wrong attachment?

[Freds]

I think I bought the wrong attachment for the job.... not that I won't find use for it later.

I have a driveway alert that I wanted to bury the sensor and put it in some yellow plastic gas pipe I have left over from a job. I bought a subsoiler thinking that would do the trick, but it doesn't leave a trench. I recall seeing some pics a while back of someone using one to run wire and they had a curved piece of conduit as a sort of feed to get the wire below ground. Never having seen one in use, it didn't dawn on me that it rips through the ground without leaving a trench to lay the pipe in after you get off the tractor.

Does anyone have any ideas how this could work or is it just the wrong attachment for what I need to do?
Maybe make a jig that follows the blade and leaves the trench I'm looking for?

Thanks

 

[theboman]

The have things you can rent... Northern tools sells em too, but it's not a tractor attachment.

The subsoiler will work...just let it go to 8" or so.... it won't make a perfect place but you can lay the yeller pipe in the furrow pretty easy and the dirt will rake right back into the furrow with a rake/shovel/hoe or rear blade.

 

[Freds]

Thanks, Bo
I was probably that deep, it was above the blade and just the 1/2" flatbar was at ground level, maybe that was the problem. Also I was ripping through grass, so the sod kind of folded right back in as I made my pass.
Geez, I hate to have to rent something. Maybe I'll play around with making some kind of jig. I was thinking of a piece of angle iron leading with the corner, like a "V". I think the legs may help to press the dirt and sod back to the sides, compress it a little and leave the trench. If I don't get any other ideas I'll give it a try and post if it works.

 

[Glenn9643]

Subsoilers that I've used didn't leave a trench, but if the ground was TOO dry they brought up large clods at times.
I haven't done it, but have seen a subsoiler used to "pull" pvc pipe into the ground. You'll have to devise a way to tie one end of your pipe to the bottom of the subsoiler, maybe with strong wire. Make up your pipe and be sure the joints are cured. When the subsoiler enters the ground and sinks it carries the pipe with it at the bottom of the cut, and when you lift the subsoiler at the end of your cut it rises out. You'll need to do a little shovel work at each end. The longest run I ever saw pulled like this was about 200'.

 

[shvl73]

I think you're headed in the right direction w/ making a different tip. WorkSaver makes a combo sub-soiler/middle buster. If I had known that I would have purchased that instead of my sub-soiler. A piece of angle iron should act like a plow & leave a small trench.

 

[zuiko]

I guess the question I would have is do you need to put the sensor in the pipe or is direct burial ok. Is it a wire?

 

[Freds]

The sensor can go in the ground, but when put under a driveway like I'm doing they recommend putting it in pipe. Plus if it ever goes bad I can pull it out without having to trench again or remember exactly where it was burried.

I just finished drawing something up that should work.... in theory anyway. Now I need to gather the materials together and have at it. Almost makes me wish I was a tin knocker again and had access to the materials and tools I used to. At least at times like these.

 

[KiotiJohn]

Fred, this may be the thread to which you referred, but I'll post it again in the hopes you'll get some help from it. John
WVBill laying pipe

 

[GoodGuy]

Not to steal this thread but would you share with us what driveway sensor system you bought and all the details. I've seen infrared units on e-bay but not hard wired systems.
Thanks
Eric

 

[gabby]

Here's my pipe layer that I have used to install over a mile of pvc pipe of various sizes up to 2 inch. I have plowed in as much as 900' of 1" pipe in one pass. This pic shows it attached to 1" pipe.

Just pre-glue the pvc pipe and start plowing it in. It doesn't even cost much more than roll pipe and it's much better pipe.

The sharp front edge on the subsoiler is important. It neatly slices through the sod and it smooths out nicely afterwards just by packing the furrow with the tractor tires.
Gabby

oops - my pic is 400k+ and the forum won't accept it. Can anybody out there reformat it below 100k? It's a jpg file.