laying drip tape

Jack

501 Club
hello everyone
I been searching the web, looking to see if anyone has used their cub to lay double rows of drip tape. or even a single line for that matter, I seen the video of the guys using the cub to lay the plastic mulch, I plan on using that method for the plastic. If you have a technique of laying the drip tape, please share.

thanks Jack
 
Have you tried searching this site for "drip tape" and "plastic mulch"? Either of those will keep you busy reading for a while. (I realize this will include a bunch of your own posts.)
 
Jim Becker":31rgsj4z said:
Have you tried searching this site for "drip tape" and "plastic mulch"? Either of those will keep you busy reading for a while. (I realize this will include a bunch of your own posts.)
I was considering buying a mulch layer. but decided against it. I want to use the cub for laying the plastic mulch, and I was hoping someone else put trip tape down with a cub. my plans right now is walking the drip tape out and then covering it with the plastic mulch.
 
Look at how a cable plow (like used in underground utilities, Case, Ditch Witch, etc) operates!

You could attach a chute to a cultivator shank and plow it in with the same principle!

Or just move to NE Ohio where it rains every other day! :)
 
Most I have seen have the drip tape installed prior to the plastic. If working on a lot of drip tape, then I'd suggest installing it with a "pipe layer". These are used for plastic pipe or for wire installation for an "invisible dog fence".
Cable-Installer-EZTrench-02-lg_145.jpg

If the ground is already turned, then just drop it in a furrow.
 
outdoors4evr":qessltfb said:
Most I have seen have the drip tape installed prior to the plastic. If working on a lot of drip tape, then I'd suggest installing it with a "pipe layer". These are used for plastic pipe or for wire installation for an "invisible dog fence".
Cable-Installer-EZTrench-02-lg_145.jpg

If the ground is already turned, then just drop it in a furrow.
I have quite a bit of drip tape to install, I think I will set the rolls of drip tape on a stand, then walk it down the raised rows, then use the cub to cover the rows with the plastic mulch.

thank you for the replies
Jack
 
Jack, are you fabricating a mulch layer for your Cub? If so, it seems to me to be a matter of building a place to mount one or two spools of drip tape in addition to the roll of mulch. A neighbor raises acres of vegetables and uses one device to lay the mulch and tape in one pass. I'm sure his unit is a commercial one.

Bill
 
Bill Hudson":253cpg61 said:
Jack, are you fabricating a mulch layer for your Cub? If so, it seems to me to be a matter of building a place to mount one or two spools of drip tape in addition to the roll of mulch. A neighbor raises acres of vegetables and uses one device to lay the mulch and tape in one pass. I'm sure his unit is a commercial one.

Bill
hi Bill, I was going to buy a commercial mulch layer with the drip tape attachment, but it's costly so I seen the video of the guys using the cub to install the plastic mulch , using the cultivator arms and hiller disc on the rear. so I figured I would save myself $2500 plus freight.
 
I guess usefulness of any suggestions may change, depending on specifics, like bed width, how deep you want the tap etc. But here are some thoughts that may be useful.

To put the tape down, I'd probably start with a standard on a cultivator and attach a tube to the back side to guide the tape in behind it. For the tube, how about a 90 degree plastic underground electrical conduit? Size it to whatever seems like a good fit for the tape. A bracket to hold a spool of tape should be easy enough to come up with. You probably want some way to provide a little rotation resistance for the spool. If you want to do 2 lines at once, you can duplicate the whole thing and mount them side-by-side. Of course, that would require having two spools of tape, when you may not otherwise need to buy a second roll. You can also put a single unit together and mount it offset to one side of the tractor. Lay one tape, then turn around and go back in the same tracks to put down a second line.
 
201C8342-6939-464C-93B2-C54B63CEAF61.jpeg5EB63322-C339-4293-88CD-565FE3ACA1EA.jpeg4D8DC649-48AA-4395-BFC5-51FCAFD32117.jpegI also use drip tape in my garden. I built a small cart out of pipe, flat stock and some old wheels off a push mower. I cut plywood circles to support the cardboard sides of the drip tape rolls and used a piece of threaded rod as an axle for the spool to turn on. The cart rolls easily along the ends of my rows and it easy to pull several hundred feet of drip tape off of it. Sorry for the poor pictures I took of it. Lots of clutter in my shed and poor lighting but you should be able to get the idea. I’ll be happy to get some better pictures if you would like me to
 
SamsFarm":2q1fs742 said:
How many years service do you get from your drip tape?
last year was my first year using drip tape. I'm going to use new drip tape this season, with 6" spacing.
(aqua - trax FC )
 
If you are diligent about taking it up and winding it back on a spool you can easily get two years use out of it. At least that’s the case with the tape I use. I will admit though that I don’t always get mine out of the garden in a timely fashion and a lot of times mine is so overgrown with weeds that I break it taking it up. It only costs about 3 cents per ft so I really don’t get two concerned about reusing it. I do always save and reuse my main line that the tape tees off of and all my fittings. My garden typically has 20 rows 100 ft long so I use about 60 dollars worth of drip tape per year. The 2-3 hours of my time taking it up and rolling it back on a spool aren’t worth it to me
 
Back
Top