Trench Closer?

[wheelinag]

I have a little over 3 miles of trenches I need to close up. All were done with a 6" wide trencher and vary from 12" to 30" deep. They are mains, sub-mains, and laterals for a pecan orchard irrigation system. My dirt is an alluvial silt loam, with a decent clay component. If I catch it at right moisture level, it should behave decently for this based on pushing it around with other blades.

The only thing I have that might be suitable for this task is turning a landscape rake to an angle, but I suspect I'd be making multiple passes and I'd have to dodge sprinkler heads. I'm thinking I can weld something up in half a day and hopefully save a lot of time with something more purpose built. We've only planted 2/5ths of what we're going to plant, so this will get further use.

My general idea follows the below picture of tile trench closer, but much more crude. I'm dealing with loose dirt from the trencher, so I don't need to be as robust or fancy. The largest channel our steel place in town had was 10", which will probably do the job fine. I'm going to make a V with a 5' opening on the front that closes to about 8" in the back. This is where soil moisture content and trial and error will come into play. I don't know if an 8" opening will clog up, but my thought is to start off small and then cut more out of the shoot if necessary.

Anyone have practical knowledge with doing this?

1st pic is of commercially available tile trench closer.

2nd pic are my trenches

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

DYI something like this, as it won't clog up.

Pivot Track Closers and Trench Closers - Blu-Jet Tillage

Center Pivot Irrigation Track & Drainage Tile Track Closers. Pivot track closer, Track Filler, trench filler, track tillage.

www.blujetequip.com

 

[wheelinag]

DYI something like this, as it won't clog up.

Pivot Track Closers and Trench Closers - Blu-Jet Tillage

Center Pivot Irrigation Track & Drainage Tile Track Closers. Pivot track closer, Track Filler, trench filler, track tillage.

www.blujetequip.com

View attachment 156138

That's awesome, but I'm not making that in half a day and I'm definitely not buying that. I do have a set of small discs I could run in front of the V.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

There are a ton of other options available:

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Tilmor - Mini Disc Harrow - E-Ox Kit

Enhance your cultivation process with the E-Ox Disk Harrow kit, ideal for pre-planting preparation and post-planting weed control. Easily adjust disk angles for customized cultivation degrees. Crafted with durable powder-coated steel and zinc-plated disks, this kit offers versatility and...

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Look at local sales for and old disk:

 

[D2Cat]

I'd use the backfill blade on the trencher. My old R40 has a 6-way. It would backfill that trench as fast as you could walk it, and do an excellent job.

Even if you had to rent a different trencher, you could backfill quickly and easily.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

TROYBILT rototillers have a 'hiller/furrower' attachment, simpler version of the big green machine you posted.

 

[wheelinag]

I'm going to drink a few beers and weld this channel into a V and give it a try. If it doesn't work, not much is lost.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

If you have a 3pt disk, I bet you could lengthen the top link AMAP to let the rear gang down and pull that in. Assuming removing the front gang would be too much trouble.

 

[Survivor]

You could use a rear angle blade and push one side of the trench at a time in reverse. The curved backside of the moldboard will windrow the loose soil over into the ditch without tearing up the grass.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

You could use a rear angle blade and push one side of the trench at a time in reverse. The curved backside of the moldboard will windrow the loose soil over into the ditch without tearing up the grass.

GRASS????????

It's a dirt field.

 

[Yooper]

You might also consider lining the inside with some plastic to help the soil release the sides better. McMaster Carr has a lot of choices.

 

[Motion]

Before closing the trenches, I'd suggest getting the coordinates of all key components for future use.

 

[wheelinag]

I should update this. The situation improved by at least 50%. The biggest issue was Johnson Grass clogging the V. On sections with less Johnson grass it worked really well. I did end up throwing a set of small discs on top of the V for weight.

I'm going to revisit the situation this winter when I can pull the irrigation out for a long period of time and deal with the plague that is Johnson Grass.

 

[Russell King]

@wheelinag ”deal with the plague that is Johnson Grass.”

Do you have a plan for eradicating the Johnson Grass? I resorted to using glyphosate on my 5 acres that had about 2 acres of solid Johnson Grass. I just sprayed but there are also wipers that you can use to apply herbicide.

I found it interesting that using glyphosate at a lower concentration level was more effective than using the higher concentration. I assume it was able to get further into the rhizomes before the plant stopped transmitting it.

 

[wheelinag]

@wheelinag ”deal with the plague that is Johnson Grass.”

Do you have a plan for eradicating the Johnson Grass?

On young pecan trees, you generally want a grass/weed area around the trees so they don't compete for resources. You can tell I'm doing the opposite of that I'm new to doing to the Ag world and unfortunately, I wasn't able to be at our orchard when the Johnson grass started, so I've now started the slow process of getting rid of it.

String Wing Wick Applicator - Green Leaf Inc - Valves, Couplers, Spray Tips

green-leaf.us

Currently, I'm only worried about it around the tress. I've sprayed twice with a small boom sprayer with decent results, but I'm scared to get really close to the trees as Glyphosate can harm young pecan trees. On saturday, I tried out the below wick, which I think you were describing. I mixed 1/3 Glyphosate and 2/3 water for a total batch of 2.5 gallons. This ratio came from one of the State extension offices. I "wicked" 24 rows at around 750' per row, at 5' wide for the wick, and 24 rows, which comes out to about 2 acres. Everyone seems to mix the concentration really heavy for wicks. The steel holding the wick onto the front end loader was sticky with Glyphosate when I was done. Looked like someone wiped shellac on it.

In the boom sprayer, I mix a 1% solution per the "Texas Pecan Handbook" and spray at 2-3 mph.

In the fall, I'm going to nuke the entire 15 acres so I can hopefully smooth the field out better and either plant a cover crop or Bermuda.

 

[Russell King]

You may be able to get some good information from your local county extension agent. Eventually the shade from the trees will help you out.

Supposedly keeping it mowed down short will help get rid of it but I was not able to be there often enough to keep it mowed down.

Just remember that you can drag all kinds of seed around the property after mowing so blow off the tractor and mower before leaving the field!

Using a marking dye is also helpful to see where the herbicide is and how much is applied.

You can pull it up in its first few months of new growth (after you get rid of the old growth) because it doesn’t get too much rhizome spread until year 2.

Good luck and keep after it! You can win! Then you might have to battle the KR Bluestem!