The weather has turned beautiful again and I’ve been out since 10 digging up the yard valve.
I had this great elaborate plan that required rebuilding that whole bunch of plumbing, I’m now not sure why. At last, having gotten it all cleared of dirt and visible, I said “screw it,” made one cut, and just unscrewed the broken valve. First I used the faucet to drain most of the water from the more than 300′ of pipe coming down the ridge, so the whole trench didn’t fill up. I dug a little pit under the valve both to allow it to rotate and to contain what little water came out of the pipe when I cut it, and it looks as though that part will be no bother at all. Don’t know what all the fuss was about.
The riser should be much more of a bother, since it involves crawling around under the cabin and I really hate that.
ETA:
That part’s done. I need to get more pipe insulation tomorrow, then I’ll rebuild the riser and open the valve. For now I have water in the yard.
I’ll admit, I’ve been curious about why you thought that plumbing project would be so hard. That said, your idea of putting tin pipe armor around your pipe insulation seems inspired to me. The rats should hate it. I only suggest that you seal the ends so that you don’t inadvertently create rat runs.