Dirt Moving Just dont do it.

luckyme2010 · Oct 21, 2018

I've been reading on here off and on about using a subsoiler and middle buster for installing 4 inch pvc sewer lines. I bought the little TSC subsoiler and ordered a 18" furrowed. The big day was yesterday slapped my subsoiler on and went to ripping it tore up that 150 feet in minutes I went 3 passes in 5 minutes. Then I attached the plow and that's when it all went down hill. I tried several times and different depths to roll the dirt from the ditch with no luck. I ended up hand digging the ditch 2 feet deep and installing the pipe and making tie ins. Heres what I learned for someone who may wanna try it and save 200 bucks. DONT DO IT!!!!! Just rent the trencher itll save you a days work and alot of body aches. I could have rented the trencher for 400 bucks. Instead I only saved about 175.00 in the long run not to mention the 9 hours of my time. Some things i can understand trying to save a buck but when it comes to moving dirt and alot of it just bite the bullet and do it with equipment that's made to make life easier.

fried1765 · Oct 21, 2018

luckyme2010 said:
I've been reading on here off and on about using a subsoiler and middle buster for installing 4 inch pvc sewer lines. I bought the little TSC subsoiler and ordered a 18" furrowed. The big day was yesterday slapped my subsoiler on and went to ripping it tore up that 150 feet in minutes I went 3 passes in 5 minutes. Then I attached the plow and that's when it all went down hill. I tried several times and different depths to roll the dirt from the ditch with no luck. I ended up hand digging the ditch 2 feet deep and installing the pipe and making tie ins. Heres what I learned for someone who may wanna try it and save 200 bucks. DONT DO IT!!!!! Just rent the trencher itll save you a days work and alot of body aches. I could have rented the trencher for 400 bucks. Instead I only saved about 175.00 in the long run not to mention the 9 hours of my time. Some things i can understand trying to save a buck but when it comes to moving dirt and alot of it just bite the bullet and do it with equipment that's made to make life easier.

Thank you for this post!
I was thinking about it......now I will not!

Diggin It · Oct 21, 2018

luckyme2010 said:
I've been reading on here off and on about using a subsoiler and middle buster for installing 4 inch pvc sewer lines.

The only mention I've seen of that process is for small conduit a few inches below the surface.

Texasmark · Oct 21, 2018

luckyme2010 said:
I've been reading on here off and on about using a subsoiler and middle buster for installing 4 inch pvc sewer lines. I bought the little TSC subsoiler and ordered a 18" furrowed. The big day was yesterday slapped my subsoiler on and went to ripping it tore up that 150 feet in minutes I went 3 passes in 5 minutes. Then I attached the plow and that's when it all went down hill. I tried several times and different depths to roll the dirt from the ditch with no luck. I ended up hand digging the ditch 2 feet deep and installing the pipe and making tie ins. Heres what I learned for someone who may wanna try it and save 200 bucks. DONT DO IT!!!!! Just rent the trencher itll save you a days work and alot of body aches. I could have rented the trencher for 400 bucks. Instead I only saved about 175.00 in the long run not to mention the 9 hours of my time. Some things i can understand trying to save a buck but when it comes to moving dirt and alot of it just bite the bullet and do it with equipment that's made to make life easier.

"Size Matters"..........On 4" I'd use a trencher too. I didn't have problems with small diameter water lines and electrical cables.

luckyme2010 · Oct 22, 2018

I'll use it on a 1" pipe I have to bury for a cable line. But anything that's gotta be deep or anything over 2" gets the trencher

RjCorazza · Oct 22, 2018

I’ve subsoiled small water line also, but never tried anything larger. I rented a beast trencher 20 years ago, and it did the job but it was a pain to handle.
My neighbor recently rented a tracked trencher that was all hydraulic powered and man was it nice!

sd455dan · Oct 22, 2018

Ha Ha- me to
bought one and used it for a power line to a barn,
multiple passes and added weight to it trying to get a decent trough,
ended up doing a Whole Lot of hand digging , it sat for 2 years and I finally craigslisted it.

luckyme2010 · Oct 22, 2018

Only good thing was the subsoiler buried itself up to the lifting arms of my tractor. It's a 55 horse 4x4 mahindra 5530. So the ground was loose the roots were popped but the dirt stayed in the ditch. Oh well lesson learned dont be a cheap *** on everything. Main reason for the post though was to let some other poor soul know to just rent the trencher. And theres alot more to this story. My oil filter came loose gasket buckled lost all my oil got that fixed with some permatex black gasket maker then the battery died got that charged and the clutch pedal had rusted under the step up so the whole arm fell off. Geez I had my *** handed to me this weekend. The tractor only has 92 hours on it it sits at my farm it's a 2008 model bought it brand new.

LukeDuke30 · Oct 23, 2018

I used a middle buster for 4'' corrugated drain pipe off the gutters. It took about 3 passes each trench. I did 8 trenches with it, and it was in some tough clay. It worked great, and saved me hours of work. The key for me was having the right angle, and making deeper passed each time. The middle buster was on sale at Rural King for $110. It was the older yellow king cutter version, and they were switching to the red RK by King Cutter version. Below is a short video of the first pass the day I first used it.