Old Conservation Practices

The aluminum surface inlet below caught my eye earlier this week.  Surface inlets are used to channel surface water into underground tile in shallow ponded areas, water and sediment control basins and tile outlet terraces.   They are also called risers.  The aluminum inlet was one that was used in the 70's when these things were first introduced.  The advantage is they never rust out.  The disadvantage is that if you  hit one with your machinery, you are likely to break off the inlet and break the tile it is attached to.  The orange inlet below is a trademark of a plastic inlet manufacture by Hickenbottom.  The plastic inlets are very tough.  They are in two pieces and the top piece can break away from the bottom without doing much damage.  If the farmer is not too tough on them, all he needs to do is get off the tractor and put it back in place.  The aluminum inlet that is still working is kind of a tribute to the care that has been taken by machinery operators in farming around it all these years.