Middle Buster

[Anonymous Poster]

I have about 300 foot of water line to run this Spring. I plan to put the line in to eliminate the use of hoses. They will not need to be burried very deep because I will drain them in the Fall of the year.

Will a middle buster dig a deep enough trench in my clay soil?
I would like to go down 6 to 8 inches?
Has anyone used a middle buster to do this?
I was thinking of getting a King Kutter. Any recommendations?

 

[Stonewall]

Middle Busters are really designed to be used in furrowed fields to bust the furrow and reveal the root crop in it (potatos). They won't do that at any real depth as there isn't anywhere for the displaced soil to go. I would try a sub-soiler as it will go deeper and just disrupt the soil in a narrow trench. No matter which one you use you will have to clear it by hand with a tile spade or like tool. It will be much quicker to rent a real trencher from a rent-all and put it in below frost line to save headaches later and if you find that you want to put in some underground wiring you will be well above it.

 

[herbenus]

I've had mixed results using the middle buster for trenching. Last weekend I had 40 feet to trench to install 4"
drain pipe. Ground is sandy gumbo and was too wet to be worked. (I should have waited. Trench was 1/2 full of water when I was done.) The mb tends to push dirt ahead of it, instead of up and out of trench as I expected. I had ten feet of perfect trench, about 12 inches wide by 12 inches deep which took several passes to accomplish. The remainder was filled with the dirt pushed in from before it. After several passes to clear out, the soft wet soil was giving way and I had two deeper trenches from my tires on either side of my intended trench. I finally gave up and used the fel to finish. To quote another poster, "I stink."

Last summer I used middle buster in a field for 1/2" irrigation pipe. Opposite situation: dry sandy soil. I dug a good trench but it tended to backfill with the soil which had the consistency of talcum powder about 6" deep. I was able to lay pipe on this and just step on to push down under powder. It worked.

I plan on making a narrower blade, 3-4 inches wide and try it, but haven't yet. I've seen some good posts here with pictures for cable/pipe layers so they may help you. I feel like I'm doing something wrong and figure I just need more experience. Renting a trencher is of course the best way, but I'm too cheap.

You'd think by now the tractor manufacturers would have wised up and start selling a 3 point trencher. I've never seen one though.

Good luck.

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>The mb tends to push dirt ahead of it, instead of up and out of trench </font color=blue>

If you're running fast enough, it doesn't./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

<font color=blue>start selling a 3 point trencher</font color=blue>

They do; all it takes is money./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif In fact, several companies make them, but for a picture and specs on just one try <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.gearmore.com/trencher.pdf>this link</A>.

 

[BILL_K]

Bill
+3 +point +trencher on goggle.com will give you several link.
Gearmore.com,cadplans.com,bradco.com are some
Billk

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for all of the comments and information. I looked into renting a Ditch Witch last fall and it will cost $170 for a one day rental (minimum rental period). While looking through a King Kutter catalog I saw the middle buster for about $130. It looked to me that I could dig a ditch with it deep enough to burry a half inch line. After the ditch project I would still have the MB to dig my tators in the fall.

I'm glad I asked for an opinion. It looks like it may not be the right tool for the job, especially in my clay soil.

Hey Bird.... I'm a little down on my luck. Would you buy me one of those 3PH ditch diggers? I'd really like to have one!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

John

 

[Bird]

You're down on your luck? Heck, I don't even have a tractor anymore./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif And while you might have a problem getting as deep as you want to go, I've done some trenching with a middle buster, and if I were in your place, I'd buy one. Mine actually got used infrequently, but it was definitely the tool of choice for digging the potatoes and then it also dug a couple of trenches for burying electrical wire. You might have to make more than one pass, and adjust the length of the top link on subsequent passes to get deeper, and then it might or might not get as deep as you want.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Bird... I just did a search and found a lot of posts on the subject. Stupid me should have done that first.

I read that some people have even used them to lay the pipe. I'm flip-flopping! I think I may give it a try since it looks like your not going to buy me a 3PH ditch digger!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

John

 

[MikeBurr]

I had good luck digging a trench with my middle buster. Took serval passes to get it deep enough and I had no trouble with the dirt falling back in. Once I was down deep enough, 8 to 10 inchs, a couple of more passes cleaned out the trench fairly well. Also used it with my fel, had a lot of clay/dirt to move. The fel wouldn't dig thru the stuff very well, so I used the middle buster to break the ground up and then use the fel to move the dirt. Really saved some time using both instead of just the fel by it's self.

 

[WVBill]

JWE

I did exactly that last summer. Buried about 400' of black poly pipe to eliminate having to run water hoses all over the yard.

My story, including pictures is in <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=projects&Number=164156&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=WVBill&Match=Username&Searchpage=5&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=164156> This Thread </A>.