Planting season is fast approaching, meaning it is time for producers to ensure their pivots are ready to irrigate.
Levi Roth, co-owner of County Line LLC, said preparation now can help prevent issues once the growing season begins. County Line was previously headquartered in Milford and moved to Friend after purchasing Friend Fertilizer, Inc., in October. Roth said Friend Fertilizer will be named County Line Irrigation and Electrical Inc. in the near future.
Part-owner of Plymouth Irrigation Trevin Likens said routine maintenance is important before planting begins. Producers can complete maintenance tasks themselves or get their pivots serviced.
Roth said last year’s windstorms damaged a number of pivots in the area, leading to many replacements ahead of planting season.
Every year before the season begins, Roth encourages producers to check tire air pressure and overall tire condition, drain water from gear boxes and top them off with oil or sprinkler lube, check center points to ensure pipe connections are secure and open the electrical panel to confirm everything looks normal.
Producers should also verify oil levels and check the condition and tightness of knuckles and pucks.
“There’s knuckles on electric center pivots, so they have pucks in between the couplers, and that’s the weak point of it, by design, so you don’t start breaking stuff, that should be the first thing to fail,” Likens said. “So, they do weather over time, so it’s good to check those and make sure all your pucks are there before you start it up.”
Likens recommends that producers check that their sprinklers are properly positioned and in good condition. They should also grease their center points before the start of planting season, a task Likens said is easily forgotten.
“At the center point, there is a metal-on-metal contact, so you’ve got to make sure that’s greased, otherwise it can bind up when that metal starts rubbing on each other – I’ve actually seen it where it bound so bad that it bent one of the center point legs,” he said. “They turn really slow, so I think it’s forgotten about.”
He also recommends emptying the sand trap, located at the low point of the machine, which collects sand and other materials instead of allowing them to pass through sprinklers.
“That’ll make sure you know how much sand and other materials you’re pumping through there, which isn’t ideal,” he said. “And, if you start seeing rust and stuff, it can kind of be a forewarning of having problems.”
Roth said producers who have had cattle roaming their fields should check the motor wires down to each center drive, as cattle can be hard on pivot wiring.
“It’s a lot of things that are easier to see than when the corn is tall,” he said. “You can just drive by it and visually see everything.”
Those using pivots for seed corn must also have pivots inspected, as children will be detasseling and roguing in the fields. Although pivots are not operated while workers are present, safety inspections are still required.
“Basically, we go through and check all the grounds, make sure the electrical is up to par,” Roth said. “We make sure that all that is good to go and everything so nobody gets shocked. We’ve got to make sure we have the right disconnects, too.”
Preparing irrigation systems early helps producers focus on the season ahead, not unexpected repairs. Local businesses are there to help.
