Field ditching

[csservices]

Field is very much up and down but multiple outlets should sort that.

 

So you're saying option B, as long as the fall is there overall it's all OK?

 

Yep, without seeing it I can't say for definite but so long as you have a fall acroos the whole length then should be all good, we've got one ditch on the farm thats over 6ft deep to allow for the ups and downs and height differences between the fields but thats an extreme case, any field drains should be around 2ft depth so ideally you want to be below them to allow to discharge freely into the ditch.

[Graham]

normal is a 1 in 6 fall so with a level if you just dig and so far along check what the bottom of ditch was when you started if its lower than the hight at start it should run. or put in drainage pipe covered in teram water goes in pipe and runs to end into channel or stream. no ditches around so whole field can be used

 

Should that be 600?

[difflock]

A good diggerman and mark 1 eyeball, plus a little uncommon sense.

Plus as mentioned if it is wet enough to need draining/ditching and done in the wetter months, should be self explanatory.

Assuming you have a higher end and a lower end.

Simply strike one grade right through, end to end.

Dead flat is OK for an open watercourse, cos it will simply silt up and find its own fall.

The biggest "enemy" I have found down through the years is diggermen who "waste" fall needlessly.

Quite frustrating.

Plus the silt is good habitat for overwintering frogs.

I generally get sheaughs in the Moss dug well overdeep, and let them sort the fall out themselves.

Plus it means they should be good for 10 years.

I actually enjoy "draining" very satisfying.

Field drains should be 4 or 5 feet deep, sheaughs 6 foot easily.

Those 4 or 5 foot deep drains dug with a spade 50 to 80 plus year ago in stiff stony red clay.

Uncovered in cross-section on the family lands 30 or 40 year ago with one of the first tracked diggers an Atlas 1303 was it.

And still running.

Any modern tractor will destroy 2 foot deep drains

Edited October 18, 2013 by difflock

[codlasher]

An ideal fall is 1' in 60' if you are in a perfect field bit if you can get a fall that will do. The idea of the 1:60 is that it will carry the silt away as the water will flow just enough to do so.

Mini diggers have advantages & disadvantages with buried field drains. The biggest disadvantage being their stability against their ability to dig a narrow trench and their inability to lift a builders bag of shingle. Bigger machines will effortlessly dig the perfect trench but only down to a 12'' width as that is the narrowest bucket that will fit and lift a bag full. This meant the cost of the 40mm gravel is more expensive. You will end up with what I would consider the perfect drainage trench done with an excavator.

The next level is a hired chain trenching machine, be it on a 360 or self propelled, that will dig a 6" trench that you can either pipe and backfill with 40mm. I would seriously consider this option if you have long runs to do.

Up another level in this type of machine and you will be looking at a satelite guided, laser levelled machine capable of doing levels to the nearest mm but comes at a price of £1000.00 per acre. (which in a big area is the cheapest option) This will trench and lay the pipe in 20 metre runs across your field in no time. This is followed by the hopper tractor trailer machine that fills the trench created with 40mm shingle to a set level and then back-fills with the remaining soil with a front mounted plough. Job done.

 

I have used all these methods and if I had a chain trenching attachment for my 360 I'd reach for that every time on smaller jobs but as I haven't I use my 12'' bucket and lay the blue perforated pipe on a bed of 40mm then add more to cover. I have bagged (builders bags) of 40mm that I dangle over the trench and very carefully split the bottom with a weeding hook so a trickle of shingle falls out. The bag is then moved up and down the trench to allow the shingle to cover the pipe. Non woven geotextile is then laid in strips over the shingle and the trench is finally back-filled.

coidlasher

[doobin]

Great picks Codlasher, thanks for the info. However, the OP was about a ditch at the field edge. Field drains as such will be done with a molelough.

[codlasher]

Sorry I've no pictures of the moiling as I was away working, although I managed to get a neighbour to bring his Caterpillar Challenger along when he was nearby to mole over the top of the land-drains. There's two settings for this; Ploughed field is full depth, grass is 18'' deep.

I did a little ditching locally in 2009 after the wet winter and have done more on other jobs as a 'make up the last day' type of thing but it's not something that I do too often as the ditches are mainly kept in good order so the existing outfalls can discharge without becoming clogged.

 

The farmers plough the spoils into the field or leave them on the edge depending. The reason for smoothing the bank is so the flail can run along without catching resulting in a clean shave!

Edited October 19, 2013 by codlasher
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