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JasonR
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 142 Northern Indiana
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2006-04-02          127031

I'm going to be tilling and grass seeding some small areas of my property, and they're rather far away from my house. I'm looking for an inexpensive method of watering the seed. I was thinkg about buying a 25-50 gal tank to put in my tractor's utility cart. Then I'd either have to use some sort of 12v pump - or - since I have a 25HP air compressor, I could pre-pressurize a tank. Anyone have a setup for doing this?

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2006-04-03          127067

Jason, a word of caution here, if you do the math, the logistics of what you want to do are a little staggering.

For instance, to moisten average soil down to about 6", which is optimum for germination, requires about 1/2" of rain (or water). If we use just ONE square yard as an example, that would be 648 cubic inches of water, which is 2.8 US gallons, which is a little over 23 pounds.

This doesn't sound like much until you start to apply it all, for instance, an acre of land, newly seeded, needs 56.25 TONS of water on a regular basis.

This is one of the main reasons they tell you to plant grass seed in the cool moist weather of fall.

Best of luck. ....

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JasonR
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 142 Northern Indiana
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2006-04-03          127074

Murf, thanks for the reply. Luckily, I'm only looking at smoothing and reseeding some 5' wide paths - 20' length here, 30' length there. I'm hoping to time it with rain this spring, but on the non rainy days, I'll need to get some water to it.

Jason ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2006-04-03          127076

Assuming you are not climbing mountains with your tractor, your 3 point hitch will easily lift and carry 125 gallons of water.

I have driven my 4100 with two filled 55 gallon drums on the rear, and you can put another 75+ gallons on the front loader if you have the right equipment.

A 12 volt RV water pump will run a small sprinkler and will start dry and run dry without damage.

I put a "real" axle under my garden cart and tow it with a 125 gallon tank in the bed to water and fertilize trees.

I have towed a full 225 gallon tank but that was a little too much weight on my hilly land and it required two axles or a set of running gear to keep it stable on the bumps. ....

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JasonR
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 142 Northern Indiana
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2006-04-03          127079

Thanks DRankin...

Where I'm going to and from, it's about as flat as it gets. Did you run your 12V RV pump off your tractor power? (the first one I found didn't list the full load amperage of the motor.)

On a side note - I'm in the process of fabricating the DRankin bucket mount receiver to my FEL. More for moving my trailers around vs. towing. I was going to go with something on the back end, but who knows what attachment I'll have on from day to day - whereas I'll always have the FEL on. Anyway - great idea.

Jason ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2006-04-03          127080

I have never run an RV water pump off the tractor, but if I did I would just leave the engine on low idle or use a separate deep cycle battery.

Since I only water trees I do that by gravity.

I can post a picture later today of the combo trailer hitch/carryall that I used for the 55 gallon drums. ....

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2006-04-03          127091

jason,
have never seen this done on this scale but have for single trees. You might take say 55 gallon barrel and put faucet on it for hose. Fill the tank and let the gravity water using a soaker hose.
This should free you up to haul the water. Unless you just want to sit around and watch seed sprout. ....

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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2006-04-03          127093

If you till and seed right now (as soon as conditions allow), you should get enough natural rain during the spring to get the grass up and growing.

You may not even need to water depending upon the rainfall during the spring months. Using some organic fertilizers after the grass is up is helpful without burning it. I use a brand called "Ringers" which most larger Ace/ACO Hardware and Home Depot stores carries.

I wouldn't overwork the soil, drying it out before seeding. ....

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2006-04-03          127099

YP,
The type of grass normally used in my part of the world for summer lawns requires being kept damp for about two weeks for it to sprout. Now rye grass for winter is different issue.

Jason, this brings up a question, how long do you have to keep the grass you are using wet/damp? Also, there is some kind of treatment they now use here where the seed is encapsuled that holds enough moisture for the seeds to sprout.

....

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SG8NUC
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 579 g
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2006-04-03          127112

JasonR

Water is figured for weight purpose is 9lbs per gal. rule of thumb. 200gals X 9 = 1,800 lbs. this does not include the tank. With this much water you may want to baffel the tank especialy if you are on hilly ground. ....

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JasonR
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 142 Northern Indiana
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2006-04-03          127114

Thanks for all the ideas...

Under ideal conditions, I'd like to keep the grass seed as moist as possible. On rain-free days, I'll most likely water both morning and at night. I'm going to utilize the 35 or 55 gal. drum method with a 12vdc pump. I bought the pump today at northern tool, 6.5-10A draw and for my application - it'll be more than 100 GPH flow. If the area I'm watering is large, I can load up my dual axle car trailer with numerous drums - and I'll haul that with the 4110. Otherwise, my GT245 has a utiliy cart that should hold a couple of drums (most likely two 35-gal.).

The drive to and from is flat, so I can take it slow without any worries. ....

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