tractor size for cable plow

[sjames]

Hello all,

This is my first post, but ive been reading here off and on for quite a while.

My question is, i was considering building a cable plow to run about 300' of 10/2 to an outbuilding. Am i wasting my time? Will my BX23 be able to handle this task?

thanks

 

[sweettractors]

You will have no problem, if you make a pass or 2 before the final laying cable pass. If your soil is sandy, 1 pass may do it? Ken Sweet

 

[sjames]

Thanks for the reply.

The soil here is not sandy, its a couple inches of topsoil over clay, small rocks. This was all farmland at one time so you dont usually see any big rocks till you get down 18" or so.

Ive seen various versions of cable plows, most have a pipe to feed the cable though. Is it possible to just direct pull the cable into the trench? Or will friction break the cable in short order?

 

[sweettractors]

W use a subsoiler with a ell piece of heavy wall conduit welded or attached to the back side. Ken Sweet

 

[Scotty370]

st james- I'm interested in you project, just don't understand that "Direct Pull" comment! You certainly can't pull 300' of cable with the cable reel at the out building, and try to 'drag ' it all the way to the source, with a 'Sub-soiler'! I'm with sweettractor. A couple of passes with the 'subsoiler' to break your path, on the initial runs, then on the 'install run' your dealing with busted soil! That said, I'm of the mind that the last run must have the coil mounted on the tractor (Using the ROPS for a temp mount?), and feeding it down the fabricated tube, behind the subsoiler to result in an acceptable installation.
Copper cable doesn't take kindly to 'tensil' stress. Your other option would be to bury 5/8" gasline service (or water) tubing, and then insert it with the cable. Then your sure the cable isn't damaged! Just my 2 cents, but there's a lot of talent on this board! ~Scotty

My other hope is you don't "Leave us 'hanging"! With some new members, they pose a question, get answers/suggestions, and are never heard from again! Don't be one of them!!

 

[cspot]

You might want to look at renting a trencher. I rented one to run some electric and water lines about the same distance. I think it was a little over $200 for the day and that included the insurance and the trailer to haul it. It was a walk-behind on rubber tracks. The nice thing about it is that it doesn't tear the yard up as much as a tractor and you have a nice even ditch. I would recommend running the wire in conduit. This way if you ever have a problem you can just pull a new wire thru it. This would save you from having to build anything. When I did mine my father in law wanted to run a couple lines so we split the cost. That made it really cheap for both of us.

 

[CharlieS]

something to keep in mind, depending on the load you're applying. 300 feet of 10-2, maxed out for load amperage will have enough voltage drop to cause potential problems.
you need to calculate you're load and VD to be sure drop isnt excessive.

Also i'd never use anything other than pvc conduit if you decide to sleeve the conductor. besides being illegal, looking to the future if someone digs it up and cuts it thinking its a water line for example, that could be an accident waiting to happen.
You'll be much better off renting a trencher and doing it right the first time.

 

[sjames]

I appreciate everyone input.

I may rent a trencher and do it that way. I will have to decide before winter.

I have lease gas and my seperator is in this building, it tends to freeze a couple of times per winter, I was only going to run some heat tape from this line, so load should be pretty minimal. That run is actually about 240', the other 60' is seperate for an electric fence around a bee hive.

 

[Scotty370]

Re-thinking this, I'm with C-spot! Those chain diggers leave a nice fine 'spoil' for backfilling. Also, if your buying Underground Rated Cable, they really want it buried in direct contact with the earth, as opposed to a conduit. Don't know why, unless it's heat disapation. I've always been in the "More protection is better" camp! Maybe some of our Electrical guys can 'chime-in'! Let us know how you make out!~Scotty

PS: Ah! You lucky guy! Lease Gas? Free heat? I'm envious!!! ~Scotty

 

[handirifle]

I cannot comment on the "why" of direct burial not in conduit, but can tell you it would a real bear to do. Here's my .02 worth.

I agree on the trencher, and conduit. Running 10/2 I assume you're setting up for 110v at the end? Black, white and ground? If so, it would be easy to pull that through 1" PVC conduit. Here's what you do.

Run the trencher, and make sure you go deep enough on the FIRST pass. I say that because it has been MY personal experience, that there is NO second pass. Every time I have tried this I end up using my truck to pull the trencher out of the trench. The wall of the trench will usually collapse under the heavy weight of the trencher.

Lay the conduit, USING SWEEPS not elbows. Next use a shop vac and such a nylon rope about 1/8 to 3/16" dia through. Just tie a paper towel or similar, that loosly fills the conduit (You do not need it tight, to the end of the nylon rope. Stick the newly formed wad in the conduit and go to the other end with the shop vac. Stick it on the opening of the conduit and let 'er rip. Have someone make sure the rope doesn't tangle, and it should take about 2-3 seconds for a 240ft run.

You may already know how to pull wires, but thought I'd throw out how I do it.

Tie the rope to a larger Mule Tape. This stuff comes (around here) in 500' rolls and is worth every penny you pay. Use the rope to pull the mule tape through. Tie the mule tape to the wires. I lay the tape down about 12" over the wire, opposite direction, and twist the wires over and intertwining the tape into it, with about 6" of it sticking out. The remaining 6" are wrapped around the outside of the twisted wires and tape it all up with electrical tape.

In the last year I have pulled wires from 10ga to 8ga and up to 250ft, and have yet have one come loose. One was 250ft of 10ga wire, 5 wires inside 1 1/4" conduit.

One last note. Stop and think about which end you are starting from for the nylon rope pull. You want to end up pulling the mule tape and wires back out, so you do NOT have to cut the mule tape. ie. So you want the feed end to be where the nylon rope and the wires are fed from. The pull end are where you will have the mule tape roll and vacuum. It IS reusable, so why waste it?