“No Tile” Drainage Dries Wet Fields Fast
Dave Horn has a “magic bullet” for draining wet spots or even entire fields, and it doesn’t involve using drain tile. His trailer-mounted knife cuts through hardpan to a depth of 5 ft., towing a bullet-shaped tunnel-maker behind it. Equipped with RTK, LiDAR or GPS, the so-called mole plow provides the benefits of tile drainage without the tile.
“Because you’re not laying pipe, you can travel much faster, and it costs less since you aren’t paying for pipe,” says Horn, Horn’s Welding Shop. “The knife creates a passage for water to move down and into a tunnel created by the bullet. You can create a tunnel on grade to pull water away from wet spots to drainage ditches or simply down slope. Just start at the wet spot.”
The bullet-shaped piece of steel creates a 4-in. dia. tunnel. The knife is a 1-in. thick bar of Algoma GP100 steel with a tensile strength of 120,000 psi, or 3 times that of mild steel. The angled edge slices through the heaviest soils. A shoe at the end of the knife acts as a pre-opener for the bullet. The bullet is chained to the shoe as well as to the knife itself.
The knife is mounted to a 12 by 8 by 1/2-in. steel arm, which in turn is mounted to a 2-wheel trailer with 12 by 12 by 1/2-in. steel for the frame. Heavy-duty cylinders on the arm raise and lower the knife.
“Our unit is built heavy enough to handle a 600 hp. tractor,” says Horn. “However, we’ve pulled it with 250 hp.”
The soil type, ground conditions and depth can affect the horsepower needed. They also can affect speed.
“In dry conditions this past summer, we were pulling the knife at 5 mph at a 5-ft. depth,” relates Horn. “As the RTK reduced the depth, we reached 8 mph at a 3-ft. depth.”
According to Horn, the bullet-created tunnels should last 8 to 10 years in soils with at least a 45 percent clay content. Freeze and thaw cycles don’t seem to affect them.
“Tunnels created in northern Minnesota 3 years ago are still flowing,” he says. “If a tunnel stops flowing, just move over a few feet and make a new one.”
Initially priced at around $40,000, rising steel prices are driving up Horn’s costs and resulting prices. Horn builds the units to order with pricing based on the cost of steel at the time.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Horn’s Welding Shop, P.O. Box 223, Oak Bluff, Man. Canada R0G 1N0 (ph 204 736-2908; daveswelding@hotmail.ca).
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“No Tile” Drainage Dries Wet Fields Fast MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Dave Horn has a “magic bullet” for draining wet spots or even entire fields and it doesn’t involve using drain tile His trailer-mounted knife cuts through hardpan to a depth of 5 ft towing a bullet-shaped tunnel-maker behind it Equipped with RTK LiDAR or GPS the so-called mole plow provides the benefits of tile drainage without the tile “Because you’re not laying pipe you can travel much faster and it costs less since you aren’t paying for pipe ” says Horn Horn’s Welding Shop “The knife creates a passage for water to move down and into a tunnel created by the bullet You can create a tunnel on grade to pull water away from wet spots to drainage ditches or simply down slope Just start at the wet spot ” The bullet-shaped piece of steel creates a 4-in dia tunnel The knife is a 1-in thick bar of Algoma GP100 steel with a tensile strength of 120 000 psi or 3 times that of mild steel The angled edge slices through the heaviest soils A shoe at the end of the knife acts as a pre-opener for the bullet The bullet is chained to the shoe as well as to the knife itself The knife is mounted to a 12 by 8 by 1/2-in steel arm which in turn is mounted to a 2-wheel trailer with 12 by 12 by 1/2-in steel for the frame Heavy-duty cylinders on the arm raise and lower the knife “Our unit is built heavy enough to handle a 600 hp tractor ” says Horn “However we’ve pulled it with 250 hp ” The soil type ground conditions and depth can affect the horsepower needed They also can affect speed “In dry conditions this past summer we were pulling the knife at 5 mph at a 5-ft depth ” relates Horn “As the RTK reduced the depth we reached 8 mph at a 3-ft depth ” According to Horn the bullet-created tunnels should last 8 to 10 years in soils with at least a 45 percent clay content Freeze and thaw cycles don’t seem to affect them “Tunnels created in northern Minnesota 3 years ago are still flowing ” he says “If a tunnel stops flowing just move over a few feet and make a new one ” Initially priced at around $40 000 rising steel prices are driving up Horn’s costs and resulting prices Horn builds the units to order with pricing based on the cost of steel at the time Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Horn’s Welding Shop P O Box 223 Oak Bluff Man Canada R0G 1N0 ph 204 736-2908; daveswelding@hotmail ca
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