During the time that #1 green is out of play we decided to take advantage and update the irrigation heads and control. The irrigation system at
KGC is a
mish-mash of control systems and design logic. A quick and dirty explanation with respect to water distribution (i.e. pipes) is best said by the phrase "size matters". More of an explanation would make an uninteresting subject even more boring. The control system can be explained a little easier. A irrigation head is kept down by either the absence or presence of a stimulus which can be either electric (called a normally closed system) or hydraulic (called a normally open).
KGC has hydraulic on the back and electric on both the front and back. Number one green is has electrically controlled heads but, because "size matters" and because of wiring the old heads could only operate in one particular orientation. What we are planning to do is increase the volume of water feeding the green by looping the pipe and increase control by adding new wire. The following pictures show the process, equipment, and supplies needed for such a project.
First we had to dig out the old heads and add new heads and pipe.
Sometimes you can push the limits of the pipes properties and give it an extra tweak to make a corner!
Adding extra heads means adding new wire too.
We pulled over 3000' of wire from #1 green back to the field controller on #3 tee
The resulting trench requires some clean up but not as much as a trench made by a chain trencher
Where we used a chain trencher we had to screen out the rocks when we back filled
New heads watering #1 green
