Water Irrigation Center Pivot Systems
Published by Joe Legerstee on 2nd Feb 2018
You are at the grocery store sorting through all the fruits and vegetables to determine what is good or bad. The carrots, lettuce, watermelon, peppers, and grapes all look good and have colors that really standout.
Who grows all this stuff and how do they produce
such a consistent product? Well one key elements to make all this happen
is water.
In this White Paper we are going to focus on how
irrigation water plays a major part in food production and what part
Hoyt plays in the big picture.
Irrigation water is essential for keeping these fruits and
vegetables growing to feed the world's population. This has been a fact
for thousands of years. Estimates vary, but about 70 percent of all the
world's freshwater withdrawals go towards irrigation uses. What would
happen to the price of several fruits and vegetables in the United
States if California could no longer product due to lack of water?
Prices would sky-rocket, diets would change, and several families would
be impacted. Large-scale farming could not provide food for the
population without the irrigation of crop fields by water pulled from
underground wells.
One of the more popular mechanized methods is the center-pivot
irrigation system, which uses moving spray guns or dripping faucet heads
on wheeled tubes that pivot around a central source of water. The
fields produced by these systems can be easily seen in the air. Just
look out the window next time you fly over the US.
Photo from the www.valleyirrigation.com.
At the ground level we can see that the motorized equipment used
to produce the circles travel on two or four wheels. They are typically
gas powered and have complete onboard control systems to monitor
voltage, current, water flow, run time, and several other parameters
depending on how large of area is being covered. As with any application
there are several different models available to fit the end users
budget and overall needs. Keep in mind center pivot irrigation systems
can cover thousands of feet so there is can be a great deal of stress
applied to the equipment depending on the environmental conditions. If
you would like more information on system details, feel free to visit
any of these three manufacturing experts: Reinke Irrigation, Valley
Irrigation, Lyndsay Corporation.
So, what role does Hoyt play in making sure you have those delicious fruits and vegetables at the dinner table?
If you look at the above control panel example you can see a pair of
analog meters. The control panel is typically located in the center
field and runs on 480V (Three Phase) or 240V (Single Phase). There
typically is a step-down transformer as well to bring things down to
120V. The Hoyt
5000 Series or HST-90U
is tracking the AC Volts (0-600V) for the 480V (Three Phase) AC drive
motors. They are UL approved and built to the last. The other meter is
the picture is an hour meter or elapsed time meter. These meters are
used as service reminders for bearings, drives, bolts, tire level,
alignment, water carrying conduit, electrical systems, and several other
parts that keep the center irrigation pivot systems running smoothly.
They are exposed to the weather 365 days a year. The
H722 Series
feature a solid state electronic drive with no motor and less moving
parts. Electronic actuation assures accuracy by eliminating delicate
springs and mechanical clock mechanisms that can be effected by
vibration and temperature.
Hoyt meters are made in the USA. In addition to the Analog Panel Meters we have standard and custom Digital meter solutions as well- call a representative to discuss your options at 800-258-3652.