They Use Concrete Tile Instead Of Plastic

They Use Concrete Tile Instead Of Plastic TILING MACHINES Tiling Machines 23-6-27 Concrete drainage tile costs about twice as much per foot to install as plastic because it's more costly to produce. But, according to the Hector Tile Co., Hector, Minn., concrete tile is actually as economical as plastic if you're hiring the job done. Hector Tile recently had one of its tiling crews set up a comparison test. The plot was located on a relatively flat field with about 18 in. of topsoil underlain by clay. They installed both plastic and concrete lines on the field, 650 ft. long and 50 ft. apart, and then measured water coming out of both. They used the same machine, a Wolfe Drainage Plow, to install both materials, at a depth of about 4 ft. on a 0.2% grade. How did the tile lines perform? On the average, the concrete lines had 2.27 times more water flowing at the outlet than the plastic lines. "We concluded that if the concrete lines draw more than twice as much water from the soil, we can double the spacing for concrete and still do as good a job as with plastic," says Dwight Anderson, with Hector Tile. "If 4-in. concrete installed costs twice as much per foot as 4-in. plastic installed, and we can get by with half as much concrete, then the cost is pretty much the same in the end." Anderson says the larger the tile line, the less difference there is between plastic and concrete per foot. He suggests using concrete for 6-in. or larger tile mains, even if the laterals are plastic, since concrete is more rigid and less likely to collapse. While most commercial tilers who install concrete or clay pipe use trenchers, Hector Tile uses a tile plow that is similar to the smaller tile plows used for plastic pipe. The self-propelled Wolfe Drainage Plow lays concrete tile in place as the plow raises the soil. No backfilling is necessary. The machine requires several people to operate. One works the controls. Two keep the 8-ft. long boot filled with sections of concrete tile. The boot itself is wide enough that one worker can watch the tile drop into place and, at the same time, mark any areas that might not be laid correctly because of rocks, etc., for immediate repair. "This is not a machine an individual farmer could justify owning, but it does an excellent job of laying concrete tile lines with very little soil disturbance," Anderson says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Hector Tile Co., Inc., Rt. 1, Box A3, Hector, Minn. 55342 (ph 320 848-2646; fax: 320 848-2573).

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