Still MORE tubing questions!

[ibby458]

I'm making a little progress. I went to the county tax office, and bought a scaled map of the bush. (1"=200'). I enlarged it to 1"=100' and laid out the topographical features in highlighter. (slopes, grades, ridges, guts, cuts and roads).

Following the recomendations for tubing capacity in the Leader Catalog, I laid out all the mainlines. The lowest point is in the northwest corner, and the highest is in the southeast. If I follow a tiny trickle upstream with the main line, it'll slope about 2%, and the other branch lines can drain into it.

I'm putting 1-1/4 along the bottom (1000 ft), then reducing it to 1 inch and running up the east side to the high point. (I'll probably reduce it to 3/4 about halfway up, then to 1/2" for the last couple hundred feet). My laterals will all dump into this line.

There will be 2 other lines that long, dumping into the 1-1/4. I'll reduce them as possible when the number of taps drops off. I'll need 3 other shorter (200-500') lines to accomadate other terrain features.

My laterals won't slope much in places, and my mainline will slope too much in others, but that can't be helped. It will all drain to the vac house.

Am I on the right track so far?

Next - I was planning to use high tensil fence wire to hang it from. I've read on the Maple trader that the ratchets can break that wire. I've come up with 2 alternatives. I could splice on some cable on each place I want a tightener, or put a 2" ratchet strap on each end. Which would work better?

[PerryW]

I'm still old school (no vacuum), but they say not to go below 3/4" with mainline.

The side-pull method works pretty good for tightening mainlines on 9 gauge wire without ratchets. Just brush out for your mainline runs and lay the wire on the ground, fastening it to trees top & bottom. Then use 12 ga. wire to side pull to trees, starting at the major angle points of the tubing, then pulling the straighter sections last. You can get it very tight with no tools.

Also, it may not be practical, but it's better to try to run the laterals straight down the hill into the mainline, if possible.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Ibby,
If you get here to visit, you can look at all the mistakes I've made so you can copy them:) I use a lot of 12 ga. hi tensile wire and it is usually heavy enough. Then I use 14 ga to side tie. Unless you have the 1/2 inch
tubing already, I wouldn't use it under vacuum. You will lose as much in production as you save in $'s with a vacuum system.
Doug

[brookledge]

I agree ditch the 1/2". Otherwise you are on the right track.
Another method you can use is cable clamps. Slide some main line over the wire and then go around the tree and fasten it with cable clamps and then use a wire puller with a comealong and pull the other end of your main line tight and do the same thing with cable clamps.
Keith

[ibby458]

Great Idea, Keith! Come alongs are about the same price as big ratchet straps, but pull a lot more.

I can use the zig zag side tie method for some of my lines, but I can't on others. They'll run alongside a straight road that I don't want to block by going back and forth across it.

I hear what you're saying about 1/2" lines, and you're probably right. I'm hoping if I keep the 1/2" sections to 50 taps or less and less than 200' long, they'll work all right as sub-mains. I got a super deal on thousands of 1/2" fittings (pennies each), and Calculated costs using every layout I could think up. Using LOTS of short 1/2" lines to shorten up and reduce the 5/16 laterals
Should save me quite a bit of money without compromising flow.

My mainlines will be spreading like the fingers on one hand. Towards the fingertips, they will be several hundred feet apart, but with only 25-50 taps. If I run the half inch straight down the slope into the mainlines, I can pick up several 5/16 laterals. That make any sense? I think of them more as oversized laterals, then small mainlines.

Obviously, I plan to talk to as many tubing experts as I can, and will modify when I get a better idea!

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

If you are putting 50 or less on 1/2" and no longer than you are running it, I don't think you will lose any vaccum as 50 taps can't even fill 1/2" mainline 10% full running full blast.

[Grade "A"]

I agree with Brandon, short runs of 1/2" is fine to save some 5/16" tubing if you already have the fittings. If your buying, 3/4" is not much more than 1/2"

[maple flats]

You should still run your main lines and branch lines at the 2% slope and the laterals straight up the hill. The most important ones to be well sloped are the 5/16 latterals.

[ibby458]

Yeah, making the laterals steeper makes sense. I can do that with only minor modifications to my plans. Will probably save me quite a bit on the 5/16 tubing as well. Thanks for all the advice!