Quilts

Friday, July 29, 2011

Someone asked me what "checking the irrigator" meant.

I'll take you on an irrigator check.  We leave my house about 8pm so we can make sure it is running before it gets too dark.  If it is not running, we will have to go behind the lake dam to the pump house and turn the pumps off so it doesn't pump water all night in the same spot in the field.  We take our 4-wheeler, Big Red ,because we will have to go through the field.  We take off south on one of our farm roads to the section of land that we irrigate.  We then turn west to get to the path that goes  south again to the center pivot.  The center pivot is  the point in the middle of the section of land where the water is piped from the lake to enter the irrigator. The center of the pivot is about 1/2 mile from the lake.



We take this path to the center of the field to the pivot point

One half of this field has corn planted on it.


The other half of the field has beans.  We do this to spread out the risk.  We are at least guaranteed some corn and some beans because of the irrigator.


This is the pivot point where the water enters the irrigator.  Notice the light on the top.  If this is flashing, the irrigator is moving.


From here, the water is pumped 1/2 mile along the irrigator and makes a circular pattern in the field.  A water "gun" on the end of the irrigator shoots water into the corners of the field.



In this photo you can see the water gun on the end.


And this is the lake after we have pumped out of it for three weeks.

It is a beautiful sight to see the irrigator do its thing.  The irrigated crops look so good.  We really need some rain for the rest of the crops................but God is in charge of that.................we have no control of the weather.

The light is blinking on the pivot point, so we head back to the house.  Hopefully the irrigator will keep moving throughout the night.

1 comment:

  1. Most interesting blog post of the week!!!
    Thanks for the tour.

    ReplyDelete