Farm Drainage Tile Contractors In Central Illinois — Who Does What

Published July 31, 2026 · Updated July 31, 2026 · Brohez Trucking LLC · Mattoon, IL

If you've been calling around for farm drainage tile contractors and getting nowhere, there's usually a reason, and it isn't that nobody wants the work. It's that the search term covers two trades with two different machines, and half the people you're calling do the other one.

Here's the split, so you can aim the next call.

Two Trades, One Search Term

Pattern tiling is systematically draining a whole field — laterals on a designed spacing, mains sized to carry them, an outlet built to take the water. It's done with a tile plow, a machine that pulls pipe in behind a shank on a designed grade, and it comes with a plan, a map, and usually a survey. It's a specialty. The outfits that do it do a lot of it and little else.

Tile repair and targeted drainage is fixing and adding to what's already there. Broken and crushed pipe, collapsed clay tile, plugged runs, blown-out outlets, risers, a line that's lost its fall — plus running one new line to a wet spot where a whole system isn't the answer. It's excavator work. It's diagnostic before it's mechanical, and it's a different day than pulling ten thousand feet of pipe.

Both are legitimately "drainage tile contractors." But asking a repair outfit to pattern-tile a quarter section, or asking a tiling crew to come find one break in a fence row, wastes everybody's afternoon.

Which One Does Your Field Need?

The test is whether the field used to drain.

• A spot that drained fine for years and now ponds → something broke. That's repair. A field doesn't lose its drainage character on its own; a line failed, an outlet washed out, or something crushed the pipe.
• A field that has never drained well anywhere → it may never have been tiled, or never tiled enough. That's a pattern-tile conversation with a plow outfit.
• One persistent wet hole in an otherwise good field → often a targeted line to a good outlet, not a system. Cheaper, faster, and it solves the actual complaint.
• An outlet that's caved, silted, or been mowed off → that's the cheapest fix on this page and it masquerades as a dead system all the time.

If you're not sure which you've got, how to find a broken or blown field tile walks the surface clues that tell them apart.

What Brohez Trucking Does

We're the second trade, and we'd rather say so plainly than get three hours into the wrong job.

We do field tile repair and replacement — locating the failure, splicing or replacing the run, resetting pipe to grade, rebuilding outlets and risers — and targeted drainage lines trenched in with the excavator where one line to a good outlet is the right answer. We also handle the surface side that goes with it: waterways, ditch and outlet cleanout, culverts and crossings, and grading for drainage when the water problem is really a slope problem.

We do not own a tile plow, so we don't install full-field pattern systems. When that's what a field needs, we say so and point you at a tiling outfit. You lose nothing by having us look first — the walk is free, and it's the same walk either way.

What we run: a Komatsu PC150LC-6 excavator for the tile work, a Cat D6N dozer with laser grade control for the surface and waterway side, and trucks to move material. The full list is on the equipment page.

What To Ask Before You Hire Anybody

These work on any contractor, including this one:

• "Do you own a tile plow, or is this excavator work?" — one question, sorts the whole list.
• "How do you find the break before you dig?" — if the answer is "we start digging," keep calling.
• "Where does the water go?" — a new line to a bad outlet is money spent moving a problem downhill.
• "Are you insured, and can I see a certificate?" — on a rented field this matters more than people think.
• "What does the ground look like when you leave?" — restoration is real work and it belongs in the number.

Where We Work

Mattoon, Illinois, out about 60 miles — Coles, Douglas, Moultrie, Cumberland, Shelby, Effingham, Edgar, Clark, Champaign, and Piatt counties, and the towns in between: Charleston, Sullivan, Arcola, Tuscola, Arthur, Neoga, Shelbyville, Effingham, Paris, Champaign. Full list on the service area page.

Tell us what the field is doing and roughly where it is, and we'll come walk it. Free on-site estimate either way — including the one where the answer is "you want a tiling outfit for this."

Farm Drainage Tile Contractors — Common Questions

Do you install farm drainage tile?

We install targeted drainage lines trenched in with an excavator and we repair or replace existing field tile — broken, crushed, and collapsed lines, outlets, risers, and runs that have lost their grade. We do not run a tile plow, so full-field pattern tile systems on designed spacing aren't our trade. If that's what a field needs, we'll tell you and point you to a tiling outfit.

What's the difference between a tiling contractor and a tile repair contractor?

A tiling contractor runs a tile plow and installs whole-field pattern systems on a designed spacing, usually with a plan and a map. A tile repair contractor works with an excavator on what's already in the ground: finding failures, splicing or replacing runs, rebuilding outlets, and adding targeted single lines. Both show up under "drainage tile contractors," but they own different machines and do different days' work.

How do I know if my field needs repair or a whole new system?

The test is whether the field used to drain. A spot that drained for years and now ponds almost always means something broke — that's repair. A field that has never drained well anywhere may never have been tiled, or never tiled enough, and that's a pattern-tile conversation. One persistent wet hole in an otherwise good field is often a targeted line, not a system.

Do you work on rented or leased farm ground?

Yes. We're fully insured and can provide a certificate of insurance on request, which landlords and farm managers commonly want before work starts on ground you don't own.

What counties do you cover for farm drainage work?

Mattoon, Illinois out to about 60 miles — Coles, Douglas, Moultrie, Cumberland, Shelby, Effingham, Edgar, Clark, Champaign, and Piatt counties, including Charleston, Sullivan, Arcola, Tuscola, Arthur, Neoga, Shelbyville, Effingham, Paris, and Champaign.