Anyone have a trencher

[Creamer]

Thanks for that. What happens if they encounter a rock or boulder?

They go around - they do not have the ability to go through. Although in my soil I am sure they encountered many up to 10 lb or so and they would have just pushed them out of the way.

 

[MossRoad]

Moss - You should be fine at 40" - most people around here go 3' unless it is under driveway or unheated concrete/paved area. But why would you trench when you can have it directional bored and not tear anything up. The guy charged me $600 to lay my water and gas lines to my shop and connected the water. He brought his mini-ex and the boring machine. The mini-ex to dig at the ends for connection points. In just over two hours he was done and a lot less mess than any trencher and no settling for the next year. I just talked to a guy about a month ago that had water ran to his new house site from the street with connections for $500 - no damage at all to his lawn.

Good point about directional boring. I'll keep it in mind. Thanks.:thumbsup:

 

[Creamer]

The guy that did the boring is int he well-drilling business as well as piping the water. Trenching used to be a key part of his business. He had a really nice DitchWitch machine that could trench 5' deep. A couple of years ago he sold his trencher saying he had only used it four times in three years. Nobody wants it anymore if it can be bored.

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, our neighbor's cable TV line came down in a storm. The cable company sent in two guys with a boring machine and bored under the street right up to his front door. Then the pulled a new cable from his house to the hole they started from. Then they moved the boring machine down to the end of the block and bored from their junction box to the first hole, and pulled the cable the rest of the way. About 2-300 feet total. It took them about an hour. I was surprised they went to this extent instead of just hanging a new cable from the poles as the previous one. Seemed like a lot of equipment and labor for one cable. But that's apparently what they're doing now.

 

[sandman2234]

That's interesting as I have to put in new water line a couple hundred feet. I stopped and asked an operator how that directional drill worked. He explained but I still don't understand. How it's guided, how one knows where it is? How they then can pull in pipe?

I stopped by a drilling site to meet a new friend in northern LA back in 2004 or so. He showed me where they were drilling, which was not where we were. We were on one side of a river and the well was on the other, and about 8500 feet down. The path made several serious changes as it went down and then under the river and then around a rock formation, only to run into another which is where they were at while I visited. This whole process was interesting, because I had never even thought about this, much less witnessed it.
David from jax

 

[agjones]

The PT trencher is really a great tool. It's the first thing that I use in trail building once brush is handled. Like ponytug/bobrip said rocks can get stuck but the backup method clears most jams immediately otherwise I use a 3# hammer and a demo hammer (great pt companion).... Far fewer problems if chain is tight.

It's a beast at rough breaking soil even when moderate stone load.

For trenching I have little trouble down to 30". I spray paint a line to follow, or in very rooted ground I'll cut the first few inches with the stump grinder... Then backing up along the lines is easy enough... Just remember to leave a route to turn around and do the other end so you can meet in the middle of the Trench... A couple of 2x12s bits make crossing the trench nbd. I use the bucket to backfill the trench when done.