Ditch
Drainage map, automatic ditches along the flow routes, guided or exact drawing, cut and fill in yards.
Ditch and tile design for farmers and contractors
From public LiDAR to a drainage plan your tractor can follow
Dynamic Drainage Design reads the LiDAR for your field, shows where the water sits and where it wants to run, lays out the ditches and the tile, checks every run against your grade, depth and cover limits, and sends the lines to John Deere Operations Center as guidance.
- Runs on your own Windows PC
- Public LiDAR, no survey to start
- Your fields and plans stay on your computer
See it
Two workspaces, one field
Ditch and tile each have their own ribbon of tools, numbered in the order you use them. These are real screens.
Profile
Best fit, pinned points or freeform bottom. Minimum grade is a hard floor; too deep is marked, never hidden.
Map layers
Photo, elevation, hillshade, soils, yield, flow lines, ponding, wetness index: one box, a switch and a strength slider each.
Named and checked
T1, T1-SM1, T1-SM1-L2. Statistics for the run, a grade label per stretch, a red band where a limit is missed.
Your limits
Surface and tile defaults, pipe sizes and perforation, named profiles. Never lowered or raised by the program on its own.
3D
Turn the field in 3D with the ponding, the flow and every line on it, heights exaggerated so the low runs stand out.
Features
Everything between the LiDAR and the machine
One program, no spreadsheets, no files to shuttle between tools.
Flow routes, ponding, depressions
The LiDAR is pit-filled and routed. You see every trickle or only the main channels, the ponds at your cutoff, and the depressions by depth.
Automatic ditches, smooth for auto-steer
Ditches follow the natural low line. Every bend is a true arc at your turn radius. Preferred cut zero, maximum one foot; anything deeper is a review item.
Guided or exact drawing
Sketch a corridor and DDD finds the low route inside it, or keep the line exactly where you drew it. Click, drag, right-click to finish, like a CAD tool.
Mains up the draw, laterals in blocks
One system per marked outlet. Fill an area with long parallel laterals to the lowest line, each block in its own direction, with collectors to the outlet.
Depth to the pipe bottom, cover over the pipe
Laterals 3 ft, submains 3.5, mains 3.75, never over your maximum. A branch joins its main from above, the way a tee is cut in the field.
Pipe sizing the NRCS way
Drained width from the runs beside each lateral, every stretch of a main at its own grade, roughness by pipe size, always rounded up. The card says which stretch set the size.
Ponding after ditches
Carve the ditch plan into the ground and rebuild the map: how many acres the ditches drain, and what is left for a tributary, an inlet or tile.
Acres, yards, feet of pipe
Affected acres, cut and fill in cubic yards, a pipe schedule by size, overburden where a run must go deeper than the plow. Print it or save a PDF.
Straight to Operations Center
Checked runs go to John Deere Operations Center as a guidance setup file, or out as KML, CSV or an SD Drain package. Runs that fail a limit are never sent.
How it works
Three steps from the start screen to the display
Choose the field
Pick it from Operations Center or draw the outline on the map. DDD fetches the public LiDAR and builds the terrain and the drainage map.
Design
Mark the outlet, create the ditches or lay the tile, slide Shorter runs to Longer runs, fix anything the review list flags.
Send
Export to Operations Center. Setup File Creator puts it on the display. Survey with RTK before you dig; the LiDAR plan is the start, not the survey.
Rules it never breaks
Built to keep the plan honest
- The minimum grade is a hard floor. DDD never lowers it or raises a depth limit to make a plan fit.
- A run that fails a limit stays on the map as a review item, dashed and marked, and is never exported.
- Marked outlets govern. No invented culverts, no invented road crossings.
- Your drawings are never regenerated over. Creating again replaces only what DDD made.
- Your fields, yield maps and plans stay on your computer. Nothing is uploaded except what you send to Operations Center.
Early access
DDD is in private preview.
The program is at work on real fields in South Dakota while the last pieces are finished. Public download opens at launch; until then access is by invitation.
Windows 10 / 11
One installer, no sign-up, updates fetched by the program itself (Help → Check for update).
Tell us the county and the acres you drain; we answer by e-mail.
What you get at launch
- The installer and the operator manual on this page.
- A licence key typed once into the program for exports and Operations Center.
- Updates that install themselves from inside DDD.
Pricing
Design for free. Pay when it goes to the machine.
Every field, every tool, no time limit on the free plan.
Free
$0
for as long as you like
- Every field, every design tool
- Drainage map, 3D, profiles, reports
- Prints and PDFs carry a DDD Free mark
- Exports and Operations Center need a licence
Licence
$29
per month, per computer
- Everything in Free, no marks
- KML, CSV, SD Drain and Operations Center guidance
- Updates included, one key per computer
- Month to month, cancel any time
Yearly
$249
per year, per computer
- Everything in the licence
- Two months free against monthly
- Updates included
- Paid once a year
Prices in US dollars before taxes, to be confirmed before launch. A licence key is entered once in the program and checked online now and then; the program keeps working offline for 30 days between checks.
FAQ
Straight answers
What do I need to run it?
A Windows PC. DDD installs from one file and runs on its own; no SolidWorks, no GIS program, no server. An internet connection is needed to fetch LiDAR, for Operations Center and for updates.
Where does the elevation come from?
Public USGS 3DEP LiDAR, 1 m where it exists. Design on it, then survey with RTK when the job goes ahead. DDD says so on every design.
Does it work with John Deere Operations Center?
Yes. Choose a field from your organization, load its yield maps, and send the checked runs as a guidance setup file. If you prefer, save the setup ZIP and upload it in Operations Center yourself.
Does DDD upload my fields or plans?
No. Fields, LiDAR, yield and plans are read and kept on your computer. Only the lines you choose to send go to Operations Center, with your own Deere account.
Can it design installation grades?
It designs the plan: routes, bottoms and pipe sizes within your limits, as the start for the RTK survey and the installation. It never claims a plan is installation ready.
How do updates work?
Press Update in the program. It fetches the new build, shows what changed, and installs when you say so.
Try it on your own field
Design your first field with DDD
Private preview now, public launch soon.