"Pig" Cleans Mud Out Of Gated Pipe

"Pig" Cleans Mud Out Of Gated Pipe IRRIGATION Acessories 33-6-18 Bill Snodgrass, Casper, Wyo., uses a toy ball as a "pig" to clean mud and sand out of gated irrigation pipe. "When using 8 and 10-in. gated irrigation pipe with an unlined ditch as the water source, mud and sand will accumulate in low places in the pipeline," says Snodgrass. "Such settling, even on an ideal grade, tends to restrict water flow. But the big problem is that in lower areas the joints of the pipe will fill half or more full of heavy sand or mud weighing several hundred pounds. You can damage the pipe - and your back - trying to disconnect and move these joints." To clean out the pipe, Snodgrass uses a toy plastic ball that's slightly smaller in diameter than the inside diameter of the pipe. While the water is running full bore and the far end of the pipeline is open, he inserts the ball into the inlet of the pipeline. "The water speeds up as it pushes the ball and squishes around it, which loosens the mud and sand and forces it out the end of the pipeline," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bill Snodgrass, 7100 Speas Rd., Casper, Wyo. 82604 (ph 307 234-3017).

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