THE INNOVATORS
HydroSide Systems: Using Water Power to Make Traveling Irrigation Systems Autonomous
Peter Bean, Wil Hackleman, and Dana Mohr in front of a HydroSide automated traveling gun.
H
ydroSide Systems has developed an innovative and awardwinning technology for moving wheel lines, traveling guns, boom systems, and other traveling irrigation units. It aims to replace labor-intensive movers with a water-powered hydroelectric system, making irrigation units self-powered and autonomous. In this interview, HydroSide Founder and CEO Dana Mohr tells Irrigation Leader about how the company’s technology works and the benefits it can bring to irrigators. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
26 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020
irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF HYDROSIDE.
Dana Mohr: My background is tied to blue-collar industry and construction, so I very much relate to the hard work that goes into farming and agriculture. I was also blessed to marry into a Montana family with strong ties to agriculture. My wife, Sharon, and I first lived near Denver, Colorado, and eventually moved to Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho to be closer to family. Around 8 years ago, my brother-in-law was responsible for managing several wheel lines in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. The work involved walking through a field;
manually starting a motor; and disconnecting, draining, and moving the system 60 feet from one irrigation set to another every 12–24 hours. He had to do this all the way across a 40‑acre field. The labor-intensive nature of the process seemed resource draining for farmers and farmhands alike. Discussing this problem with him planted the seed for what would eventually become HydroSide; it sprouted in 2017 with a potential solution. Our idea zeroed in on moving the irrigation system with power generated by the water itself rather than by a gaspowered motor. We bounced the idea around with a variety of engineers who said they believed it could work. My wife and I found an investor and a developer, and HydroSide was born. We created a product that could not only fully automate wheel-line systems, but could also be applied to other traveling irrigation systems, including traveling guns and traveling booms. It had great marketing potential and was promising from a business-case perspective. On top of it all, we had done plenty of research, and our system was patentable. We are now patent pending in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and Australia and have received positive review from the World International Patent Organization.
