Jerry Thompson grew up in the world of irrigation — his father sold gated pipes to farmers, Thompson then farmed and worked for a farmer for 23 years, then for an area irrigation company. 

Nearly 23 years ago, when his boss at Boomer’s Irrigation was ready to step away, he decided to start Waterworks Irrigation in Ralston. 

“We do pivots, we do gated pipe, we do wheel lines, we do underground transfer pipe and stuff like that,” he said. “I used to think that everybody had gated pipe, but we still sell a lot of gated pipe … It’s been a good business.”

Pivots have grown in popularity over the years due to their efficient use of water and the federal funding assistance farmers can get to install them. 

Thompson said last year his company installed 12 pivot systems and while it’s been slower this year, his crew was busy doing a pivot install on a recent cold and windy Thursday afternoon. 

He said they can generally turn around an order in a week to 10 days, depending on availability from the supplier and the size of the project. 

Waterworks sources its pivots from T-L Irrigation in Hastings, Nebraska, and Thompson said he likes the company for its uses of hydraulic systems, as opposed to electric-powered, which is what many companies offer. 

Thompson said there are a number of reasons he prefers the hydraulic-powered systems. 

“Any farmer can work on a hydraulic machine,” he said, as opposed to having to deal with strong electrical currents and the inherent safety risks. “They’re a hydrostatic drive. So they take off and go. And they don’t stop and go like the electric ones do.”

T-L, in touting the benefits of the system, said the continuous movement reduces gearbox wear. 

The systems can also be set up in a variety of ways. The one southwest of Powell he was working on recently had electric ground power to the pivot point, but if that wasn’t the case, he said a diesel-powered hydraulic pump could run the system. 

“So we don’t have to run three phase or single phase power into it,” he said, adding, “That’s a plus also.”

The pivots can even run on natural gas if a line is brought out to it.

Thompson also sells pivot systems with a swing arm to enable farmers to cover those corner spots missed in a classic circular swing of a pivot. The arms are guided by GPS which enables the corner area to be watered just as completely as the rest. 

The company even installs pivots that can be controlled from a phone.

At the recent install he got to get down in the dirt and help raise a tower (generally a 30-minute procedure once all of the equipment is ready) but it’s a rare thing for him these days. Thompson has been successful enough that, as he stood out in a field watching his team work, raise the pipe with a forklift and connect pipes and wires before adding the base and tires, he noted that he usually isn’t able to get out an actually build system, as he is instead stuck in the office handle administrative and sales tasks. 

Still, he loves the business. 

“There’s a lot of interesting things out there in the irrigation world,” he said, smiling. 

For more information about Waterworks Irrigation, call the Ralson office at 307-754-7034.