New Way To Splice Irrigation Hose

New Way To Splice Irrigation Hose IRRIGATION Miscellaneous 3-6-18 There's no doubt that with hundreds or maybe thousands of feet of irrigation hose on yourfarm, one day you'll break or rupture a section of it. To fix it, you'll probably cut off the shredded part, shove in a section of steel pipe and clamp it down. Each time you reel up the hose from then on you'll curse the steel that makes that section of pipe inflexible. Now, thanks to a new patented process, you can have irrigation hose spliced and vulcanized. When the job's completed, the broken or ruptured hose will be as good as new. "Our crews travel throughout the U.S., going directly to farms to repair irrigation hoses," says Lois Brown, dispatcher and wife of franchise owner, Kelly Brown. Brown is licensed by the inventor of the hose repair technique - Ed Lacey, Trent, S.D. - to fix irrigation hoses throughout the U.S. "We usually like to have 10 to 20 jobs lined up when we go to an area," explains Lois Brown. "If there is only one customer in an area, it's usually least expensive to have him ship the hose directly to us for repair." Standard fee for an on-farm visit is $400. For hose repairs made at headquarters, the cost is $300, plus shipping. The Browns repair hoses of diameters ranging from 31/2 in. to 5 in. Major hose companies - including Goodyear, Goodall and Angus - all recommend the procedure and Goodyear, until this year, actually had a franchise to use the repair process in their own plant. Here's how the new process works: Bad ends are cut off at the break and rubber coating around the fabric peeled back. An inflatable member - called a "fish" - is slipped into the hose at the break and inflated with air. Patented knots are used to re-tie the fabric back together. The rubber is then replaced and a rubber wrapping vulcanized over the seanl. The "fish" is removed by reeling the pipe through an electro-magnet which attracts the metal in the "fish" and guides it out the end of the hose. The company's road crew, which travels throughout the U.S., carries everything needed for repairing irrigation hose in a gooseneck trailer pulled by a pickup, It usually takes 31/2 to 4 hrs. to complete a hose splice. "An irrigation hose 660-ft. long and 41/2 in. in dia. may be worth $5,000 so it's well worth the expense to have it spliced," says Brown. "Most hoses are as good as new once we've repaired the break or rupture." For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, C. A. Brown, Irrigation Hose Repair, Trent, South Dak. 57065 (ph 605 428-5101).

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