Tips to Winterize Your Mechanized Irrigation Equipment

Technician servicing a center pivot

For those growers in the Northern hemisphere, winter is only weeks away!  Before it gets too cold out, or the white precipitation known as snow starts to fall, take the time to winterize your center pivot and linear machines.  Below are some tips that will help you winterize your center pivot or linear.  For more tips and information, contact your local Valley dealer.

1. Move your center pivot/linear to a different location for the season so that there is a less likely chance of wind or rodent damage.
2. Close all large openings in the machine to protect against rodents.
3. Drain water from the pumps (to the lowest point they can hold water), gearbox, and center drive and make sure the gear lubricant is at the proper level.
4. Fill deep wheel tracks to reduce stress on irrigation, tillage, and harvest equipment.  If your wheel tracks are very deep and becoming a nuisance, consider at this time replacing the machine's wheels for another floatation option.
5. Inspect and replace worn motor contactors, and lock down power supplies.
6. Check for broken or worn sprinkler components and replace them if needed.  Take this time to consider a newer sprinkler package that may be more efficient.
7. Check the pressure in your tires, as well as the overall condition of the tires, and tighten lug bolts.
8. Flush the span pipe line and clean out the sand trap.
9. Check for worn U-joints and replace if needed.
10. Check your flow meter or ask your dealer to measure your actual flow output; adjust as needed.
11. Based on your findings, it's always good to create a list of items that need worked on for each machine!