Subsoiler and burying electric wires

[Sully2]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I know this wasn't your original question, but when it came time to lay wire out to our garage, the electrician told us to bury it deep. Also, part of it was going under a driveway.. perhaps that's why. We got in a backhoe and put it about 3 feet down. Also, we're in upstate NY and the temperatures and frost might have a bearing on this. )</font>

Oh yeah..I understand that. Where I can and DO have any "traffic"...mine is 3 ft deep and inside 2 inch plastic conduit...but then again my RV is parked on top of it with 20,000 axle weight!!! This work is all back yard stuff..and soil will be ADDED over it for flower beds, etc...and you can barely get my B3030 in the back yard. I could probably "get by" with 3 inches deep...but I'll about as far down as the tractor / subsoiler can EASILY dig...whatever that is?

 

[gabby]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Thats my problem at this point Bob. Trying to figure out exactly how to attach the elbow to the back of the subsoiler..and NOT have it permanent. )</font>

You don't need an elbow or a guide pipe because you don't need to feed the wire or cable.

Just weld a ring to the bottom rear of the subsoiler foot and tie the wire to it and start plowing. The wire will pull through the ground behind you like a rope. No problem. It creates its own tunnel in the dirt. I've pulled 900 feet in one stretch.
gabby

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Sully, with the method I used, the mount is not permenant because the pipe is just held on with hose clamps.

There are different methods to accomplishing this same thing. Several methods seem to work.

 

[Sully2]

Just plain old SST "radiator" style hose clamps? WOW! Sounds like a winner to me!! Thanks

 

[Sully2]

If I were JUST going to pull wire..Id probably go with that...but "I THINK..??" I might want to bury some plastic piping for a small waterfall..etc..and donw want to kink it..

 

[gabby]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If I were JUST going to pull wire..Id probably go with that...but "I THINK..??" I might want to bury some plastic piping for a small waterfall..etc..and donw want to kink it.. )</font>

You can bury pvc pipe the same way - by pulling it like a rope. Just drill a hole through a cap and run a rope through it and knot it so it can't pull through. Then tie the rope to the subsoiler. Don't use roll pipe. Been there done that. PVC works much better and there is little difference in cost.
gabby

 

[Sully2]

sections of PVC..??? or a "continious length' ( 1 piece) of PVC..??

 

[gabby]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( sections of PVC..??? or a "continious length' ( 1 piece) of PVC..?? )</font>

Glue it up in a continuous length and plow away! It seems too easy but it works great. I've done a couple of miles of it. Slick as grease.

Weld a length of sharpened 1/2" bar edgewise to the front of the subsoiler foot to slice neatly through your grass. Pack the furrow with your tractor tires when finished. Very little disturbance to the ground and no filling, no settling and no re-filling.
gabby

 

[keeney]

No need to weld anything to "pull" wire - just loop the wire around the foot of the subsoiler and tie it in a good knot.

Or, use some bailing wire to attach stuff to the foot of the subsoiler. On mine, I wrap the wire around the foot between the two bolts that hold it on and twist it tight. For sprinkler poly, I just folded the tubing over after putting it through the loop of wire and then duck-taped it back on itself. Rigid PVC probably requires drilling a hole.

Anything smooth will pull for hundreds of feet assuming the subsoiler itself doesn't hit an immovably-large rock or root. Even 1-1/2" PVC pipe with joints will go without too much difficulty. Heck, I have even pulled sprinkler poly with the taps already installed every 15 feet (covered with some duck tape).

One helpful hint - make a pass with the subsolier along the intended pass without pulling anything first so you can find all the rocks and roots that may cause you to need to lift the subsoiler up to break/remove. Once the path is clear, then pull the wire along the exact same path in one smooth run without lifting.

Another issue is feeding the material in at the starting end without it tangling or kinking. For wire you can probably setup a way to unroll it off the spool. For rigid pipe/conduit, just lay it out in a straight line beyond the starting point. Sprinkler poly is a pain - it always wants to roll back up and then gets itself snagged and kinks. A helper is very helpful in this situation.

- Rick

 

[5030tinkerer]

Has anyone welded a rod or anything to the bottom of their subsoiler to enable a conduit pull 24" or deeper? I'll be running three different trenches 800' or so come March and would really, really love to not have to rent a trencher or spend the backhoe time digging that far.