Unclejake

I don't know exactly - but I'd guess at 6 metres below the orchard. The property boundary is ocean to the north and a large lagoon to the south. The orchard is roughly 6m above sea level and lagoon level. The lagoon was up a metre or so above sea level last year, but is now more or less the same as the ocean so I figure the ground water will be about sea level. I've dug down about 3 metres (for a toilet) and no sign of water there, but the previous owner installed a water bore (unknown depth) with a surface mounted pump and I don't think the pump can suck up more than about 8 metres

Today I learned what eight people filleting blue cod can do in a day. Fishing is Chatham's primary industry (followed by farming and tourism) and the fishery is largely in incredibly good shape. My plan is to plant around 30 fruit trees this year. The soil is largely sand so it makes sense to add affordable fertiliser... which in this case is cod skins and guts. The plastic bins are known as a dolav. There was 1.2 tonnes of skins and gut in the pair of them (no fish frames)... all waste product from just eight people cutting fish yesterday. Impressive.... and don't worry about cod being decimated. It's a great table fish and quotas are really well managed. The future looks good. Hopefully my avocados don't stink.

I'd remove the gearbox and pay VERY careful attention to the gearbox input shaft nose and how much fore and aft clearance it has to the crankshaft when the bellhousing is bolted up tight to the engine block.

Non-functional as in he can't get the clutch to release, or non-functional as no drive is transmitting from the engine to the road wheels?

I'm guessing most everyone is bored with this by now, but it turns out the Skellerup Master Blaster hose nozzle is 'taxing' the system by 19 litres a minute. There's nothing wrong with the nozzle. It's just designed for more pressure than I'm delivering it. I've settled on a smallish, lightish, petrol powered pump to alleviate the symptom. A bigger bore (140lm long) underground pipe would have made all the difference... but I didn't do my research properly before buying pipe and TBH the cost of a petrol pump is less than replacing the pipe... so that's the plan. Tomorrow I'll start back-filling all the trenches. After that it's too late to turn back... and I'm OK with that. Thanks everyone for the advice. Now onto the next drama! EDIT: I looked at lots of minor brand ~$450 pumps and decided a new Honda from a reputable supplier (who's experienced in sending stuff to Chatham Island) was worth double the money. Consequently the Christchurch Stihl shop got an order for a really light-weight Honda WX15 tonight. The dudes from that store come over here annually to shake hands and peddle their wares so it'll be easier to sort spare parts etc. when things go bad. I'm also guessing the Honda will be quieter than the Xlyongikin/Vellisuckymota equivalents, and at only 10kgs the Honda should cost less than $60 in freight and may be here on Thursday. TBC https://www.hondaoutdoors.co.nz/wx15-portable-pump

The first of 42 rafters came off the mill today. The plan had been to mill these in February.... but nah. They'll just have to go up a bit wet. I have a plan for that. It might even work! Ha.

The 20m of 25mm hose wasn't installed when I did the visual checks on Tuesday, so you didn't miss a thing. Your advice has been spot on. I'll have a look into 50mm hose (thank you, I hadn't thought of that), but a 50mm hose would be a heck of a weight to be dragging around a building site, and unfortunately I need it 20m long to get to all four corners so I'll have to make a compromise somewhere. I just need to decide if it's expense/noise/flow/pressure or convenience that I want least. Edit: I'll do some additional flow checks without the nozzle, then without the hose, hose tail etc. Both the upper 'tap' and lower tap will be identical setups. I.e. 40mm LDPE>40mm ball valve>25mm hose tail>20lm 25mm PVC washdown hose>25mm hose tail>Skellerup Master Blaster nozzle

Howdy gents, it's a beautiful day here so I abandoned paid work very early. In reference to my first drawing: The lowest tap delivers 120 litres per minute without the washdown hose attached The troublesome tap delivers 67lpm without the washdown hose, but 37lpm through the 20 metre long 25mm i/d PVC washdown hose and nozzle. Ergo: I reckon I need a spray/stream nozzle better suited to low pressure than the Skellerup Master Blaster I was sent. Should be an easy fix. Yay!

Thanks. I should have done the maths before ordering the pipe. 50mm would have been much better I reckon my high point in the 40mm is around 6m below the tank. I'll measure flow as soon as I get back there, but I'd guess it's around 30lpm. . I instlled the washdown to wash salty re-bar prior to concrete and to compact sand so it needs to be a decent flow. I'll have a look at diesel fire pumps as well as 12v. Long term this bore water will be toilet flush, washing machine and outdoor garden tap. I ran an additional 40mm for rainwater from the same tank stand, but intended a 240v pump for the rain (which is about a year away from being use Really appreciate the advice.

The tank is vented mate, but I understand why you're asking. For the avoidance of doubt: My first drawing wasn't that clear (sorry) The 8 metre and 18 metre numbers on the right of the drawing are vertical measurements. The tap that performs well is about 40lm of 40mm pipe away from the tank and about 18m below the top of the full tank. She's a gusher. The tap on the left of the drawing is 140lm of 40mm pipe away from the tank and about 8m below the top water level of the tank. That's the tap that I needed most (40mm ball valve with a 25mm PVC washdown hose and nozzle.... but I pulled the hose off the 40mm ball valve this afternoon and the flow was still lame. Someone fax me some more gravity please. Ha!

Yikes. That's alarming reading. Thanks NickJ. I'll measure flow on Friday. If it's ~ 50lpm then I guess that's as good as I can expect. Really appreciate it.

That would work to expel the air, but due to untold trees is physically difficult and would only work once (if there's even an air restriction - and I honestly don't know if there is), but I'd have the same problem again if the tank ever ran dry. Laying the empty pipe through the trees is ideally a three man job. Managing it full of water would be next level harder. Two of us can barely lift an empty coil onto the ute. I'm trying to think of a way to test if there's an air restriction without drilling a hole in $4,500 of pipework, but I'll be buggered if I can think of a way! I figure the pressure in the pipe would be the same with or without the air and I haven't thought of a better way to check it (yet). LOL

^ Internet is slow here. Sorry. Can't do much about it. What's your thinking wrt a sponge?

Dear all, I just installed several 140 lineal metre runs of 40mm Alkatene pipe (gravity fed) and am getting less than ideal water flow out of one end of the single pipe that's charged with water. I may have a partial air lock..... but without spending ~ $400 on tee connectors, valves and freight (and a couple of weeks wait) I can't discount a partial air lock. QUESTION: Is there a way to test for an air 'restriction' before cutting the pipes at the obvious high point of the run and adding bleed valves? I.e. is the pressure going to be the same with or without the air restriction? I suspect a pressure test is useless but am no expert. The water flow seems lousy... but I accept there's a lot of friction on 140lm of pipe (even at 40mm i/d).

Pretty stoked to receive sea-freight for the first time since March Whilst I've been 'waiting' I decided to start cutting ground for an orchard. I don't even like fruit, but I do like earthworks with a classic machine. There's only a very thin layer of organic matter over the sand so I need to be careful, but I know a guy with a woolshed full of sheep shit. I'll offer him some free removal once his land is dry enough to work over. Bad photos because rain and broken phone. Oh well. Oh, and also a few hours to backfill the footings for the deck. It's a ring foundation kind of thing which will have a concrete pavement.. and although it may seem odd to build the deck first on a 24 hectare site - the access (and my love of the wee stunted trees) means I have to pour the deck before the house pad.