There are custom hay harvesters, and then there are custom hay harvesters–like Morrill Hay Company, Inc. of Larned, Kansas. Because, every spring through fall 10,000 acres of alfalfa hay are routinely swathed and baled by his company, according to owner George Morrill. He owns 20 percent of the acres in alfalfa. Approximately 60 percent of the entire acreage is irrigated. Annual dryland yields vary with the rainfall, but generally fall into the two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half tons an acre range. Irrigated alfalfa yields also vary, from five to seven tons an acre, with six tons a good average. His original experience was with flood irrigation. However, he’s since upgraded some of his own land with center pivot systems, plus put center pivots to work on the rolling hills that were impossible to flood irrigate. “Irrigation of alfalfa is important in this area. This guarantees us a higher yield and more acres to harvest throughout the summer regardless of whether or not it rains,” Morrill says. His company operates two T-L center pivots in addition to several electric center pivot systems. One of the T-Ls that he bought used is now 18 years old and, “It’s structurally sound with awfully good pipe. It’s a really well built, heavy machine that I think will last a long time yet.” Morrill reports that his T-Ls certainly don’t have the gearbox problems suffered by his electric systems. He thinks this is due to the T-L use of hydraulic motors and so not having an electric system’s continual wear and tear of starting and stopping. “You replace an electric center pivots gearbox and it’s $300-plus,” he grimaces. “Last year, for instance, we had an electric center pivot system with a big problem. We eventually replaced seven or eight electric motors and spent $3,000 on those repairs for it alone.” “The repairs on our T-Ls are definitely less. If we spend $500 a year on one we think we’ve spent a lot of money. Our experience has been that T-L repair costs are less than half of an electric’s annual expenses.” Morrill believes that, “T-L center pivots run pretty trouble free and repair free, so there isn’t a lot of extra cost coming in all the time. With just some good annual maintenance and lubrication they’ll run a long time with little trouble.” Although it’s difficult to detect by the eye, he thinks there’s also another advantage to the T-L’s continual movement. Since the unit doesn’t move fi ve feet and stop and then start again there obviously will be less variation in the amount of water applied over the field. Then there’s the safety factor. As Morrill points out, “Any time we have to send out someone inexperienced around electricity it’s kind of scary to us.” He says it’s worrisome that it’s possible for the 480 volts of an electric center pivot to electrocute a worker if he accidentally touches it while grounded and it’s “hot”. As he notes, “We don’t have to worry about the hydraulic pressure that runs a T-L hurting somebody.” Nothing made by man is completely trouble-free, of course. Regardless, Morrill says T-L Irrigation really stands behind its products. “They’re just like farm people in that they have a lot of integrity and in how they keep their word,” he adds. “There’s just not as much downtime with T-L center pivots. And, it’s downtime that can really cost you money in the hay business if it’s hot and dry,” Morrill continues. “Our experience has been that the T-L is a good, dependable machine. For the money invested for anything in our operation, a T-L is probably the best buy we can make.” PMDI Hikes Net Profit Per Acre Morrill has limited experience with the PMDI concept, with emphasis on “limited” due to having to utilize a well with capacity so restricted that he had to shut down two and then three towers` of the center pivot. Here are his observations. Pro: * PMDI alfalfa was three to four inches taller when swathed than comparable fields that were sprinkler irrigated. * Water isn’t sprayed on the leaves where it can readily evaporate by wind and sunlight. Instead, the water is applied under the canopy of the crop where it soaks in. * As both water supplies and regulations get tighter, more and more PMDI units will be installed since they’re so much more efficient. Con: * Can’t chemigate, “water up” a new stand of alfalfa, or incorporate sprayed on herbicides. Bottom line: “It looks like PMDI results in a quarter of a ton more alfalfa hay per cutting, or call it close to producing another ton of hay a year from a field!” So, even at feedlot grinding hay prices–and Morrill sells much of his hay to out-of-state dairies at premium prices–PMDI perceptibly hikes net profit per acre.

Typical of many farmers in his region, the ground that Warren Fox, Plains, Kansas, farms is sandy, loamy soil on rolling hills. So, when he began irrigating he didn’t even consider flood irrigation. As he notes, “Even if flood irrigation would have worked, which it couldn’t due to the expense of leveling alone, it just wasn’t efficient enough and I didn’t have the necessary labor.” Now he has 30 center pivot systems on the move during the growing season. Fox had experience with irrigation systems from half a dozen manufacturers over the years. Twelve of his present pivots are T-L Irrigation Co. units, with more to follow, he predicts. He bought his first T-L in 1988. He’d talked with his neighbors using T-L systems who told him they were getting along pretty well with them. “I was looking for simplicity,” Fox points out, “In short, a pivot that would keep on making circles without a lot of repairs and expense. I also liked T-L’s continuous movement, no start-stop like an electric system that can make an uneven water pattern. What I’ve found is that T-L is a stout machine with a structure that can’t be beat.” Fox likens the continual starting and stopping of electric systems to using an impact wrench on the unit’s parts since it starts at 100% speed and shuts off the same way. Electrics are just not the low maintenance machines that T-L’s are, he believes, based on experience. “If I could take a vacation with all the money I’ve spent on T-L parts and labor over the years it would be pretty short”, Fox smiles. During the thirteen years he’s been using his first T-L system the only repairs it has needed have been one gearbox and a couple of 3/8 inch bolts in the driveline. According to Fox, “That system is as dependable as the first day I bought it.” “Look at the storage bins in my shop and you’ll see only a handful of T-L parts, and I have had bins full of electrical pivot parts”, he adds. “I almost always check my T-L systems last every morning, because I know they will be running and won’t require maintenance. I don’t find that with my electric machines.” It’s difficult to calculate the true cost of a repair shutdown, Fox says, but he thinks that crop losses due to three or four shutdowns a season while the unit sits a half-day or more, can quickly add up to affect his bottom line. On the other hand, Tom Wright IV of Lakin, Kansas, started with flood irrigation. His methods evolved from ditch, to pipe, to surge valves over the years, yet he still wasn’t satisfied. “I was looking for more efficiency and labor savings,” he recalls, explaining why nine quarter-mile and two half-mile systems have replaced flood irrigation on his land. “The 60 to 80 acres we could typically handle under flood irrigation expanded to 180 acres under pivots and meanwhile increase our yields.” Wright continues, “Pivot irrigation is also a lot easier on the body. Since I quit flood irrigating I don’t have back problems.” In contrast to Fox, all of Wright’s pivots are T-L units. He says, “I decided in the beginning to go with the hydraulic T-Ls and I haven’t regretted it. In eight years the total of downtime with our 11 units has been only five or six hours. “I’ve liked the T-L strength and reliability,” he continues, “since they seem to be built good and hold together well. I also like being able to keep everything as safe as I can for my employees and me. I wouldn’t want either of us working on an electric system.” Efficiency is also important to Wright since his wells range in capacity from barely 300 gallons a minute to 450 gallons a minute. He’s also noticed none of the “spoking” effect typical of the continual starting and stopping of a neighbor’s electric pivots. This can leave portions of a crop wilted immediately after the pivot has moved on. The start stop factor no doubt contributes to increased wear, too, he reasons. As for his T-L dealer service, Wright says it’s gone from good to even better. And, he likes the full service offered that enables him to deal with just one firm for everything from irrigation well to pipe to sprinkler. Summing up his experience with T-L pivot systems, Wright says, “You can buy cheaper systems, but you get what you pay for. I’m also a Pioneer seed salesman and here also you can buy cheaper seed elsewhere, but you can’t count on the best yields with it.” Another grower, Stan Reiss, who operates near Plains, Kansas, has an even dozen T-Ls and solid reasons why they are the majority of the systems he operates: “Simplicity, and an even water pattern for better yields. This plus our being a John Deere dealer gives me an understanding of the importance of service. T-L has supplied us with excellent service.” LEADING The Pack In addition to raising corn, soybeans and wheat, Warren Fox, Plains, Kansas also pivot irrigates grass for hay to be fed to his cowherd. This eight-year-old field of WW Spar and Ironmaster is still yielding well despite its age. Fox takes off two cuttings after grazing it until June each year with his cows and spring calves by side. He irrigates two such grass circles from one well, with the pivots making a round every two days.

T-L Irrigation is proud to introduce the latest in irrigation technology. At T-L our motto has always been “The Choice is Simple.” With the simplicity of hydraulics and the continuous movement of a T-L we have the best water application you can get. T-L has gone one step further in combining the simplicity of hydraulics.This new application is called PMDI(TM) (Precision Mobile Drip Irrigation). T-L’s newly patented technology has successfully married center pivot technology with drip irrigation. PMDI(TM) consists of in line drip hoses spaced at 30″ or 60″ between lines being dragged through various crops by a center pivot or linear move irrigation system. PMDI(TM) combines the efficiency of surface drip irrigation (95%) with the flexibility and economics of center pivot irrigation. Comparing corn irrigated with PMDI from a 300 GPM well, to fields receiving double or more that amount of water, he estimates the yields will be about the same. “I’m pretty impressed with my PMDI installation with 30 inch spacings. And, while I don’t know for sure, since no water is being sprayed into the air I’m guessing efficiency is close to 98 percent,” Danny McMillan, Garden City, Kansas, remarks. Comparing his corn watered with it from a 300 gallon a minute well to fields where the systems are pumping double or more that amount of water, he thinks the yields will be right up there with corn irrigated from his best well. “The PMDI system costs a little bit more than a standard nozzle T-L package,” he says, “yet I think it will pay off after just a couple of seasons.” McMillan also says he noticed all through the growing season exceptional uniformity of the corn crop with the PMDI system. “Efficiency is what it’s all about,” McMillan sums up. “You need to utilize every drop of water that you pump out of the ground, and I feel with PMDI we’re doing just that.”

As Steve Peterson, Clay Center, Kansas, learned, there’s more to T-L Irrigation Company than being a manufacturer and marketer of pivot systems. Farming 1,500 acres and pumping water from a river, he had seven non-T-L sprinklers–and a continuing problem. His setup simply couldn’t provide the necessary capacity that would allow him to apply water over his cropland fast enough. Besides being behind all the time, he also kept having pump bearing problems at the worst possible times. Then he started talking to a neighbor, Bob Wietharn, who in addition to farming 1,200 acres of corn and soybeans was also a T-L dealer. While the easiest redo solution would have been to start completely from scratch, that option wasn’t feasible due to prohibitive costs. So, Wietharn worked with T-L’s Pump/Power Division, blending his knowledge of the area and Peterson’s specific needs with T-L’s expertise. Although usually helping design new irrigation setups, the Pump/Power Division can also be called on to suggest improvements for existing sprinkler irrigation installations. The primary teamwork objective in this instance was to come up with a solution that would get the water on when needed and utilize some less expensive alternatives. Peterson quickly implemented the primary recommendation of replacing his two existing pumps with a pair of Cornell pumps. And, what a payoff! As Wietharn explains, “This change alone increased his efficiency enough that each of his twin John Deere six cylinder engines and Cornell pumps were able to, almost double the amount of water available (from 750 gpm to 1400 gpm) at 100# discharge pressure at the pump. “The reason for that much pressure was that some of the water has to be pumped two miles through a pipe not really designed to handle so much water.” he adds. “Now his pumping setup is efficient enough to run four pivots instead of two, as before.” Oh yes, thanks to the additional capacity available, Peterson was able to install an eighth sprinkler system, another T-L. Although it’s still making its first circles, one feature has already caught his attention. As he notes, “Once I turn on the water I like not having to go out and punch buttons to turn on the pivot, too. The pressure switch automatically does this for me.” “Customers may at first think that a T-L installation costs more,” Wietharn observes. “But, we’re always looking long-term and designing a system to get the quickest payback. “You know,” he continues, “you can buy something cheap and then pay for it in the long run. Or, you can buy something maybe a little more expensive that’s also more efficient that returns your money sooner. That’s why a farmer should look at a T-L system as an investment rather than an expense.” Incidentally, Wietharn also ran non T-L electric sprinklers for a number of years. What caused him to change to T-L was the continual headache of being forced to replace electric motors and gear boxes. Then, too, his brother-in-law’s two T-L systems had recorded only one stop in a combined 35 years of operation. That was the clincher in his decision. Wietharn’s system benefits irrigators who must pump from low water rivers or tailwater return pits. He’s the inventor and manufacturer of the Riverscreen(TM), which is available through T-L dealers. Irrigating from a river that usually can be waded across, his sprinkler nozzles kept plugging up with debris that was sucked through the system. Cottonwood fuzz was the worst offender. A screen over the pump inlet that prevented sticks from entering would then plug up with the cottony fuzz. Conversely, a screen large enough to let the fuzz through also allowed larger debris to enter. “At certain times I’d have to spend several hours a day cleaning nozzles, not to mention cleaning filters.” Wietharn recalls. “I finally decided I’d either have to come up with something different or quit watering through a sprinkler.” His answer was the Riverscreen(TM), which can allow pumping from a depth as shallow as a four inches in running water. An optional power drive requiring as little as six gallons per minute can be added for use in slow moving water, tailwater return pits, and manure lagoons. Another option is a galvanized lifting boom with a brake winch. This boom lets one man quickly swing out and gently lower the Riverscreen(TM) to the water’s surface where it floats in place on four pontoons. The screened, rotating drum measures 32×48 inches, and rests on an aluminum frame. Four inches of water isn’t much, yet that’s enough depth, according to Wietharn. That’s because he designed his unit to draw from an area approximately seven times the size of the suction line that typically operates on a velocity of less than five feet per second. As a result, the Riverscreen(TM) can operate anywhere there is four inches of water above a stream’s bottom. Water moves past a series of paddles which force the drum to rotate and clean itself of debris. Six, eight, and ten inch models are available, also a four inch unit with an 18×24 inch drum is available on special request for low gallonage pumping into high pressure end guns. “The three Riverscreens(TM) I use have eliminated any trouble I was having pumping out of shallow water,” Peterson sums up. “I used to have to walk my sprinklers every day to unplug nozzles. Now I rarely ever have to unplug a nozzle, and I can utilize a cost effective pivot sprinkler system on my crops.” T-L DIVISION Provides Design Know-How Plus Components “Our goal,” emphasizes Harold Poppe, “is to work with T-L dealers in designing sprinkler systems that make their farmer customers happy–and that also increase their yields and net income.” He’s the manager of the T-L Pump, Power & Engineering Division that was established last fall. One of its purposes is to stock and have readily available for shipment John Deere and Cummins engines, Cornell and Berkeley centrifugal pumps, self-cleaning suction screens, suction filters, and a complete line of fittings. But, perhaps even more important to farmers, is how the division complements the complete line of T-L irrigation equipment. For instance, an entire combo “package” of sprinkler, engine, and pump that are known to work both reliably and well together under varying conditions can be provided for new installations. An added benefit is that the farmer saves shipping costs if, for example, an engine accompanies his new sprinkler system being sent out from the factory, that saves him the typical hefty $500 to $800 freight charge for shipping an irrigation engine by itself. Amajority of the division’s work involves assisting T-L dealers in designing the most effective and efficient pivot system installation that’s possible for a certain situation. “We like to start working at ground zero.” Poppe says. “We’ll check where the water is and calculate how much is available. Once we have the water supply pegged, we proceed to designing the delivery system in order to exactly provide the required pressure and gallonage for the sprinkler. This includes determining the proper horsepower required to do the job.” Some of the division’s projects also involve diagnosing why a pre-existing pump, engine, and pipe setup isn’t doing the job it’s supposed to. As Poppe observes, “When we trace it back we usually find that a redesign is needed.” This may involve replacing the engine, pump, pipes, or perhaps a combination of changes. The result, he says, is an installation that takes advantage of the best that a T-L system can provide.

Flood irrigation demanded the work of up to four men on his farm. Now Dennis Erkenbrack has whittled that irrigation labor requirement down to himself. Alone. “What center pivot systems have done for me,” he smiles, “is given me my life back. Now I’m able to watch some of our grandkids play ball in the summer, we can do other things, and I can still get the irrigating done.” He farms mostly in the sandy Republican River valley bottomland near Republic, Kansas. His main crops of corn and soybeans average 185 to 235 and 65 to 70 bushels an acre respectively. He operates five T-L’s of his own, one of them ten years old, and two electric units that came with rented land. There are some basic differences between a T-L and an electric center pivot that tough conditions, really tough conditions, make readily apparent, Erkenbrack has learned. For example, he knows what happens when the clouds drop 14 inches of rain in eight hours. Obviously, the bottomland fields rapidly flood before center pivots and engines can be transported to high ground, and then the flood water can rise more than two feet above the wheels. Clean up afterward requires removing driftwood and other debris. It also means that each sprinkler has to be checked over carefully and any necessary repairs made before irrigation can resume. The cost to get each T-L unit, including the one pictured, up and running again? A bit more than $200. The expense to get the electric center pivot in the rented adjoining field, a brand new machine, working? $6,000, roughly 30 times as much. “This was one of the things that convinced me about the value of hydraulics versus electrics,” Erkenbrack observes, “especially if there’s any possibility of being subjected to flood water as mine are every few years. If you can keep hydraulic oil in the system, you ought to be able to keep water out.” “I’m sold on the fact that T-L’s can survive more than anything else I’ve been around. I don’t have to worry about whether or not a T-L is going to start up or run. I just expect it to, which it always does. That gives me a relaxed feeling.” Another fact that impressed him about T-L’s when deciding on his first center pivot buy was, “Hydraulics are something I can understand, so I knew that under most conditions I could fix a T-L myself.” Erkenbrack mentions that he’s never been fond of electricity or even liked to get close to an electric fence. So, he admits, he’s not nearly as comfortable standing close to water and an electric center pivot as he is watching a hydraulic T-L on the go. “I also felt really comfortable with the consistent pressure and speed. None of my T-L’s have ever been stuck,” he adds. Erkenbrack has experienced a little more trouble with corrosion and rust leading to more service calls each year on the two electrics. On the other hand, except for routine winter maintenance, he’s hard pressed to remember even one service call for a T-L other than a post flood check. “My T-L’s have been just so foolproof and consistent both in water patterns and my time and effort involved that I know they’re the only way for me to go,” he explains. “The consistency and maintenance free operation I’ve had with my T-L’s is unbelievable.” In early waterings, he tries to apply .80 of an inch with each application. Then, in hot August, he increases this to an inch or 1.2 inches. “We couldn’t survive down here without pivot irrigation,” Erkenbrack is convinced. “When we were ‘gravity’, trying to get water into this sandy soil was like attempting to push a log chain. Water will run out of the sand quicker than the root system can catch up with it.” “So, going with center pivot sprinklers has been a vital, vital part of being able to get both top and bottom ends of a field watered consistently,” he adds. “And, the real key has been getting the water where we want it when we want it, especially during those critical times with young plants.” Another key advantage of center pivots he’s found is the ability to apply fertilizer through the system. It enables him to, “really, really baby that crop along.” As for his overall philosophy of irrigation, Erkenbrack has some rather definite ideas. For instance, he says, “I think irrigation should make me money. It shouldn’t be costing me money.” “And, while nothing in irrigation is cheap,” he continues, “if I had it all to go back and do over again I’d be more willing to spend a lot more money on irrigation than on other machinery. “I believe the typical farmer can farm with a little less machinery and that the expense of irrigation isn’t nearly as significant as he thinks it is.” Erkenbrack, in a sense, “retired” back to the farm. For 27 years, he was basketball coach and athletic director of Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kansas. During those years, his teams always won at least 22 basketball games every season. He’s almost certainly the only Kansas farmer to be elected to the Kansas Basketball Hall of Fame.

There’s one almost sure thing in Laverne, Oklahoma: The T-L center pivot just outside of town at the old refinery clean-up project will be running–day and night, spring, summer, and fall, and most of the winter, too. For the last five and a half years it’s been operating at least 85 percent of the time, according to Boog Evans, the contractor in charge of operating the unit. The system is just a shade more than halfway through a ten year cleanup program. Evans figures in that limited period of time the heavily used T-L has been handling its sprinkling chores for more than 41,000 hours. At an average 175 gallons a minute, 430,301,000 gallons of water have flowed through its nozzles. When the refinery closed down it was found that petroleum products were working their way closer and closer to the town’s wells. At first it was thought that water “cleaned” by bubbling air through it could be sent to the river via an old pipeline. The pipeline had become porous, however, and Plan B was to keep the water on site. Pumps move water from wells dug around the perimeter of the old refinery to one of several “cleaning” buildings. From there the water goes to a holding basin from which the water is pumped to the adjacent T-L center pivot. The average application rate on native grass seeded on former cropland is between 150 to 200 gallons a minute. A local farmer handles the hay harvest chores. Like the famous battery bunny, the T-L system has just kept going and going and going, according to Evans. There have been only two exceptions over the years. One is when Evans sees a forecast for a few days with below freezing temperatures. When that happens he pulls down the holding basin by increasing flow through the system before temporarily shutting it down. The other exception was a tornado that tried its best to roll up the center pivot into a steel ball! Evans says, “The T-L dealer has always been only a phone call away.” In two weeks the dealer had the unit running again, and it gamely continued to apply water to the hayland, although with two fewer towers. While it took a twister to do it, the only real trouble Evans has experienced with the T-L system came immediately after the storm. The jerking around and tumbling the pivot endured caused some hydraulic fluid leakage. However, after chasing down and stopping the leaks, he reports virtually no hydraulic fluid has been used for the past year and a half. As for other repairs, the records show that only $1,501.23 has been spent. That figures out to just $273 a year or 3-1/2 cents an hour for a center pivot that’s come as close to continuous operation as just about any such unit in the country. It’s actually been so reliable that Evans reports that he now schedules a single visit a week to check the gearboxes and tire pressures, even with mostly 24/7 operation. “This T-L has been pretty well maintenance-free. It’s a great system,” he sums up. “How long will it last at the rate it’s being used? I don’t know–it looks like it could almost last forever.”

Rector, Arkansas businessman Lionel Dodd knows how to make folks laugh and think at the same time. Recently, when asked why producers should go the extra mile to install well built, technologically advanced, dependable, safe, efficient center pivot irrigation and not be tempted by manufacturers offering systems at rock bottom, discounted prices, Dodd analogized, “If you need transportation, you can buy a Yugo. It will get you where you’re going for a while, but not for long. Then, if you’re lucky enough not to lose your job because you don’t have a way to get to work, you’ll go out and buy the car you should have bought in the first place.” While Arkansas cotton producer Brett Palmer may chuckle at Dodd’s analogy, he knows it contains sound advice that he can’t afford not to heed when starting out on the long road he must travel from planting to harvest an unpredictable road where the profit threatening challenge of inadequate rainfall must not be faced with watering systems in the “Yugo” category. That is why he chose T-L center pivots, sold and serviced by Continuous Movement Irrigation, headquartered in Rector, Arkansas, a T-L Irrigation fran-chise, co-owned by Dodd and Leonard Banning. “Profitability, the opportunity to continue farming the land I’ve lived on all my life, to provide well for my family everything depends on the performance of my crops, and a key contributor to that performance is the capability to provide the right amount of water at the right time in the absence of adequate rain fall,” says Palmer, who rarely produces yields less than 1,200 pounds per acre and, in some years, has reached the 1,500 pound mark on his best ground. “I’ve learned that if I do all I can to make good yields, I’ll profit, even in less than ideal market years,” he says. “Implementing reasonable economic restraints on crop inputs is one thing; cutting corners with no regard to jeopardizing optimal production is a gamble I’m not willing to take. I’ve seen what can happen when producers try cutting per acre spending by $10 and end up losing $100.” Palmer didn’t acquire such farming savvy overnight. He’s now 29 years old, but his dad, Terry, put him on a tractor when he reached the tender young age of eight. Although the two men farm individually, they work together on land that has been in the family for almost 100 years. Brett’s grandfather, George, now retired, established Palmer Farms in the 1940s. All total, they work approximately 2,800 acres, with about 2,000 acres planted to cotton annually. Perhaps no farming area in the country offers such ample, readily available subterranean water as does the Northeast Arkansas delta region, where the Palmers farm. They are thankful for this asset and aren’t about to compromise it by using irrigation equipment that cannot evenly distribute this resource when it’s needed. “Precise, evenly distributed watering on every square foot is one feature of T-L center pivots I can always count on,” Brett says. “I’ve seen aerial photographs of drought stressed cotton under electrically powered center pivots that clearly show “pie wedges” of the crop behind the system that didn’t receive enough water. This happens because electrical systems surge forward five or six feet and then stop, resulting in more than enough water sometimes on swaths either side of the system at the point where it stopped, but not enough in strips behind that swath.” To illustrate his point, Palmer points to one of his four T-L center pivots. The whole system is in a straight line and remains straight while moving in a fluid, non jerking manner, thanks to hydraulic power. Whatever the setting, the system never stops and therefore never over or under waters portions of the circle it covers. Depending on the soil type, Palmer favors different water applications as the crop progresses through the growing season. “I’m more of a believer in applying a little bit less water, getting around faster, and thereby rotating more often,” Palmer says. “Either way a relatively light set-ting or a heavy one, fuel consumption is the same. With T-L, I know for certain that if the system is set to apply six tenths of an inch, there is no fluctuation whatsoever from the beginning of the rotation to the end. In a dry spell, such accuracy provides a huge advantage when cotton is in the crucial squaring stage or the boll filling stage.” Also, because this area is on the northern edge of the Cotton Belt and has a very narrow, optimal planting window, Palmer has taken advantage of T-L’s precise, even distribution capabilities to plant in dry ground when soil moisture was not adequate for planting and no rain was in the forecast. “I’ve planted in dry, cloddy ground and used the T-L pivots to provide just the right amount of moisture to assure solid stands of cotton, leaving no areas supporting weak plant populations due to moisture deficit during germination and sprouting,” he says. “Corner acre age beyond the pivot’s range came up spotty at best, but within the circle the stand was even all the way around.” Because Palmer also waters with one electrical system in addition to the hydraulically powered T-L’s, he’s been able to closely compare such features as simplicity of operation, ease of main-tenance, and, perhaps most important of all, safety. “You simply cannot put a price on safety,” he says. “Just one accident involving personal injury or death can put a whole farming operation in jeopardy.” Once, while Brett was off on a trip with his family, he asked his father to keep an eye on the pivots, all of which were running. “I called to see how things were going, and Dad said he was on his way to shut them down because the whole farm had gotten a two inch rain,” he says. “Knowing that he would expose himself to the deadly combination of water and high voltage to shut down the electrical system worried me sick. That alone-not having to worry about someone being electrocuted is all the reason anyone should need to use T-L systems, which do not pose this great danger.” Palmer has no doubt that investing in T-L technology is a sound decision for producers looking for utmost peace of mind that comes from having “liquid crop insurance,” and has no reservations about recommending T-L irrigation to other producers. “Look at it this way,” he says. “Let’s say you’ve got a piece of ground, especially if it’s sandy ground, that historically yields in the 800 pound per acre range, and you know that, because of the soil texture, rainfall that isn’t sufficient or comes at the wrong time might reduce that yield significantly. If you had irrigation capability such as that provided by T-L to not only avoid yield shortfalls due to drought but also to boost the yield by perhaps 400 pounds per acre, year in and year out, just do the math. It’s a no-brainer, in my opinion.”

When Art Lehmann points out that with the T-L owned by BLT Pork, Inc., “We’ve only had two service calls in eight years”, there’s more to the comment than you might expect. That’s because, during that time, the 160 acre unit has applied approximately 40 million gallons of… well, not exactly pristine water. Instead, it’s “effluent” liquid pumped from a second stage hog lagoon. Located near Strawn, Illinois, the 1,250 sow farrow to finish operation markets 30,000 pigs annually. The equivalent of one to two million gallons of heavy material are taken out of the first stage lagoon and spread on fields each year. But, the “heavy lifting”, according to Lehmann, is done with a low pressure T-L utilizing drop nozzles. There’s enough lagoon capacity so that, even with 34 inches of average annual rainfall, irrigation can wait to start in May or June and continue until Labor Day. The unit runs at least once every week and, depending on the weather, some weeks it may run almost continuously. Most irrigation occurs in July and August to make maximum usage of both the water and the nutrients it contains. Trying to keep the center pivot moving fairly fast results in applying a half inch at a time. Use of effluent water actually began before the T-L was installed. Back then, a hard hose traveling gun did the work. However, it required 30 runs to get across the field, and somebody had to reset and move it every six hours. “We went to a center pivot system because it could eliminate so much of that labor,” Lehmann reports. “A new hard hose traveler will be in the neighborhood of $30,000. And, while a new T-L is approximately $60,000, the labor it eliminates will pay for the unit.” There were actually two decisions made, he notes. The first was to switch to a less labor intensive center pivot. The second was to install a T-L, due to concerns about possible corrosion on electrical components by the nutrient rich effluent water. “We also felt that as farmers, we could probably repair an oil leak if needed or fix something on a T-L,” Lehmann says. “Another major consideration was that we didn’t have anybody who could repair an electrical unit. Plus, there was the employee safety factor to think about.” Contrary to what one might assume, an excess of nitrogen hasn’t been a soil problem. Neither has corrosion. According to Lehmann, that’s due to the lagoon system volatizing and, consequently, losing nitrogen. Most of the phosphorus stays in the first stage lagoon. The amount of potassium is a little more than they care to see. However, this doesn’t represent a problem, since it’s soluble. Meanwhile, the veteran T-L irrigation system was moved to a new field this past season. For seven years, except for a little bit in the corners and a spot or two, the only fertilizer added to the original field came through the drop nozzles. Over this period, corn yields have ranged from 150 to 190 bushels an acre. As Lehmann points out, “It wasn’t an extremely good soil type; so, those are really good yields. “Without irrigation, the average yield would have been down to 120 bushels or so. We’ve probably saved $70 to $90 an acre in fertilizer costs every year. “This is a simple and easy system to use,” he sums up, “and it works great with crops while being a tremendous labor saver.”When Art Lehmann points out that with the T-L owned by BLT Pork, Inc., “We’ve only had two service calls in eight years”, there’s more to the comment than you might expect. “This is a simple and easy system to use,” he sums up, “and it works great with crops while being a tremendous labor saver.”

Brothers Jim and John Stevens utilize ten T-L and eight electric center-pivot sprinkler systems on their 4,000-acre farm near Allendale, Illinois. Their first experience with irrigation goes back 20 years when a new piece of land came equipped with an electric pivot system. “After about the second year of acquiring more land and irrigating we began adding T-Ls,” Jim points out. “You can ask how many electric pivots have we have replaced with T-L systems and get a quick answer: All we can!” “Service was a big reason and safety was a factor, too,” John adds. “Now, of course, there’s also the copper wire theft problem. There’s no copper wire on a T-L as there is with every electric pivot system.” Stealing copper wire from electric center-pivots is unfortunately what they term “common” in their area now. Many of their neighbors have been hit, some twice on the same system. “One of our neighbors even had the copper wire stolen while the system was watering the crop,” Jim relates. “In fact, they didn’t even shut the engine off. The thieves just pulled back the clutch and let the engine run while they stripped off the copper wire.” The Stevens have only suffered one loss so far, which they regard as one too many. This electric pivot system was located right by a highway, too. When tile installers attempted to move it last fall they immediately reported, “We can’t move the pivot. The wiring’s gone.” The thieves had cut the wire into five-foot lengths, then rolled it up and secured the roll with duct tape. The Stevens know this, because one roll was left behind. The brothers say they intend to keep it as a “souvenir”. To prevent further thefts they’re following a two-step program: 1. Banding the copper wiring more securely onto their other electric pivots making it more difficult to remove and 2. Replacing electric pivot systems with T-Ls since they don’t require any copper wire to operate. “A T-L pivot definitely pays off pretty well,” Jim believes. “It depends on the soil type, but we feel the T-L system will pay off in three or four years. And, in dry times,that’s probably more like two years.” As an example, he notes that on much of their ground irrigation increases their corn yields 100 to 150 bushels an acre. “On dry corners yields may drop down to 50 bushels an acre, yet out in the field we can be making 200 bushels an acre,” he continues. “Irrigation has also allowed us to double-crop beans and wheat and pretty much guarantee us crops.Irrigation has defintely increased the productivity of our farm ground.” Since most maintenance and repair work is done by family members, safety is one of their main considerations. As John says, “With T-Ls we don’t have to be worried about anybody being electrocuted.” “We’ve not had many problems with our T-L systems,” he continues, “it’s usually an engine’s shut down or an old tire that’s gone flat. Over the years we’ve had to replace only three gearboxes.” “There’s a lot more maintenance on an electric system,” his brother agrees. In the long run there’s less maintenance with a T-L since it’s stronger and it’s simple to operate.” The Stevens brothers also appreciate the built-in hydraulic jacks on their towable T-Ls. As Jim notes, “By running one pivot on two circles, it halves our investment. We can get a towable T-L moved in an hour or so. “We also have a towable electric system, but we don’t tow it anymore since it always falls off the jack a time or two and therefor takes longer to move. We finally moved it to where we could just leave it, since moving it wasn’t worth the effort,” he says. “We think our T-Ls are great!”

We move our power and hydraulic units to dry ground before the water rises, of course, then just let the water come up and cover the drive wheels of our T-Ls. All we do once the water recedes is to change the oil in the gear boxes and remove any driftwood that’s got caught. Up to this point, our total outlay for anything beyond routine maintenance on all our ten T-L systems has been exactly zero dollars! I know that’s hard to believe, but we’ve never had any repair work at all done on these pivot systems. Everything works, and just keeps on working. When we bought our first two T-Ls we assumed that since oil can’t get out of them, then flood water couldn’t get in. And, that’s the way it’s worked. An electric center-pivot just couldn’t be used in an area that could possibly flood since the water would get into the electrical mechanisms. I don’t know what it would take to get an electric system back in shape after being flooded, but it would be a lot. Electric systems just don’t work in our part of the world where fields can flood. That’s the big reason we originally went the T-Ls. Before we bought our first T-Ls we’d rented land that had electric pivots. We didn’t like them, because they jerked so much – one section moved, then another, and it didn’t move at all smoothly. We like our T-Ls since their movement is just so smooth, slow and constant. Flood water hasn’t created any problems with our T-L systems, and in fact we havent had any problems at all with them. Our T-Ls have just worked out great for us.

“Confidence.” That’s how Roger Brining of Great Bend, Kansas, expresses his feelings about his three hydrostatically powered T-Ls, even though a service man for a major electric brand lives only a mile away and his T-L dealer is 134 miles over the horizon. And furthermore, he says that when he bought his most recent T-L he didn’t even “research” or compare prices with other brands. His reasoning: “My T-Ls just run and run and run and run….” He used to farm ten quarter-sections of land near Alamosa, Colorado, in the 1980s where ten electric systems were running. What he learned from this was, “I really had my fill of microswitches.” “Also, when we flew over our fields there we’d see just horrendous spoking from all that starting and stopping,” he says. “The input shaft of an electric system goes from zero to 1,760 rpms and then to zero again several thousand times a day.” “What impressed me the most about T-Ls was their continuous movement that didn’t either over apply or under apply water. I knew with T-Ls there would be less maintenance and wear and tear on the gearboxes and motors due to their steady, continuous motion.” Brining also remembers clearly when he was knocked off an electric system in Colorado. A previous tenant, in an effort to save $11 on a micro-switch, had done some bypassing so there was electricity when there wasn’t supposed to be any. Soaking wet, yet luckily on the back side of the sprinkler, his leg barely touched the electric system–in a fraction of a second he was blown into a muddy wheel track with the wind knocked out of him. It required $3,000 in microswitches and fuses to render some measure of safety. “Each tower was so complex that one such failure would shut down everything. So, in 1989 I told my Dad I thought a hydraulically powered T-L was the way to go. He then installed the first of our T-Ls,” Brining remembers. It replaced the first center-pivot in the county, a 20-year-old non-T-L unit that hadn’t run much for five years. “It’s an art to align electric systems. On the other hand, alignment is a breeze with a T-L,” he comments. Brining is in the process of replacing his older T-Ls, not because they have maintenance problems, but due to the effects of his hard, high iron content water on the pipe. “The new ones will have T-L’s poly-lined pipe,” he continues. I’m anticipating that I’ll be able to run these systems for 30 years, too. Thirty years is a long time for a pivot. I’d dread having a 30-year-old electric. That would be a nightmare.” He sums up his feeling about T-Ls by saying, “I love the T-L simplicity!” Brining is utilizing some sub-surface drip irrigation (SDI). Both methods have advantages, he believes. His main thrust, though, is irrigating via T-L center-pivots. “I’m almost 100 percent no-till, and I double-crop 40 percent of my 3,000 acres,” he says. “The center-pivot is easier for real intensive double-cropping, because with it I can safely drill in wheat in less than ideal conditions.” Wheat following corn can be difficult to germinate due to the crop’s residue. His solution: Sprinkle on a quarter-inch of water every two to three days until plant emergence. This practice has resulted in an essentially 100 percent stand. Being able to water up any crop is also a big advantage of center-pivot irrigation over drip, he thinks. Additionally, drip can’t be used for “chemigation” if the herbicide requires plant contact. Then there are the problems of how deeply a drip tape field can be worked without destroying the tape, and the rodents that often find the tape tasty. Initial investment is generally lower with a center-pivot, too. Brining believes two rules of thumb for farming apply: (1). Any irrigation, even flood irrigation, is better for producing higher yields than dry land farming, and (2). Center-pivot and sub-surface drip irrigation are both much more efficient than flood irrigation, not to mention their being substantially less labor intensive.

This Oklahoma rancher insists that one way or another, his only electric center pivot unit is leaving! Steve Parker doesn’t have much use for the electric center pivot irrigation system he bought several years ago. And he means that both literally and figuratively. “It’s been at least 15 years since I’ve even used it,” says Parker, who has since installed two T-L center pivot units on the cattle and wheat operation he owns south ofBeaver, Oklahoma. “Yet, every month, until I told them to just come out and remove the meter, I was having to pay a meter service charge. “I think I’ve finally got it sold,” he relates. “But I’ll cut it up and build cattle pens out of the pipe if I have to. One way or the other, it’s leaving. I’ve had nothing but trouble with that one since the day I bought it.” Irrigation is nothing new to Parker, however. For as long as he can remember, Parker has been moving irrigation pipe and dealing with temperamental systems. In fact, he says his father and grandfather drilled the first well in 1962 and began furrow irrigating corn and sorghum for silage. Even today, Parker says he still does some furrow irrigation in combination with a few side-roll lateral systems. “I liked the idea of no electricity, because I understand hydraulics a whole lot better than I do 480-volt electricity.” “Fortunately, I’ve since got acquainted with my dealer for T-L,” he adds. “I liked the idea of no electricity, because I understand hydraulics a whole lot better than I do 480-volt electricity.” Although a lot of things have changed since Parker put in the first of his two T-L units — without any electricity needed at the control box — he says he still holds a preference for T-L pivots. Originally, he says, they were installed to help irrigate wheat, alfalfa and forage grown for a family owned dairy that once numbered up to 140 cows. Today, the dairy is gone, and so is the alfalfa. However, cattle are still the focus on Parker’s ranch. It’s just that the herd that averages around 175 in number now consists of beef cattle. “Wheat is the only cash crop I grow,” Parker says, relating that around 350 acres total are under some type of irrigation. “Otherwise, it’s all cattle related.” In addition to the cow/calf herd that he maintains year around, Parker says he and his son, who works at the sale barn in Beaver, often buy what they call “put together cows”. “Those are the old cull cows that come through the ring one or two at a time,” he explains. “We try to buy them pregnant so we can get at least one more calf off of them while speculating on the cows themselves.” Unfortunately, Parker is still responding to one of the worst droughts in history. Just this past summer, he was forced to sell off more than 40 head of cows, bringing his herd down to around 115 animals. Still, he insists it would have been worse had he not had a crop of cool-season grass under one of his T-L pivots. In addition, Parker is not one to over-graze a pasture of any kind. That includes the winter wheat he used for pasture this past winter. “I’d open the gate and leave them on the wheat for four or five hours at a time and drive them off,” he says, noting that he also has about 120 acres of dryland wheat. “I can still remember when I was in grade school and not being able to see more than a few hundred yards because of blowing dust; and I don’t intend to let it happen again. Besides, if you manage it right, you can graze the wheat during the winter and still get a decent wheat crop. Of course, that wasn’t the case this year, with the drought. We were lucky to get any wheat at all.” Of course, that’s another reason he has dreams of adding at least one or two more T-L units as replacements for the side-roll machines. “Those lateral-move units are so inefficient they can barely pull their own weight when they’re filled with water,” he says. “In comparison the T-Ls not only save water, but they do a better job of putting it on than our electric pivot ever did. Because of the hydraulic drive, the motion is always steady, whereas the electric units continuously stop and start. “Best of all, the T-L pivots require a lot less labor than either the side-roll systems or the electric units,” he concludes. “And at my age, I’m all for anything that takes less labor.”

T-L pivots reveal additional benefits when floodwaters inundate Missouri River bottomland. Richard Oswald has never felt that water and electricity were a good mix … which is one of the reasons he has always preferred T-L center pivot systems over electric pivots. However, he never thought of safety in terms of floodwaters. In the last 20 years alone, at least four of the six T-L center pivots on Oswald’s 2,000-acre farm near Rock Port, Missouri, have been partially or totally submerged in water from the nearby Missouri River. Prior to that, the area hadn’t experienced widespread flooding since 1952, before the current levy system was finished. Although Oswald’s farmland used to be split nearly 50/50 between hill country and bottoms, the mix has changed significantly since his son, Brandon, started farming in 1989. Today, most of Richard’s farm ground is in the river bottom, while most of his son’s land is in the hills. Although portions of the farm are owned together, other fields are owned and managed individually. Interestingly, some of the land that Richard and his wife, Linda, farm under the umbrella of Oswald Farms is also fifth-generation property owned by cousins living as far away as New York. In fact, they technically own five of the T-L pivots, even though they left the purchase decision up to Oswald. “The worst thing about the gumbo in the bottoms is that when you till it and leave it exposed to the wind, it tends to blow and drift worse than sand,” Oswald insists. “When it’s wet, it’s the heaviest soil you can imagine, but it can also be like powder when it dries.” That’s why Oswald has been using irrigation for as long as he can remember and a total no-till program since 1986. “Not only does no-till farming reduce the potential for erosion, but it offers a tremendous amount of savings in fuel and equipment. Tillage implements wear out and I don’t see a need to put that many hours on a tractor.” Oswald has the same conservative view of center pivot irrigation. “My father purchased the first T-L center pivot in 1984 after years of he and I wading irrigation ditches and moving pipes and siphon tubes,” he says. “We liked the idea of the oil drive in place of electric motors. At the time, I remember reading that electrocution was the second leading cause of death in farmer fatalities; and I think center pivot irrigation systems were the leading cause within the category. So that made an impression on me. “My children were growing up on the farm at the time, and we just thought T-L offered a safer solution…” “My children were growing up on the farm at the time, and we just thought T-L offered a safer solution,” he adds. “I understand that electric drive is what most of the center pivot industry has evolved into; but as long as there is still another option, I’ll take it.” Little did he know at the time, though, that T-L pivots would be better suited to withstand submersion in flood waters. Unlike the flood of 1993, which came and went quickly, due to heavy rain throughout the Midwest, the 2011 flood occurred when the Corp of Engineers opened the spillways on dams in South Dakota for an extended period of time. In fact, Oswald was forced out of his own home for nearly four months. “After the flood of 1993, all I did was pull the drain plugs on the drive units and refill them,” he says. “We never had any other damage. However, the towers on four of the six pivots were setting in water for 14 weeks or more this time. “I don’t anticipate too much more damage than last time, but I certainly wouldn’t think it would be good for electric motors to set in water that long … even if they are sealed to withstand normal conditions.” Oswald insists he also likes the continuous movement of the T-L units, which was once more important than it is today. “I don’t think they have as many problems as pivots that start and stop every few minutes,” he relates. “We certainly haven’t had any problems anyway. “However, it was an even bigger issue when we used to do a lot more chemigation,” he adds. “Several years ago, when Dad was still farming, we used to put on a majority of our fungicides through the pivot. However, with Bt corn, that has pretty much ended.” Oswald says he has also cut back on his practice of applying liquid fertilizer through the pivots as the price has increased. Today, he puts most of his nitrogen on in the form of cheaper anhydrous ammonia, even though he had great success with liquid nitrogen applied through the pivots just prior to tasseling. “I still think T-L pivots are a good investment, though, even if they aren’t used for anything more than insurance in dry years when you need moisture,” he says. “We’ve fought wet more than we’ve fought dry the last couple years or so. But if you consider the price of a combine or tractor compared to a center pivot, knowing that the center pivot is going to last a lot longer, it’s still not a bad investment ‚Äî especially when bottom ground is selling for $5,000 to $6,000 an acre and corn is selling for over $7.00 per bushel.”

Typical of many farmers in his region, the ground that Warren Fox, Plains, Kansas, farms is sandy, loamy soil on rolling hills. So, when he began irrigating he didn’t even consider flood irrigation. As he notes, “Even if flood irrigation would have worked, which it couldn’t due to the expense of leveling alone, it just wasn’t efficient enough and I didn’t have the necessary labor.” Warren Fox grows corn, soybeans and wheat. Fox also uses T-L pivots to irrigate grasses for hay to be fed to his cowherd. This eight-year-old field of WW Spar and Ironmaster is still yielding well despite its age. Fox takes off two cuttings after grazing it until June each year with his cows and spring calves by side. He irrigates two such grass circles from one well, with the pivots making a round every two days. Now he has 30 center pivot systems on the move during the growing season. Fox had experience with irrigation systems from half a dozen manufacturers over the years. Twelve of his present pivots are T-L Irrigation Co. units, with more to follow, he predicts. He bought his first T-L in 1988. He’d talked with his neighbors using T-L systems who told him they were getting along pretty well with them. “I was looking for simplicity,” Fox points out, “In short, a pivot that would keep on making circles without a lot of repairs and expense. I also liked T-L’s continuous movement, no start-stop like an electric system that can make an uneven water pattern. What I’ve found is that T-L is a stout machine with a structure that can’t be beat.” Fox likens the continual starting and stopping of electric systems to using an impact wrench on the unit’s parts since it starts at 100% speed and shuts off the same way. Electrics are just not the low maintenance machines that T-L’s are, he believes, based on experience. “If I could take a vacation with all the money I’ve spent on T-L parts and labor over the years it would be pretty short”, Fox smiles. During the thirteen years he’s been using his first T-L system the only repairs it has needed have been one gearbox and a couple of 3/8 inch bolts in the driveline. According to Fox, “That system is as dependable as the first day I bought it. Look at the storage bins in my shop and you’ll see only a handful of T-L parts, and I have had bins full of electrical pivot parts.” He adds, “I almost always check my T-L systems last every morning, because I know they will be running and won’t require maintenance. I don’t find that with my electric machines.” It’s difficult to calculate the true cost of a repair shutdown, Fox says, but he thinks that crop losses due to three or four shutdowns a season while the unit sits a half-day or more, can quickly add up to affect his bottom line. On the other hand, Tom Wright IV of Lakin, Kansas, started with flood irrigation. His methods evolved from ditch, to pipe, to surge valves over the years, yet he still wasn’t satisfied. “I was looking for more efficiency and labor savings,” he recalls, explaining why nine quarter-mile and two half-mile systems have replaced flood irrigation on his land. “The 60 to 80 acres we could typically handle under flood irrigation expanded to 180 acres under pivots and meanwhile increase our yields.” Wright continues, “Pivot irrigation is also a lot easier on the body. Since I quit flood irrigating I don’t have back problems.” In contrast to Fox, all of Wright’s pivots are T-L units. He says, “I decided in the beginning to go with the hydraulic T-Ls and I haven’t regretted it. In eight years the total of downtime with our 11 units has been only five or six hours. I’ve liked the T-L strength and reliability,” he continues, “since they seem to be built good and hold together well. I also like being able to keep everything as safe as I can for my employees and me. I wouldn’t want either of us working on an electric system.” Efficiency is also important to Wright since his wells range in capacity from barely 300 gallons a minute to 450 gallons a minute. He’s also noticed none of the “spoking” effect typical of the continual starting and stopping of a neighbor’s electric pivots. This can leave portions of a crop wilted immediately after the pivot has moved on. The start stop factor no doubt contributes to increased wear, too, he reasons. As for his T-L dealer service, Wright says it’s gone from good to even better. And, he likes the full service offered that enables him to deal with just one firm for everything from irrigation well to pipe to sprinkler. Summing up his experience with T-L pivot systems, Wright says, “You can buy cheaper systems, but you get what you pay for. I’m also a Pioneer seed salesman and here also you can buy cheaper seed elsewhere, but you can’t count on the best yields with it.”

There’s one almost sure thing in Laverne, Oklahoma: The T-L center pivot just outside of town at the old refi nery clean-up project will be running–day and night, spring, summer, and fall, and most of the winter, too. For the last five and a half years it’s been operating at least 85 percent of the time, according to Boog Evans, the contractor in charge of operating the unit. The system is just a shade more than halfway through a ten year cleanup program. Evans figures in that limited period of time the heavily used T-L has been handling its sprinkling chores for more than 41,000 hours. At an average 175 gallons a minute, 430,301,000 gallons of water have flowed through its nozzles. When the refinery closed down it was found that petroleum products were working their way closer and closer to the town’s wells. At first it was thought that water “cleaned” by bubbling air through it could be sent to the river via an old pipeline. The pipeline had become porous, however, and Plan B was to keep the water on site. Pumps move water from wells dug around the perimeter of the old refinery to one of several “cleaning” buildings. From there the water goes to a holding basin from which the water is pumped to the adjacent T-L center pivot. The average application rate on native grass seeded on former cropland is between 150 to 200 gallons a minute. A local farmer handles the hay harvest chores. Like the famous battery bunny, the T-L system has just kept going and going and going, according to Evans. There have been only two exceptions over the years. One is when Evans sees a forecast for a few days with below freezing temperatures. When that happens he pulls down the holding basin by increasing flow through the system before temporarily shutting it down. The other exception was a tornado that tried its best to roll up the center pivot into a steel ball! Evans says, “The T-L dealer has always been only a phone call away.” In two weeks the dealer had the unit running again, and it gamely continued to apply water to the hayland, although with two fewer towers. While it took a twister to do it, the only real trouble Evans has experienced with the T-L system came immediately after the storm. The jerking around and tumbling the pivot endured caused some hydraulic fluid leakage. However, after chasing down and stopping the leaks, he reports virtually no hydraulic fluid has been used for the past year and a half. As for other repairs, the records show that only $1,501.23 has been spent. That figures out to just $273 a year or 3-1/2 cents an hour for a center pivot that’s come as close to continuous operation as just about any such unit in the country. It’s actually been so reliable that Evans reports that he now schedules a single visit a week to check the gearboxes and tire pressures, even with mostly 24/7 operation. “This T-L has been pretty well maintenance-free. It’s a great system,” he sums up. “How long will it last at the rate it’s being used? I don’t know–it looks like it could almost last forever.”

This Oklahoma rancher insists that one way or another, his only electric center pivot unit is leaving! Steve Parker doesn’t have much use for the electric center pivot irrigation system he bought several years ago. And he means that both literally and figuratively. “It’s been at least 15 years since I’ve even used it,” says Parker, who has since installed two T-L center pivot units on the cattle and wheat operation he owns south ofBeaver, Oklahoma. “Yet, every month, until I told them to just come out and remove the meter, I was having to pay a meter service charge. “I think I’ve finally got it sold,” he relates. “But I’ll cut it up and build cattle pens out of the pipe if I have to. One way or the other, it’s leaving. I’ve had nothing but trouble with that one since the day I bought it.” Irrigation is nothing new to Parker, however. For as long as he can remember, Parker has been moving irrigation pipe and dealing with temperamental systems. In fact, he says his father and grandfather drilled the first well in 1962 and began furrow irrigating corn and sorghum for silage. Even today, Parker says he still does some furrow irrigation in combination with a few side-roll lateral systems. “I liked the idea of no electricity, because I understand hydraulics a whole lot better than I do 480-volt electricity.” “Fortunately, I’ve since got acquainted with my dealer for T-L,” he adds. “I liked the idea of no electricity, because I understand hydraulics a whole lot better than I do 480-volt electricity.” Although a lot of things have changed since Parker put in the first of his two T-L units — without any electricity needed at the control box — he says he still holds a preference for T-L pivots. Originally, he says, they were installed to help irrigate wheat, alfalfa and forage grown for a family owned dairy that once numbered up to 140 cows. Today, the dairy is gone, and so is the alfalfa. However, cattle are still the focus on Parker’s ranch. It’s just that the herd that averages around 175 in number now consists of beef cattle. “Wheat is the only cash crop I grow,” Parker says, relating that around 350 acres total are under some type of irrigation. “Otherwise, it’s all cattle related.” In addition to the cow/calf herd that he maintains year around, Parker says he and his son, who works at the sale barn in Beaver, often buy what they call “put together cows”. “Those are the old cull cows that come through the ring one or two at a time,” he explains. “We try to buy them pregnant so we can get at least one more calf off of them while speculating on the cows themselves.” Unfortunately, Parker is still responding to one of the worst droughts in history. Just this past summer, he was forced to sell off more than 40 head of cows, bringing his herd down to around 115 animals. Still, he insists it would have been worse had he not had a crop of cool-season grass under one of his T-L pivots. In addition, Parker is not one to over-graze a pasture of any kind. That includes the winter wheat he used for pasture this past winter. “I’d open the gate and leave them on the wheat for four or five hours at a time and drive them off,” he says, noting that he also has about 120 acres of dryland wheat. “I can still remember when I was in grade school and not being able to see more than a few hundred yards because of blowing dust; and I don’t intend to let it happen again. Besides, if you manage it right, you can graze the wheat during the winter and still get a decent wheat crop. Of course, that wasn’t the case this year, with the drought. We were lucky to get any wheat at all.” Of course, that’s another reason he has dreams of adding at least one or two more T-L units as replacements for the side-roll machines. “Those lateral-move units are so inefficient they can barely pull their own weight when they’re filled with water,” he says. “In comparison the T-Ls not only save water, but they do a better job of putting it on than our electric pivot ever did. Because of the hydraulic drive, the motion is always steady, whereas the electric units continuously stop and start. “Best of all, the T-L pivots require a lot less labor than either the side-roll systems or the electric units,” he concludes. “And at my age, I’m all for anything that takes less labor.”