currently looking at making a hopper or frame for the cement mixer
so i can use the digger to load it. 40 mixes one day .i just have to figure out which bucket will give me the correct mix.

Jim1000

lads,

I am doing similar. A neighbour has dug the trench already with a 3 foot bucket! Too wide I know but its done now anyway.
Its hard to get the level and fall right so I was thinking do I really need a pipe in the trench or would it be ok to just fill with stone? Shouldn't the water make it way along the trench through the stone anyway?
What's the best stone for this and does anyone know the cost of a load of it. Its 20 metres and an average of 2 foot deep.

Thanks for the replies.

sucklerlover

Jim1000 wrote: »

lads,

I am doing similar. A neighbour has dug the trench already with a 3 foot bucket! Too wide I know but its done now anyway.
Its hard to get the level and fall right so I was thinking do I really need a pipe in the trench or would it be ok to just fill with stone? Shouldn't the water make it way along the trench through the stone anyway?
What's the best stone for this and does anyone know the cost of a load of it. Its 20 metres and an average of 2 foot deep.

Thanks for the replies.

I done some draining here years back.i put pipe and stone.its not a massive length. If the pipe ever blocked it wud run throw the stone. The pipe might cost €50? Save u a lot of hassle in years to come. By the way mine is working perfect.

Figerty

Jim1000 wrote: »

lads,

I am doing similar. A neighbour has dug the trench already with a 3 foot bucket! Too wide I know but its done now anyway.
Its hard to get the level and fall right so I was thinking do I really need a pipe in the trench or would it be ok to just fill with stone? Shouldn't the water make it way along the trench through the stone anyway?
What's the best stone for this and does anyone know the cost of a load of it. Its 20 metres and an average of 2 foot deep.

Thanks for the replies.

Depends on the flow of waters in the trench. If there is a heavy flow then put a corrigated plastic pipe in to allow the water to flow and fill with 2 inch clean stone.
If there isn't a flow then just fill it with stone and work away.
Or you could fill in the drain again and get it opened with a smaller bucket and do it as mentioned above...

Jim1000

Lads,

came home this evening to find the local quarry had delivered a load of stone to the field behind my house. He got stuck too by the look of the churned up soil.
It seemed a bit big so I checked the docket that he left with the wife. Its 20 tonnes of 4 inch clean stone!
Place is closed now so I have to wait till tomorrow and I wanted to finish it this evening.
The 20 tonne part is correct, I figure even if I have some left over it will be good for fill for a driveway which I am planning soon also. But 4 inch? Now I am pretty sure I said 2 inch but let's see tomorrow what they say.

Worst comes to worst, is the 4 inch completely useless for the trench? Bare in mind its a short distance and a wide trench.

Thanks again for the replies.

Jb1989

Jim1000 wrote: »

Lads,

came home this evening to find the local quarry had delivered a load of stone to the field behind my house. He got stuck too by the look of the churned up soil.
It seemed a bit big so I checked the docket that he left with the wife. Its 20 tonnes of 4 inch clean stone!
Place is closed now so I have to wait till tomorrow and I wanted to finish it this evening.
The 20 tonne part is correct, I figure even if I have some left over it will be good for fill for a driveway which I am planning soon also. But 4 inch? Now I am pretty sure I said 2 inch but let's see tomorrow what they say.

Worst comes to worst, is the 4 inch completely useless for the trench? Bare in mind its a short distance and a wide trench.

Thanks again for the replies.

One blessing is the 4" will fill more room than the 2", so at least your trench will fill more

Figerty

Jb1989 wrote: »

One blessing is the 4" will fill more room than the 2", so at least your trench will fill more

Won't make much difference.. but will harder to shovel!!

Good loser

A bit of smaller stone on top for blinding would help - or maybe a layer of old plastic, like fert bags.