Best way for narrow 2ft. ditch?????

Fuddy1952 · May 27, 2019

Gary Fowler said:
How wide is your bucket ( I assume the 7.5 mentioned is the digging depth of your backhoe and not the bucket width)? I have an 8" trenching bucket (cut down from an 18" by previous owner) and unless digging in the driest of dry soil, it refuses to dump the dirt without whamming it on the ground a few times for each scoop. As for depth, check your local electrical codes for proper bury depth, minimum might be 30". Invest in some plastic "warning buried cable" tape that you lay 12" above the conduit so if you or someone else digs in that area, they see the tape prior to digging into your conduit.
The 8" width is about the minimum I would go with a 3" pipe and even better would be 12" wide ditch. This give you room to walk in the ditch if needed and get into it with compactor to compact the backfill. If you just push the spoils back in the ditch without some compacting, you will have a trench after the first rain and it will continue settling for at least a year. If you step in it after a good rain, it will be like muddy quicksand so when backfilling your trench (whatever size you end up with) put in about 8-10" of fill then compact it with whatever method you have ie vibratory plate, jumping jack, wheels of your tractor run back and forth many times or use your backhoe bucket for the lower lifts but do some kind of compaction.

This is the reply I was looking for! Thanks!

EddieWalker · May 27, 2019

Fuddy1952 said:
I would like to bury 3" PVC with gentle sweeps so I can run pex and electric wire through it to a barn.

Here in East Texas, we don't have much for code or regulations when outside of city limits and working on your own land. Kind of an understanding that if you build it so badly that it fails, it's your own fault way of doing things.

One thing that they do enforce and make a big deal about is burying electrical in the same ditch as water. They HAVE to be in separate ditches and separated by a least a foot of virgin ground. As I type this, I'm not 100% that a foot of separation is correct, I'd have to ask to make sure. Depth isn't a concern for us, but that requirement of separate ditches is a BIG DEAL.

I have a 2 foot bucket on my backhoe and that's what I use all the time for ditches, even if I'm running a 3/4 inch PVC line to a water spicket in my garden. Easy enough to fill the dirt back in and compact it with my tires.

I also wouldn't run PEX through a conduit. Pipes move a lot when turned on and off, and from what I understand, it will just be a matter of time until the PEX fails inside your conduit. Some people are worried that PEX might be eaten by moles, so there is some hesitation to burying it, but for short runs like what you are doing, that's what I would do.

Fuddy1952 · May 27, 2019

3" PVC isn't that expensive and I thought it would be easy running through it, garage down to a new barn. That way it's easy to replace pex line, run another phone line without having to dig it up again.
Also it gives protection against a rock touching it.
Meeting "code" does not always make the most sense, is the best or safest way doing something.

1010 · May 27, 2019

The key to digging in very moist soil is not digging hard and packing the bucket full.. Let the teeth roll the dirt in and when it piles up pretty full, stop and dump it.. finesse is key..
Digging in alligator clay gumbo will teach you this quick..

Big Barn · May 27, 2019

1010 said:
The key to digging in very moist soil is not digging hard and packing the bucket full.. Let the teeth roll the dirt in and when it piles up pretty full, stop and dump it.. finesse is key..
Digging in alligator clay gumbo will teach you this quick..

Good advice.

Fuddy1952 · May 27, 2019

Big Barn said:
Good advice.

Yes and I so appreciate good useful advice!

You can't beat experience. A few pictures may help. This project I want to come together in order, before cement is poured and there will be steps put in also, going downhill to barn.
Garage room I'm starting from is a bath area, always heated so water tapped there. Also not far, 20 ft. away is the main panel box, so it's convenient.
50 amp service is all I need. Friend/neighbor has lots of Square D stuff he said I can have. I plan on 240v box there and few breakers, outlets, lights.
I put the small road in today going around to the shed overhang.

Oldoak · May 27, 2019

Fuddy1952 said:
3" PVC isn't that expensive and I thought it would be easy running through it, garage down to a new barn. That way it's easy to replace pex line, run another phone line without having to dig it up again.
Also it gives protection against a rock touching it.
Meeting "code" does not always make the most sense, is the best or safest way doing something.

I agree with you for the most part. The only thing I would do different is run the Pex water line in a separate conduit in the same ditch using 1-1/2" conduit.