tips for removing puddles?

From past experiences in an adult softball "wet diamond" world I would NOT recomend a helecoptor or kerocene/match. Both have negative results

I realize rz1 and I aren't helping you much but here's my answer:

Move to Arizona.

I would dig a small hole in the back of the infield - or better still in foul ground if appropriate place a coffee can sized bucket in the hole.

Put a small pump in the bucket - with a garden hose leading off the field to a low spot or drain.

Get a small army of people with wide push brooms or better yet squeegies.. (those wide rubber things on the end of a 6 foot handle - often used at tennis courts). You have to keep pump constantly covered with water.

Push the water into the hole and pump it away.

That will get the infield and the surrounding grass down to damp. Next use a nail drag to turn over the field once - then proceed to drag the field over and over and over again.

then use the quick dry at the end in the batter boxes, pitchers mound and near first base. 5 bags won't go far so focus on those areas.

Hope this helps

08

08dad is the man

dig the hole at a low spot to fit a 5 gal bucket (it's the sump) & put a bigger pump in it - the squeegies are great - nail drag w/jeep & you may not need the quikdry at all
*if a problem field, the sump can be left in and capped with a cover & dirt so it's ready next time

it helps to have a cooler & bbq grill on site as well

quote:

Originally posted by Bee>:
08dad is the man

it helps to have a cooler & bbq grill on site as well

Thanks Bee

I knew I forgot something - fill the hole in after you finish pumping!!!!!

The cooler and grill are a great addition - gonna remember that next time... after all the key to all of this is having lots of people.

I will never forget a college coach outside Omaha last summer who was providing the field for a travel baseball tourney we were at. He was there, with one assistant coach, from 10 PM to 7 AM, getting his field ready to play for the next day. He was pumping into a large garbage can and then dumping it rather than using a long hose - he said he took 200 cans of water off the field.

I was so impressed by the pride he took in his field and having it ready to play. When I tried to thank him, his response was - you guys came 2000 miles to play least I can do is have the field ready... Very impressive guy.

08

one problem... i dont have a pump! any other advice would be appreciated, thanks.

create a siphon... suck on one end of a hose until water starts flowing then put hose in a spot lower than the other end of the hose....

BTW pump doesn't have to be real big. Something like 150 GPH can be bought at a hardware store in the garden section for about 20 bucks. As long as it is a submersible pump it should be fine. I had one from a garden pond project that was 300 GPH and that was more than enough.

08

Best thing of all-buy at Tomark.com the water absorbant pillows; lay them on the puddles, they soak up the water, carry them off, squeeze out, repeat till puddle is gone. It works great, avoids creating low spots as happens with sweeping. The hand carried puddle pumper works well too. This is not a promo for Tomark, that's just where we bought the stuff.

Those are really cool - can you really just squeeze out and repeat? Like a big sponge?

If you have to get ready in a hurry then sweeping the puddle outward, rake/drag, field dry and then rake/drag more is your best bet.

One word of caution to go with what hokieone said about sweeping is if you sweep then you need to go back the next dry day and smooth the area over. Everytime you sweep the water out dirt goes with it. Now you are creating a bigger / deeper area for a puddle to form and make even more work for yourself.

I have seen the pump method and it works well as long as you have a place to put the water.

I am not a big fan of the dig a trench and let it flow away. Once again the dirt will go with the water and create low spots and now you have to make sure you fill the trench in. Most people are smart enough to make it a small one but I have also seen pretty big trenches that could roll an ankle even after being filled.

The best drying method is sun and wind and rakes. Good luck with it and hope you get to play.

.

Best darn poodle removers I've ever seen by far...




.

if it is just spots of puddles, arrating (hideous spelling) actually works as all the water drains into the wholes, or 3ft deep or so holes with rebar work well.

quote:

Originally posted by bballhp07:
if it is just spots of puddles, arrating (hideous spelling) actually works as all the water drains into the wholes, or 3ft deep or so holes with rebar work well.

Am I correct in thinking that you drive a 3ft or so piece of rebar into the ground and pull it out and then the water drains away? That is pretty good and I never would have thought of that.

Dig the hole and if nothing else is available, use a shop vac.

Here in Florida we use Air Boats! I've witnessed it done numerous times with excellent results. It will take care of more than a puddle, I've seen small ponds disappear.

08 dad,

Yes, the "pillows" are actually some kind of sponge-like material. They work like a charm. Our procedure is this:

1. Use pump and apply pillows till standing water is gone.
2. Mix "Stay-Dri" in with wet soil and rake it around, adding some Turface as well.
3. Continue to turn it over with rakes intermittently.
4. Once it has dried a bit, drag with nail drag, turning it over repeatedly.


Some sun and wind help the process greatly.


P.S. In the off season, we went to our biggest problem spots, drilled several 3'deep holes, 12" in diameter, filled them with gravel up to 2"-3" from the top, then raked infield mix over the top. It has helped greatly.

For the batters box and mound torching works well...A little gas (after standing water is removed) a metal rake, and a match... pour about 6 oz of gas in front of the rubber, in the landing area, and the batters box holes. After you carefully light it, stir it back and forth with a metal rake until the flames go out and repeat as needed. This works great in clay areas.
P.S. obviously this is not safe, but it absolutly works. In fact Im pretty sure its illegal in some areas

DON"T USE GAS!!!!

A college program nearby got rocked by EPA for using gas to dry their infield and had to dig it up, replace the soil, comply with "Proper Remediation Procedures" in disposing of the soil, spent a bunch of $$$ and almost lost a coach.

quote:

program nearby got rocked by EPA for using gas to dry their infield

I think my head's gonna explode

Proper Remediation?

let's see ... when petrol comes out of the ground it's prized

if it's then spilled back onto the ground .. it's a disaster





I gotta go break a thermometer & play with the mercury

You had better be very, very careful while playing Bee>...that stuff is incrediblyly dangerous! I hope you realize the extreme danger you are placing yourself in. This is nothing to fool around with. I'm serious! Why take the risk? Don't say I didn't warn you...

"Glass shards from that broken thermometer may give you a nasty cut!"

gameday grounds-crew

Ha! Nice boots!


A Shop Vac, a small can of gas, a few lengths of rebar, and a couple of hours of work... and this field will be ready to go!


...................."Hey, beer man!"....................

Sweep off any standing water. Hand rake the field and let it sit for a couple of hours. Hand rake again and let it sit for a couple of more hours. Then you should be able to drag the field. If you have some sun and a little wind you should be fine. We keep a good amount of turface on the surface which allows it to dry fairly quickly. You can add the turface you have to the spots on the field that do not dry as fast or around the approaches to the bags and exits. Good Luck

I've heard that Turface, once it has served it's purpose, should be scraped off and removed from the field. Otherwise, if allowed to build up in troublesome wet spots it eventually replaces the original surface, and when this happens conditions deteriorate even worse when it rains.

Turface doesn't have the same properties of the original surface and will take up or absorb subsequent rainwater and turn these spots into a gelatinous mess.

If I understand what I've heard correctly it appears that fresh Turface is good while used or old Turface is bad.

Has anyone else heard this about Turface or other similar products?

quote:

Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
I've heard that Turface, once it has served it's purpose, should be scraped off and removed from the field. Otherwise, if allowed to build up in troublesome wet spots it eventually replaces the original surface, and when this happens conditions deteriorate even worse when it rains.

Turface doesn't have the same properties of the original surface and will take up or absorb subsequent rainwater and turn these spots into a gelatnous mess.

If I understand what I've heard correctly it appears that fresh Turface is good while used or old Turface is bad.

Has anyone else heard this about Turface or other similar products?

Are you feeling okay? You've actually asked a serious question. JK, I love your humor.

Sorry I couldn't resist. BTW, I don't have the answer.

Kudos to all,

This is a very entertaining post that had many helpful ideas that I've never thought of.

08Dad

Really enjoyed hearing about the Omaha area College Coach who went the extra mile for you guys. Would it be ok if you mentioned he or/and his school? Sounds like the type of guy who kids may want to check out.

quote:

Originally posted by FrankF:

Are you feeling okay? You've actually asked a serious question. JK, I love your humor.

Sorry I couldn't resist. BTW, I don't have the answer.

Yeah FrankF...I'm a little surprised too!

And in this thread, it came your way aboard a little rubber dinghy from left field!

tips ... just tell'em to take their puudles elsewhere & clean up before they go

I haven't seen anyone mention a wetvac. We have electricity and so we use those huge wetvacs that you can buy at any hardware store. We also purchased 2 of those wagons that are made to carry heavy loads and so, we always keep one going off of the diamond carrying water while the other one is filling up. In other words the wetvac is on the wagon. Naturally you need to make sure you have grounded cords and recepticle.

How do you remove Puddles?

I have been thinking on this subject now for a year or two….Mrs. Bullwinkle has a yappy snappy poodle named Puddles that she brings with her anywhere she goes. That non-dog (more hairless rat that poodle) is more in control in my house than I will ever think to be.

Any ideas would be helpful.

Is Puddles a pampered pooch? Does she think she's royalty? Does she look something like this?...



My advice is cut off her dry cleaning allowance!

Judging from our current weather in the midwest I would guess that you could just wait 24 hours and the puddles will turn to ice and the rain will turn to snow.

WOW.... WHAT GREAT RESPONSE FROM EVERYONE (I STARTED THE POST)... THANKS FOR THE ADVICE. aS FOR OUR FIELD, THE PUDDLES WERE NOT AS BAD AS EXPECTED THIS MORNING, SO WE REMOVED SOME WATER (SHOVELS AND BUCKETS), THEN RAKED THE MUD, HELPS IRRIGATE, THEN ADDED TURFACE QUICK DRY (5 BAGS), DRAGGED THE FIELD AND IT WAS READY TO GO. Infield looked the best it has all season, then we played like **** and lost 9-1. Oh well.... all that hard work for a loss.

Anyone have advice on removing snow flurries?


( Burrrrrrrrrrr!!! shiver-shiver )

They sure are nastly lil' buggers when you're tryin' to play ( or watch ) baseball,
...and that ol' Mr. Howlin Wind guy,
he sure ain't one of my favorites
characters, either!!!

Haaaa-chooooo, sniff- sniff!!!!
Anyone got an extra nose mitten?
Where does one actually go to buy
a nose mitten, in April, anyways?????
Their regular spot on the store shelf
has been replaced with tanning oils
and bikini's.


I miss our Hawaii baseball playing days,.....

Good grief,....it's been freeezin' here!!!!

quote:

advice on removing snow flurries?

happy to help

Cow Wreck Bar - Anagada north shore, BVI

quote:

Originally posted by SBK:
Kudos to all,

This is a very entertaining post that had many helpful ideas that I've never thought of.

08Dad

Really enjoyed hearing about the Omaha area College Coach who went the extra mile for you guys. Would it be ok if you mentioned he or/and his school? Sounds like the type of guy who kids may want to check out.

Apologies for not getting back sooner - I was away on a trip and had to look it up when I got home...

Dana College - Head Coach Ken Misfeldt

for more info:

http://www.dana.edu/baseball/index.html

Thanks again Coach Misfeldt

dig a small hole in low area, using shovel, 'throw' water off into OF grass or shovel it into 5 gallon buckets, if electricity/pump not available. Score 'veins' into ths soft mud to draw the water into the holes you dig, lessenign the number of holes. Move from hole to hole, allowing preceding holes to fill as you work the other ones. Do this until you get the standing water off, which is a good way to NOT leave low areas that you get by brooming/squeegee-ing.

I like the TOMARK pillows, too. Have used 3 ft rebar/pry bar to draw water down, too. Best to remove as much if the standing water as possible, first. The use the various field dry products [I forget the name, but I alwaysliek that ground up corn cob stuff - I always thought it worked great].

Those pillows are the best.

Cooperstown dreams park uses them for their summer long 12 yr old tourneys. They take the wet pillows and run them thru the yellow mop buckets cleaning crews use.

Our travel team does it like Windmill. If we use a broom or shovel on the school fields we'll lose our permits. We don't have electricity. It's just lots of backbreaking work by hand. To scoop water from the smaller holes take a gallon plastic milk jug, cut away part of the side away from the handle to make a scoop. It will take away some infield dirt. However, when you pour the water out of the bucket the sand and dirt willl have settled to the bottom and comes out as mud. It can be spread out over the field when you are raking. Just make sure to pack down the dirt that you return to the hole. You don't want anyone twisting an ankle - usually us older coach and parent types.