The Correct Way To Install A Yard Hydrant! 

Dude, thanks so much for letting us come along this trip with you!!!! I'm so excited to see this leg of your journey come to its destination.

I will , in all likelihood , never install a water hydrant but you really make me want to ....... fascinating .

This is awesome!! Love the T post for support and the bucket for the gravel. WAY less gravel needed. 👍

Thanks for the tutorial! I've been wanting to do one for my garden but didn't even know where to start. Your pros and cons and professional advice is valuable!

Amazing work, you should teach these skills at the local high school or community college....worth more than a 4 year degree for sure 👍🏼

Great tips. Never seen the bucket method before, I like it, clean, easy, and fast. Thank you, ENJOY

Why do you do a pex extension down before adding the elbow instead of just directly attaching a 3/4" elbow to the bottom of the hydrant? Since the hydrants is suspended, it would seem like the direct connection to the elbow doesn't matter.

Very nice way of using the buckets & gravel! Never saw that before...thank you for the video :)

Thanks! We see those in some national parks and campgrounds while traveling. Interesting how they are installed, thanks for showing us. Excellent additions to your homestead!

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this. I love the 5 gallon bucket idea for keeping the gravel in place.

This is awesome! Thank you for your advice. You are a very intelligent man. You often reminds me of my dad. He could do anything and everything. I’m getting ready to put an outdoor faucet at my house. It took me only a few minutes to find this video that I watched years ago. So glad you have things in a play lists.

Like the bucket & gravel tip, wire tying to T-Post is clever way to keep it off the pex pipe👍👍 Vinny 🇺🇸

Thank you for the bucket tip. I am getting close to putting my water line in on our property and I was planning on installing 2 hydrants, one at the pump house and one close to the house plot. Thanks again. Love this channel. :)

This video is still providing valuable information. Just installed my first hydrant thanks to your tips.

Easy-peasey. Simple, solid, good job.

So smart with the bucket idea. Your channel is so very interesting. I am sure everyone is learning from your channel, Heath. Keep up the great video's.

Brilliant idea using those buckets. Just brilliant ! As you say, fast, easy, effective. Thanks !

I agree with several other people who have commented on this video. I have never seen one installed in quite this manner but I thought it was very clever. I like the idea of using the cut off saw to trim the holes in the bucket as well. I like to use gravel around my yard hydrants but usually just make a loose pile of it. I can see where your method would keep the gravel cleaner longer. Also, I like the T-post for a support. I usually put something next to the hydrant for support, bi It had not considered a T-post. I have a ton of old posts sitting around from taking up old barbed wire fencing that is no longer used.

I have installed those hydrants and love them never used the bucket great idea I will remember that for the next time

Great job I'm fixing one at the moment and telling wife how the one I'm replacing should have been done and just for the hell of it wanted to see how others do it and you nailed it brother great video wish everyone did em this way it would make my life so much easier as a regular mr fix it lol

Loved watching the video I just like to sit down with a coffee and take the wight of my feet and watch the video keep up the good work all the best Danny

The need arose on my property and I'm glad I remembered you could speak from experience. Thanks for a great video and explanation.

The Red Poppy Method, I like it. It works for me!

Nice deal using the bucket! I always wrap the threaded portion to below it with electric tape. That's one spot they fail....where the galvanizing has been cut through.

Thank you for the tutorial. I will definitely be using the bucket and gravel method to replace my hydrant. This is because my gravel became infiltrated with dirt and plugged up my drain which is one reason I’m replacing it. The other reason is that the O rings on top are worn and allowing water to leak out when the hydrant is turned on. Thanks again.

I’m missing one important tool here: backhoe. That’s going to really increase the cost of putting in my hydrant, but since I need one anyway....

I agree with you 100% on everything in this video. My parents use Woodford Y34's and have had some in the ground for over 20 years. When I put mine in I went with the same model, they are pricey but are definitely worth it. I didn't use pex, but did use the bucket method. My neighbors keep complaining about needing to replace their hydrants every couple years and I found out they use the cheap Chinese ones. I've recommended the Woodford and I think that's what they are going to replace them with. There just isn't another good brand that I'm familiar with.

90 degree “street elbow” At the bottom of the hydrant Is the way to go!!

I like the install method it looks good. I may borrow your idea for my own aplication.

I had to reinstall a bunch of improperly installed hydrants on an 80 acre property in the Midwest, I sleeved the whole setup, won't do it any other way from now on. Makes future repair simple. I got the idea when a main broke on a 24 unit apartment complex under the parking lot. I was cussing a storm until I checked the line at the city connection and noticed it was sleeved all the way to the building. Turned a multiple day job with concrete repour into a half day job.

Super nice work bud , I never even knew the name of those lol , I'm a dork , I know how to use them lol

Excellent video, I've installed several before but you gave me some new ways to do the next 3 thanks.

Great minds think alike! Thanks for your tips, I will be installing 3 next week, however mine are buried @ 6 feet with pvc. I think I will give the bucket trick a shot. Have you considered using a curbstop to isolate your irrigation water from your house supply water? Just a thought which would allow a hydrant failure not to take out supply to your house.

Installing one tommorow for a customer up here in Saskatchewan ours are quite a bit taller than those but that bucket and gravel method is gonna be used for sure as well as the T post for support he bent both his during the winter with his tractor. Maybe after this install he will pay better attention to where he is driving. Thx for the vid made it look easy.

Using the bucket....Genius tip...

Thanks for posting this video. Now I don't feel so intimidated about installing one this summer.

great video, we are going to be installing one ourselves soon 👍

We normally use a brass MIP X hose barb 90 degree ell on the bottom of hydrant. Using a bucket full of gravel will work good,we use a large scrap of big drainage tile filled with gravel.👍

I put a 4in PVC pipe sleeve around them. Put a brass tee on the end of your hydrant, in the tee port. Drill two holes thru the sleeve pipe about a foot from the bottom and slide the hydrant and tee inside. Insert two 4-6in nipples into the tee thru the holes drilled the sleeve. This suspending the tee in the middle of the sleeve. Cap one nipple and connect the other to your water line. I drilled a bunch of holes in the sleeve below that point and wrapped some filter fabric around it capping the sleeve, securing it with zip ties, but your bucket of gravel method would work fine too. After it is all buried (the sleeve pipe should stick out of the ground a bit) put a bit of insulation in the top of the sleeve pipe. Then get a 4in cap, drill a hole the size of the stand pipe in the center and cut it in half. Put the two sides of the cap on the sleeve centering the hydrant by the hole, and clamp the cap in place with a screw style hose clamp. Then someday when you need to replace the hydrant, you just unscrew it from the ground. No digging it back up. Another thing that is good about this, is that if the valve leaks, it weeps out the vent hole underground where you cannot tell. With the sleeve, you can shine a light down there and inspect it or use a sewer camera to inspect it.

I saw a guy who used screw on fittings 90 degrees from each other so that if a vehicle hit it from any direction it would twist the screw on fitting tigher or looser.

Smart idea. A bucket!

Nice video. Good to know Woodford is made in the USA. I'm interested in US-made hydrants, but my frost level is a lot shallower than your video, and I won't have that equipment handy for trenching.

Love this idea!

Like the bucket idea

Great video! Thanks for your insights on installing a yard hydrant!

Never saw one of these in Brazil. Sad thing.. looks really cool !

Nicely done brother. We do the the same way and have never had a problem

I was using some old drain tile rather than a cut bucket, I think the bucket will make part of this a lot easier. This looks easy enough for a whole new line, but I'm installing one in the middle of an existing water line, which turns out to be a lot more complicated, getting it screwed on without crossing threads and juggling the limited pipe movement, T post, drain nipple, gravel, and two very poor assistants.(One doesn't know a socket from a screw driver and moves like a glacier while the other is stone deaf and ham fisted. oiey)

I think someone is having so much fun playing on his excavator he forgot to show us it!

That is really useful information thanks for sharing.

Gravel doesn’t dissipate into the dirt. Pex is not rated for underground without wrapping with a special tape. You do not need a t post. At 3 foot bury the hydrant will be fine. I have 30 installed with out any support They are all use every day.

I really like the fact you don't do anything 'halfway'.

I'm going to have to install some of these. All installations by previous owners on my property have failed! So, I like your tips. But, one question. Won't the metal t-post conduct cold to the valve underground? (More correctly, conduct heat away from the underground valve and radiating to frozen ground thus making it easier to freeze the valve.)

very smart way of doing it ill remember that

Great method! Will definitely use it this summer when I have to add an additional 8-10 hydrants on the farm. I used PVC on the other hydrants, but, might switch to PEX on the new ones. New sub here :)

Thanks for the video. Simple process.

i've been using t-post drivers wrong.

What do you do for the surface? Retaining box full of gravel for a mud free area? Have never seen anyone else use the bucket to contain the gravel around the drain before so will have to remember that. The pex is nice for the flex it gives if someone dose end up hitting the hydrant and nice idea on the post to wire it to as they will last for years.

thank you, bucket trick is cool

Hi Heath - thanks for the bucket tip, I'll use it next time out at our horse barn. BTW, why have you not installed water shut off valves to isolate a line or a hydrant? Thanks and hang in there on the shop/house, there is light at the end of that tunnel!

Very cool. I see so many "professionals" skip the gravel step. I leave my one frost-free hydrant on all summer long with a timer valve so it does not have to drain back every use. I do wonder if this is putting any form of stress on the hydrant. Essentially like leaving it on with a shutoff at the spigot.

Thank you for sharing.

I'm going to use this looks very strong

Heath, see the new excavator on your neighbors channel... when you going to offically see the dream machine!!!???? The hydros look great by the way.

As a plumber, have you installed any of the "Yard Hydrant Made Easy" (from Midwest Innovative Technologies - MITI) hydrants? What are your thoughts and experiences with that type of hydrant? Thanks, I'm enjoying your videos.

Grande trabalho solitário!

I’ve got three hydrants hooked up to city water but lose pressure in them if I use more than one at a time. Is that normal or did I do something wrong?

Can you link any more hydrant videos that is more detailed and in depth? Kina hard to see exactly how you connect everything

" Bloody Well Done "

Ingenious!

That was awesome THANK YOU.

Question I'm going out 100 feet with 1/2" pex to a camper using a hydrant,, would you think that'll work?

Great video!

5 Gallon Bucket Awesome.

The installers here use a piece of corrugated drain pipe 12-18 inches in diameter. Would you say the bucket method is the same better or worse?

What size pex pipe did you use great video Thank you

Just curious how many hydrants you've wiped out with the stabilizer down?

Not bad, but it appears that the hydrant drain is only about 4 inches above the bottom of that 16 inch tall plastic bucket. So you're only utilizing the bottom 4 inches of gravel in that bucket for your drain field. When I install a 3/4" hydrant I like to have at least 12 inches of drain Rock below the frost level.

What type of pipe and fittings are you using?

Great idea with the bucket! They seem to be installed a little low, or at least for what I've seen around here. Could just be the camera angle and the fill dirt too. I think I usually see them with 3' clearance under them. I thought I heard about 10yrs ago they they were going to be not up to code and not purchasable. Something to do with anti-siphoning and the freeze proof drain back not being compatible. Glad to see they are still available. Thanks for the videos. Stay cool and hydrated.

What kind of crimps do you use on your pex that’s going to be underground, copper or stainless?

Well I may not be first but I am present, nice video as always.

Thank you

Nice!

i want a yard hydrant but that 80 inch frost line keeps me from doing it.

Excellent

What is the advantage of a hydrant over just a pipe with a hose bib?

Do you install an 1/8" street 90 off the weep hole?

Thanks for the instructions, looks doable even in my city backyard. What is the tool you used to cut the buckets? I might need to get one.

I just can't dig that deep on my property without using heavy machinery. We're on bedrock here in LaVergne, TN

Code Requirement Update regarding Garage and Carport Floors. Yes it is a code requirement to slope those floors per International Residential Code R309.1 and R309.2. "The area of floor used for parking of automobiles or other vehicles shall be sloped to facilitate the movement of liquids to a drain or towards the main vehicle entry doorway." The code does not specify a minimum or maximum slope.

Fantastic :)

What tape are you using to wrap the elbow and why?

Awesome thanks

Love the installation technique, but the head seems awfully low to the ground. Why so low? Why not get a taller hydrant?

how high will the y34-2 stick out from the ground

What is that gold female fitting at the 20 second mark? It doesn't look like your average female union, or that it came with the hydrant. Great job! Working like a pro! I've never installed a water hydrant before, so thanks for the lesson.

you using 1/2 poly to faucets?

i would use stainless steel i have been plumbing for 40 years

Dude…..what’s your frost line?