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View Full Version : Lot is trenched for irrigation - any ideas for running direct bury wire now?



Todd Burch
07-17-2014, 12:11 AM
I'm irrigating my property - a big rectangle, 3.25 acres. The main loop is about 15' inside the property boundary all the way around the lot, and then perpendicular feeders go to the trees.

My irrigation guy suggested that, if I wanted, to go ahead and run any direct bury wire I might want to run now while his trench is open. I think this is a great idea, but I'm having trouble coming up with a good reason to do that.

I'm not planning on putting in any kind of a gate or fancy entrance off the road.

All my trees are too small to light up at night.

I do have a pond way in the back of the lot, but no fish yet. I'll be reforming the pond in the next couple of years to broaden it and fix the big leak.

Anyone got any ideas for good justification for running any wire now for future use?

Thanks, Todd

Kev Williams
07-17-2014, 12:27 AM
Have you priced out electric wiring lately? If you don't have a real good reason for it, save your money!

Chuck Wintle
07-17-2014, 6:28 AM
it ssounds like your irrigation guy is thinking ahead to what might be, i.e. lighting or a workshop etc. a lot of outdoor wiring has to be run inside a plastic pipe for protection, maybe not done anymore, but you could put this plastic pipe in the ground without wire in anticipation of some future need.

Dan Hintz
07-17-2014, 6:32 AM
it ssounds like your irrigation guy is thinking ahead to what might be, i.e. lighting or a workshop etc. a lot of outdoor wiring has to be run inside a plastic pipe for protection, maybe not done anymore, but you could put this plastic pipe in the ground without wire in anticipation of some future need.

This ^^^^^. Put in taps at every turn so you can pull straight sections of line. Getting conduit in the ground now means you only have to re-dig at the corners... you'll thank yourself later.

Tom M King
07-17-2014, 8:03 AM
Maybe not in the irrigation trenches, but since the yard is dug up anyway, you might want trenches somewhere else. For instance, path lights. We have some going from our house to our barn. I like 110v, versus low voltage, since there is no transformer to have to deal with. I put ours in in 1980, when I built the place, and it's been trouble free ever since. 3-way switches on each end turn them on with a flip of a switch in the house or the barn.

When I built new houses, I ran a trench from near the road to the house, and put a couple of runs of black polyethylene pipe in it. A mason's line sucked through them with a vacuum cleaner allowed the phone and TV cable to be pulled after the yard was finished, and easy replacement in the future for trouble or something new.

George Bokros
07-17-2014, 8:14 AM
I wouldn't put direct bury electric in the same trenches with the irrigation. If you have issues in the future with the irrigation you will be putting your electric at risk when digging to fix the irrigation. If you bury pipe for the electric then you would be safer. Truth be told if you don't know where you want / need electric you may be wasting your money now.

George

Myk Rian
07-17-2014, 8:49 AM
If you have any intention of doing this, go for it now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK90Ys2LhSo

Wayne Lovell
07-17-2014, 9:03 AM
Darkness is your friend!

Phil Thien
07-17-2014, 9:20 AM
Darkness is your friend!

Yep, and it is cheap, too!

A well-lit exterior can be a deterrent to crime. But high-powered motion-detecting floods are even better, and they don't cost a fortune to operate.

Todd Burch
07-17-2014, 11:43 AM
Thanks for all the feedback. I think I will just buy some pipe and put in a short run (200') where I may decide to saw logs in the future and cap it off for now. Good idea. Maybe for a future gazebo too.

Erik Loza
07-17-2014, 3:10 PM
This ^^^^^. Put in taps at every turn so you can pull straight sections of line. Getting conduit in the ground now means you only have to re-dig at the corners... you'll thank yourself later.

+1 for putting in the wiring now. I'm getting ready to do some major landscaping in the back yard and wish I had the foresight to run more power back there when I had the chance earlier. It just costs 2X as much to do it later.

Good luck,

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Chris Padilla
07-17-2014, 4:17 PM
Run the pipe and irrigation line as far from each other as possible within the trench so that potential future work on either pipe won't disturb the other or get in your way.

Todd Burch
07-17-2014, 5:17 PM
Run the pipe and irrigation line as far from each other as possible within the trench so that potential future work on either pipe won't disturb the other or get in your way.

Not possible. The trench is only about 6" wide, and curvy, and change in height with the terrain. The main pipe is 1.25" class 200, and for certain sections, also has 2 or 3 1" zone pipes sitting beside it, along with valve wiring.

Erik Loza
07-17-2014, 6:21 PM
Assuming you ran the electrical through some PVC conduit, it would be at least as strong as the water line and new construction shouldn't be un-reliable, so I wouldn't personally lose any sleep over it. Just my opinion.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Pat Barry
07-17-2014, 8:24 PM
I would opt out for now

Ole Anderson
07-17-2014, 11:04 PM
Irrigation pipe is typically 6-8" below ground and electrical should be at least 18" deep. Much more likely to dig up irrigation than electrical. I do wish I would have run a 110 circuit to my dock when I ran a 220 to my lake pump 35 years ago.

Running PVC or poly pipe? PVC must be blown out or drained each season in freezing climates, poly is less of an issue, it can sit with water, freeze and not burst. I hope your irrigation guy ran a hydraulic analysis on your pipe sizes. Inch and a quarter sounds small for such a large lot. But it depends on how big your pump is and how many zones you will run. I run my entire lot (15 heads) on one zone, 1.5 hp pump so I don't need any electric valves.

Todd Burch
07-17-2014, 11:51 PM
I have a 2HP, Franklin Sub Drive 100 pump (variable speed, 3ph via built-in VFD). Main 1.25" PVC class 200 (aka 200 PSI) loop is ~18" deep. 1" zone lines are 12" deep, as are the 1/2" zone-line to tree lines, with a 1/2" riser and one adjustable bubbler head per tree. Small trees will get slow flow and big trees will get big flow.

Not too much freezing here, but it does freeze some. Last winter, it dropped into the 20's a couple times. Certainly not 18" deep. I will drain each winter.

I think 6 zones across ~70 heads, plus another zone for the pond fill. I think the controller is capable of 22 zones. This is phase 1 of irrigation. Other phases will follow after house is built.

Todd Burch
07-22-2014, 3:59 PM
I ended up laying about 350' of 1" PVC conduit. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

Todd

Marty Gulseth
07-23-2014, 12:36 PM
You may want to check your codes. Unless the wiring is low voltage, there may be a minimum bury depth. Best wishes!

Todd Burch
07-23-2014, 2:06 PM
Thanks Marty.

Roger Feeley
07-23-2014, 11:03 PM
Put in a single strand of copper as a guide wire. If they ever want to find what's buried, they can hook up some sort of transmitter and find it with a detector. They do this with buried optical fiber.

Where I went to college, the local school district ran optical between two buildings and saved a few bucks by not using a guide wire. I drove by years later and saw them excavating trying to find that wire without breaking it.