Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench?

   / Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench?
  • Thread Starter
#21  
OK guys, I think if I can find a subsoiler/middle buster combo that would hold up I think that may be a good way to go.
Suggestions?!
 
   / Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench? #22  
Actually, from what i've read that one linked from Northern is pretty good, and it DOES have shear bolts/pins. Also they sell the same thing as a middle buster for $10 more.

If you wanted both I think the smart money would be to buy it as the middle buster and then make your own 'subsoiler' tip for it. Or maybe even call customer service and try to get the factory piece as a 'replacement part', perhaps it is cheap enough to be worth the trouble vs making one. https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200660638_200660638
 
   / Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench? #23  
I caught the County Line brand subsoiler on sale at TSC for about $149. I just looked and the current price is $349, more than double what I paid. I needed to cut a trench through hard clay/rocky soil for a water line to my new shop. That would have taken a week to do by hand, using pick-axe and shovel. 10 minutes I had the cut made, an hour later, it was cleaned out and I was laying pipe in it.

Folks saying you need weight on it are completely wrong, unless you put it on the tractor backward. The angle of the chisel point will make it hog right down into the soil as deep as you want to let it go and WILL stall a LX2610SU if you let it go deep enough. It'll sink all the way to the bottom of the 3-point lift travel in a few feet. I did it just to see and that almost left me with a subsoiler for a lawn ornament. It was hard to get it back out because I apparently hooked it under a rather large rock. Multiple passes work wonderfully to make the trench as wide as you want. I have a stump bucket in combination with the subsoiler that I use if I do a ditching project for diverting water in my yard on a temporary basis until I figure out what I need to do for drainage. Those two together are also an inexpensive option for small to medium stump removal too. The subsoiler will happily break roots and hook small stumps to pull them right out of the ground. It saves some hard pushing and digging that's necessary on larger stumps and may completely eliminate the need for pulling on them with chains. YMMV. I won't claim I do pretty work with it, but it sure makes the manual part of the landscaping a lot easier if you can actually move the clay.

To my untrained eye, it looks like the middle buster and subsoiler have a different angle for the point. In the TSC website photos, the subsoiler chisel appears to be tilted on a much steeper angle. But looking at them at the store, I could barely detect any difference in the frame. The only reason I can think it would be is that the subsoiler chisel is designed to go deeper and doesn't have near the cross section of the buster. A buster is going to put a lot more force on that frame than a chisel point simply because it's a lot wider. The plowshare is probably going to be the weakest point of the buster. Like some say, maybe get the buster and make your own chisel point from a piece of 1/2" x 3" steel bar stock or truck spring. I'm already considering some specialty points to go on mine.

For the price, the subsoiler is going to be a lot more useful than you think. Check around for used stuff. A good subsoiler is next to impossible to break or bend. No rotating parts. The only maintenance points are the pins and the chisel point itself. The chisel point can actually be reversed or replaced with something like a piece of truck spring.
 
   / Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench?
  • Thread Starter
#24  
I caught the County Line brand subsoiler on sale at TSC for about $149. I just looked and the current price is $349, more than double what I paid. I needed to cut a trench through hard clay/rocky soil for a water line to my new shop. That would have taken a week to do by hand, using pick-axe and shovel. 10 minutes I had the cut made, an hour later, it was cleaned out and I was laying pipe in it.

Folks saying you need weight on it are completely wrong, unless you put it on the tractor backward. The angle of the chisel point will make it hog right down into the soil as deep as you want to let it go and WILL stall a LX2610SU if you let it go deep enough. It'll sink all the way to the bottom of the 3-point lift travel in a few feet. I did it just to see and that almost left me with a subsoiler for a lawn ornament. It was hard to get it back out because I apparently hooked it under a rather large rock. Multiple passes work wonderfully to make the trench as wide as you want. I have a stump bucket in combination with the subsoiler that I use if I do a ditching project for diverting water in my yard on a temporary basis until I figure out what I need to do for drainage. Those two together are also an inexpensive option for small to medium stump removal too. The subsoiler will happily break roots and hook small stumps to pull them right out of the ground. It saves some hard pushing and digging that's necessary on larger stumps and may completely eliminate the need for pulling on them with chains. YMMV. I won't claim I do pretty work with it, but it sure makes the manual part of the landscaping a lot easier if you can actually move the clay.

To my untrained eye, it looks like the middle buster and subsoiler have a different angle for the point. In the TSC website photos, the subsoiler chisel appears to be tilted on a much steeper angle. But looking at them at the store, I could barely detect any difference in the frame. The only reason I can think it would be is that the subsoiler chisel is designed to go deeper and doesn't have near the cross section of the buster. A buster is going to put a lot more force on that frame than a chisel point simply because it's a lot wider. The plowshare is probably going to be the weakest point of the buster. Like some say, maybe get the buster and make your own chisel point from a piece of 1/2" x 3" steel bar stock or truck spring. I'm already considering some specialty points to go on mine.

For the price, the subsoiler is going to be a lot more useful than you think. Check around for used stuff. A good subsoiler is next to impossible to break or bend. No rotating parts. The only maintenance points are the pins and the chisel point itself. The chisel point can actually be reversed or replaced with something like a piece of truck spring.
Great points and firsthand info. The trench is definitely something I want to do.
I like the idea of the subsoiler and then make a blade that can be sort of a middle buster/scoop thing for clearing the trench to reduce all the shoveling!
I think I am getting focused on a good way to go.
 
   / Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench? #25  
Like i referenced with the Northern subsoiler/middle-buster, considering if you were going to buy the subsoiler anyway the middle buster 'plow' blade basically costs you $10, I would seriously consider just cutting that plow blade to your desired width and then just making some flat bar 'extensions' to go from the top of the narrowed plow blade, to the top of the trench and then curl outwards a bit. I would probably use a long U-bolt around the main 'shank' and 2 nuts on the flat bars to keep them from bending back. It wouldn't be 'good' but it would sure be cheap (if considered as an addition to the ~$190 implement).
 
   / Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench? #26  
So should I be looking for something different? My intention would be to use it for basic trenching for electrical and water pipes among other things.
I know I'll have to shovel out but that is ok. Could be a simpler solution than renting trenchers.
I have a box blade and a rear grader blade so covered there.
Thanks for the info.
There isn't that much back fill as you dig. I cut the ears off my MB to make the trench narrower and easier to work manually (taking less pulling power requirement for my clay soil). I just lay whatever in the trench and using a hoe move clods around so that the whatever is at the bottom of the trench and if the clod falls back over it so be it....then come back with your grader blade and cover it back up and next trip down the trench run your tractor tire(s) down the middle of it when finished....done deal.
 
   / Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench? #27  
I built a sub soiler several years ago and it does a good job loosining hard soil for shoveling or plow. Rather than backfilling trench with native soil and stones I'd use manure,compost,wood chips,logs ect and mound soil over it. Use sub soiler at planting and in future to fracture soil just outside root zone to improve water and oxygen penitration.
 
   / Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench? #28  
Last year I used my EA subsoiler to trench about 200' in the woods to extend my camera system and low voltage circuit. Our soil is pretty rocky and I was lucky enough not to hit any show stoppers. It did pull plenty of rocks up. Two passes and I had a nice small trench about 15" deep.
Come the spring I have another low voltage wiring project that will require trenching across my gravel driveway in a couple of spots.
 
   / Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench? #29  
Good thread, I am looking for a strong subsoiler to use as a root ripper. I like the looks of the Northern one and it will work for me. I have a bottom area that has a lot of trash trees on it and I don't want to use a bulldozer for the project. My plan is to basically make a box with it around the trees that I want to remove and then push them over with my loader bucket. I didn't intend to hijack this thread as my plan is for a larger area. I am using a Kubota MX5100 4WD tractor with a 3 pt. hitch that will handle cat I and cat II attachments.
 
   / Get A SubSoiler Maybe For A 50 Foot Trench? #30  
I have a bottom area that has a lot of trash trees on it and I don't want to use a bulldozer for the project. My plan is to basically make a box with it around the trees that I want to remove and then push them over with my loader bucket. I am using a Kubota MX5100 4WD tractor with a 3 pt. hitch that will handle cat I and cat II attachments.
You better at least paint your Kaboty yeller because a bucket up front doesn't qulify a 50 horse utility tractor to perform yellow tractor work.
 
 
 
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