Draining the Winter Pasture Begins - The Big Dig Part 2 

Hi, may as well answer some questions that are sure to come up repeatedly, including some from the last trenching video. 1. Last video: Use dynamite, expanding cement, rent/buy an excavator mounted jack hammer to break up the rocks in the first trench I abandoned. I took the simplest path, digging a new trench where I knew there were fewer large rocks. All of these ideas would have taken more time, money, and complication than just starting a new trench. 2. Bedding field tile in stone: This is very uncommon for long runs of tile in farm fields. Again, mainly due to expense and labor considerations. While it is a good bedding material for pipe, it does little to enhance drainage in the long term, because soil infiltrates the stone fairly quickly and all advantage is lost. If I were bedding the pipe in stone, I would lay filter fabric in the trench first, put in a stone bed, lay the pipe, cover with stone, then wrap the fabric over the top. This creates a large filtration surface at the filter fabric face, and prevents soil infiltration into the stone. 3. Putting filter fabric socks over pipes: These clog very quickly, as they have limited surface area, especially in fine clay soil. That's it for now. We'll see what other questions come up. Thanks for watching!

Yay Hilary is finally seen driving a tractor. Great video as always Pete

Enjoyed this episode. But, this is Pete, and this is Pete enjoying his new equipment. He's digging it BIG TIME 👍👍👍

I like how Pete clearly knows what he's doing with all this construction. All those years as an architect are still paying off! The laser level on the digger arm was my favorite hack.

Having been in civil utilities and heavy excavations for 20 years, seeing a former engineer operate and lay pipe brings so much joy to heart. Lol. Love your channel.

There is nothing better than a good tired day,the food is better the sleep is deeper and the most important of them all,the satisfaction of having accomplish something worthwhile.

Thanks Pete for letting me ride along vicariously as I recover from surgery. Can’t wait to get back on my own tractor.

That little machine was a great investment. I like the "adapt and overcome "way of thinking. Where there is a will, there is a way. It looks good so far. Thanks for sharing. See you later.

Thank You. When I was in my teens on Dads farm we put in thousands of 4" clay tile by hand and shovel across the fields. Trenches dug by a 580 case backhoe dragging a 10' pipe to form a place for the tile, depth was tracked by an arm off the backhoe arm that followed a wire on t posts which was set with a stick and transit. Good on you for filling the trenches before the rain, digging back out by hand after is not fun. I hope for ALL the sucess with your project that you could want!

Thank you for bringing us along, Hilarie and Pete! This stuff is FUN! Getting to use the excavator and doing useful work with it which will improve the quality of life for your cattle and yourselves is an undertaking worth doing. And you're right, Patty probably will continue to complain. It's her nature. Just as it's yours to be a master storyteller with your videos, calm voice with your detailed explanations... As others have said, you all do good work! It shows and you make it fun to watch... to vicariously enjoy and feel like we're farmers too, helping with our mental energies, thinking positive good thoughts towards your family and your farm! Thanks again!

Another Great video! I'm sure your Grandfather is very proud of you for being a good steward of the family land!

Necessity is the mother of all invention, I think farmers are some of the Best at this !!! Project coming along nicely Pete ! Have a Great Day ! GOD BLESS !!!

Ya know Pete, speaking as a total novice, I think you did an outstanding job of running that excavator!! I am impressed!! You really moved the mountains!! The water table next to the barn is nearly surface. Drainage there will make a heck of a difference. That's a really big project. Great job Pete. Good on ya mate!! Take care, BE careful, blessings on you and Hillary.

It will be exciting to see how your new drainage system works in the wet season. Lots of work!

I can’t help but be reminded of “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” original series. Hillary is the “Jim Fowler” to Pete’s Marlon Perkins! “See Hillary jump in the ditch and wrestle the drain pipe while I supervise from the machine”. 😉😉😁. Love the videos Pete and am always amazed at how well you and Hillary work together!!!

You design, dig, install, and clean up. Quite a complete construction company in one man, and Hillary.

Great whole family channel...thank you Pete...Peter

Pete u are 1 smart Dude you cqn do anything you put your mind to it is amazing what u can do. I enjoyed this video hope u and Hillery have a very blessed week

I wish your video was 2 hrs long…I could watch you all day everyday! Great vid as usual…thanks Pete!!!

Hey Pete and Hilary, You provided us viewers a great tutorial on digging and installing drain tiles and lateral lines and the importance of the installation of a couple of vent pipes to support the flow of water. Your really becoming a good hoe operator on digging the trench and proper backfilling with the stone removal to avoid damaging the drain tile. Hilary is always a great support to you on these projects.

You need to give that joke the "boot".

Great video Pete, and really enjoy seeing the “engineering plans” being applied to the project! Thank you for great content!

Neccesaty is the mother of all inventions Great job Pete and Hillary, thank goodness for muck boots 😊

Thank you for sharing the latest work on the drainage project. The digger served you well and must have paid for itself with this one big job. Peace out

The cows may not recognize what exactly has changed but I think they'll enjoy it even more. Great group of cows, especially Patty.

Good morning Pete. Nice trick with the cross connection. Hillary looks good driving a tractor.

This was so interesting! The trenches and lines are very well made this will surely improve your pastures areas . I enjoyed learning about all the connections , the ones you added to bring air in to help the water flow and how the great helpers were right there removing rocks that might injure the line . I have learned a lot , thank you ! 😊👏

Pete, you have the magic touch. Even something as mundane as installing your field drainage pipe has been enlightening and informative not to mention entertaining. Including the segment of Hillary driving the tractor is a real highlight. I don't recall seeing that before. your intitled to be tired. You have undertaken a LARGE project that many may have opted for others to do the work in spite of the expense. Keep up your amazing adventure. Health and happiness to you and your family.

Excavator Pete has a nice ring to it! Always a pleasure to watch your videos!

It looks like your system will work very well. The crossover idea was very good.

This is 'putting your education to work for you.' You've thought this out and just determined enough to get it done. Great job, Pete and Hilarie! Thanks for bringing us along.

Pete, the backhoe was sure a good investment and you are accomplishing a lot which will help in the drainage from your buildings and your pastures. The drone shots really show the layout. Get some rest, after all of your digging.

I gain some knowledge this morning watching you fit those piles. Thanks Pete And Hillary

Your soil looks so nice! It’s so dark and fertile looking. I see why your fields look so healthy.

I so look forward to your videos. Thank you

By doing all this hard work yourself, you saved yourself thousands of dollars! Good job Pete.

Beauty idea taping the height stick to the arm of the excavator. Smart feller. Great video and it seems like that little excavator was well worth it.

Great video Pet love the camera work as always your wife drives a mean tractor u lucky man and your kids helping by god the lord has blessed u god bless u and your family and friends and farm

Your clear explanation of your drainage plan solved a long standing problem I had with my drainage system. Thank you.

thanks Pete...great progress on this major project. I'm sure it will make such a huge difference come winter! All this hard work will certainly pay off !! Those overheads are a great view!

Hi Pete, You addressed my intended suggestion before I got to give it. You are right on the money with regard to the pros and cons of using stone or gravel medium and geotextile fabric when back filling drainage channels.

Love the video Pete, I could see Hillary on the excavator doing the backfill!

WOW! What a huge amount of progress! Great work!

Birds eye views are great. Explains it perfectly. Pete, I'm sure you would have an army of volunteers if you ever needed help. Honest work. Cheers to you.

Hi Pete and Hilarie and all your wonderful family, thank you for another great video. You should have your own TV programme. (Then, I guess you already do...) Your presentation skills and knowledge is excellent. I learn something new in every video you produce. Great to see Hilarie driving the tractor. Health and happiness to you all - Paul.

Wow, what a project! Your right, Patty will not appreciate it anyway! LOL

Hi Pete, I really enjoyed this video. Thank you.

excellent work, great engineering, thanks for feeding us

Great progress, you just have realize the amount of energy the heat zaps from your body. Hydrate and work at a steady slower pace. Thumbs up to you.

I am now 85 and too old to do much outside. I find your chanel great medicine for cabin fever. Thanks. 🤗👩‍❤‍👨

That wonderful pocket size excavator has paid for itself and then some! Very slick and energy efficient job. And of course Patty will bellow and complain for her lost "Mud Spa for the Hooves" all winter long. Oh the torture of it all! She will tell you all about how you have ruined, yes, RUINED her experience of that mud spa all winter. Have a great dinner and catch up on your rest, all of you, before those rains sail in.

Has become my favorite channel does a great job with his videos, and keeps them interesting.

A day late watching but never too late to enjoy another fantastic video!

Great shirts you’re wearing it show the spirit of Kentucky big Ed coming to you from Central City Kentucky. Have a great and wonderful day. Also love your videos. Keep them coming.

Yes the overhead shots really helped thanks for sharing

50$ for sweeps! Inflation is killing us all friend! I like the vent placement! Well thought out as usual! That mini is a handy tool to keep…. One thing that if I were your neighbor you would have had at your place was my rock bucket! Never opposed to hard work either though!! Well done!!

Work the plan ( well thought out )😄 Mr Pete. I hope all comes together next spring all your preperations great job. KEEP ON FARMIN'😝😝😝

Great content today!!!! Enjoy seeing all your farm projects 😊

Yea! Hilarie finally operating a tractor, with a loader even!

Great video as always! The corrugated pipe you are using was made by Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS) and most likely came from the Waverly NY plant or maybe the operation down in Muncy PA. Either way it is pretty local to where you are. Can't wait to see the conclusion and the flow you get from that winter pasture.

Pete, your doing a VERY professional job. 👍

Way to go Pete, great planning. 🤩😊🐂

Wow! Lots of work diggin'. You both work so hard at your farm. Love your channel. Love your jokes!.

Hello Pete Hillary enjoyed your video nice job. Have a good day.

Brilliant leveling! My dad started at the head end and dug until the water flowed in the trench.

Many thanks for sharing your experience and your videos with us all mate and all the best to you and your family and your friends.

I've watched this channel for ages now 👍. It was fab to see Hillary for once driving a tractor BRILLIANT 😉. Great job there pete with the trenching + pipeing 👍. You've mastered it working that excavator 😉. Hiya from west yorkshire in the uk 😜.

Good to see the new excavator earning its keep. Cattle will love the drier pasture. I am on clay over gravel with a water table pretty much at ground level in rainy England. Only just dry enough for machines in July! this year. Thank you for posting, best wishes from the UK.

Great job Pete and Hillary only thing I might have done differently is maybe filter cloth over your pipe

Great work. Should make a big difference. All the best 🇬🇧.

Good morning. Hilary looks good driving the tractor. Yay. The drainage should make a difference.

Another great video, use full information also! Thanks, Pete!

great video showing the principles of drainage.

You definitely won't regret running 2.

You Larsons never cease to amaze me. Thanks for another great video.

That was a big project

A farmer’s work is never done…you guys are pretty amazing!! Thanks for sharing!

Heat will take it out of you & you’re still overcoming your fever. Good work. 😎🍯🫖🍨

That digger was a great investment!👍🏻

Dang, Pete! You're Wicked Smaht! (That's Mainer-speak for I'm impressed). Always fun watching machines at work and learning the method behind the mechanics.

That baby excavator is really worth its weight in gold for this and other projects around the farm!!😂😂❤❤

Causes me to remember hand digging a deep trench through a running petroleum refinery. Days of hot sweaty work moving dirt to lay new plumbing.

love your creative use of your lazer level on yout excevator

Nice job, I think maybe you did do some excavating or backhoe work in the past, your doing pretty good. I think that is going to work great with removing the excess water from the barn. Enjoyed watching, thanks Pete and I hope you have a great day as well.

Yay Hillary! Hope you show all the drainage after you're done. It was surprising, not surprising to see all the water in the trench. Great job Pete!

Hi Pete, your becoming quite the pro with your third arm. Enjoy seeing Hillary in your videos.

"Let me bring ya up to speed." Hahaha and ya the one still digging. Great video and all those rocks are money makers waiting to be sold and shipped. Rich folk like those (rocks) minerals.

Great excavator work! I’ve seen pro land clearing people not do as good on finish grade as you did. Thanks for sharing!

The little excavator was worth the purchase

Pete no apologies needed ....we are not as young as we think and the heat takes a lot of energy away from us...hopefully you had a nice lemonade and a cool breeze to help you recover

Great UK t-shirt! (From a UK alum (1980))

Goodmorning.... thank you for another enjoyable video!!

Nice looking job Pete. But I have never seen you do anything that wasn't. That'll make a huge difference come winter. Thanks for sharing the video.

My dad said when he was a kid they got paid a nickel for every 10 rocks they pulled out of the field. The rocks had to be bigger than a large potato!

try planting rows of sponges in them wet areas!

Hi Pete, I can tell you were a architect or designer as you have design skills. Great job. At this point I am still lost. I understand that you are constructing a drainage system to move water away from your barns, I think. Maybe it come clear to as you complete the project. I do enjoy this stuff, thanks.

I'm from Southern California and all that water is mind blowing to me, so lush! I must say I'm surprised you don't use a pebble or some sort of bedding for the pipe so the water can filter in, but apparently you think it'll drain without collecting too much soil. Will be very interested in seeing how it works. I tend to overdesign, and that's not always a good thing if simple will work, right? Wow again. All that water so deep! Here, if it even rains, it only goes 2" into the soil, LOL. Then it's hard pan 🤪 We are planning on retiring to the Texas prairies in a few years, hope we have your energy at that point!!!

Nice going Pete, great to see the progress

Just for interest sake, if you can find a copy of the 'Home and Farm Manual', printed in (1873?) , it has an entire chapter devoted to drainage and the drainers art, how they did it back then and how it's almost always undervalued. After reading that I drained a piece of lawn, (maybe one acre), that always stayed wet. The water came out of the pipe like a fire hydrant when it rained and the grass improved dramatically.

THANK YOU