Crops are changing colors, combines are tossing up dust in the fields and hoodies and jeans are coming out. It’s that time to thank the irrigation equipment for yet another successful year by giving it some love with fall maintenance tasks.

There are some routine tasks that should be performed at the end of every growing season. You acknowledged the value of having an irrigation system and AgSense technology, now ensure it keeps running for years to come! Let’s start with the last time you apply water. Go ahead and put your pivot in an optimal position for harvesting. We all know how the weather dictates when you can get into the field and when it’s time to go, it’s crunch time. Positioning your irrigation system for harvest will also prevent unwanted downtime and potentially avoid an emergency service request to your dealer who may or may not be available to run out to your field during the night or on the weekend.

Every vehicle requires maintenance and your irrigation system is no exception. Think of your system as another vehicle within your fleet of farm equipment. It moves, has gearboxes, motors, tires, a control panel and associated AgSense technology. As far as fall maintenance tasks, we suggest having a checklist that includes the following items:

During high school, we all learned about the power of water. Finding frozen water within your irrigation system is probably not the time to relive those fun science experiments. Make sure you not only drain the water from your pivot but also take care of your underground pipelines. 

Lastly, don’t forget about inspecting your control panels, AgSense units and tower boxes! Make sure they are watertight and rodent proof. 

We hope following these items listed above will help make your spring go smoothly and avoid some costly surprises. 

Written by Farmer’s Implement & Irrigation in partnership with AgSense.