Backhoe Digging a 1,900 foot long, 2 foot deep trench with L3200!

[Bluegill2]

If you have cell service go with the hot spot card from ATT or Verizon no cable here also lucky to have electric.

On top of a mountain... That's what I'd do!!!

But had to go with Hughes Net, because we're down in a valley and out in the middle of nowhere...

 

[PAPPASMURF]

On top of a mountain... That's what I'd do!!!

But had to go with Hughes Net, because we're down in a valley and out in the middle of nowhere...

We have used verizon wireless air cards for 2 years, dial-up, and Hughes net ....All of them equally stink! Well not intirely, Verizon wireless cards are o.k. when conditions are good and you hold your tongue just right, but still SLOOOOOOWWWWW. DSL is not available in our area and the only option for high speed internet or even decent speed is Cable One. Hughes net by the way is a gimmick! signed a two year contract with them and found through research, that the company not only caps your daily useage, but will also cut your signal down to next to nothing if you stay on the internet too long. Its actually in the fine print of the contract. I would get dial up before I would get hughes net. Me and my wife use internet for work and research (I'm a Detective with a local Police dept.) and my wife is in accounting, so slow speed internet options have held us up from doing our work from home like we often need to. We tried Hot Spot from at&t, and it too wasnt all its cracked up to be.....actually it was somewhat of a joke considering all the hype. Ive even tried wrapping tin foil on the antenna of our cell phones and connecting to the computer (ha ha) .....We know that Cable One works at a much greater speed (un matched actually) so thats why we are willing to put so much into this service. Thanks for the "already tried" suggestions though.

 

[Bluegill2]

We have used verizon wireless air cards for 2 years, dial-up, and Hughes net ....All of them equally stink! Well not intirely, Verizon wireless cards are o.k. when conditions are good and you hold your tongue just right, but still SLOOOOOOWWWWW. DSL is not available in our area and the only option for high speed internet or even decent speed is Cable One. Hughes net by the way is a gimmick! signed a two year contract with them and found through research, that the company not only caps your daily useage, but will also cut your signal down to next to nothing if you stay on the internet too long. Its actually in the fine print of the contract. I would get dial up before I would get hughes net. Me and my wife use internet for work and research (I'm a Detective with a local Police dept.) and my wife is in accounting, so slow speed internet options have held us up from doing our work from home like we often need to. We tried Hot Spot from at&t, and it too wasnt all its cracked up to be.....actually it was somewhat of a joke considering all the hype. Ive even tried wrapping tin foil on the antenna of our cell phones and connecting to the computer (ha ha) .....We know that Cable One works at a much greater speed (un matched actually) so thats why we are willing to put so much into this service. Thanks for the "already tried" suggestions though.

We will never get DSL or cable out here. We had Wild Blue first and it really was a joke! Hughes Net has been pretty good and really our best option right now. We can live with the 500mb limit in 24 hours, just have to stay away from a lot of video and No movies.

 

[PAPPASMURF]

Yea Bluegill....I feel your pain, trust me. We will never get DSL either, and since we have no choice (except to drive back into work on weekends to use the internet) we figured we already wasted $1500 on Hughes net and god knows how much in the past on every other service, we might as well fork it out one last time for something we know for sure will work. Besides...I dont mind the tractor time...I actually now have an excuse to use vacation days I've built up and play (whoops I mean WORK) on the tractor!:laughing: Me and my wife could use up our 500mb limit in less than 15 minutes. Imagine our disappointment and frustration especially considering their dish that they placed in our yard looked like it could shoot the space shuttle down in orbit!!!

 

[megaboz]

I agree with the excavator. Around here you can hire one though with the operator for about $800 a day. Honestly I would almost suggest that instead. A backhoe while is a nice tool, on steep hills could get very harry.

Worse case rent the mini excavator and do it your self. Seems it would be safer and quicker.

 

[Deerherd]

I just had to bury 1860 feet of cable and my vote goes for the trencher also. I rented a tracked model with a 48" bar and that thing yanked rocks right out of the ground no problem. Also the trench is much narrower than using a backhoe and filling it in was pretty easy using a backblade and rake while driving the tractor straddling the trench. On the other hand if you want some fun time (er... I mean work time) with the backhoe go for it. I can't imagine the backhoe being faster than the trencher (it moves right along) and I'm sure you would have to fill in at least twice as much dirt.

Not sure what kind of cable they will drop off for you to use but with me it was almost .70" in diameter! It came on a 4 foot high spool and depending on how steep your hill is could make for a great youtube video if it gets away from you. It had to weigh close to 1000 lbs. I ran a 2" pipe through the spool and then a heavy chain through the pipe and hooked the chain to hooks on the bucket. That way I could lift the spool so it was just barely touching the ground and coax the spool along. Good luck and be careful!

 

[loudhornsrule]

Plumber trenched 800' to my house for water line. Took him a day and a half. He had a big ride on trencher. I hired a backhoe to dig my water and elec. line down to my well. He dug it 4' deep , and it took him a half a day. If you have real soft ground use a trencher. Most people dont have soft ground. I would use a backhoe.

 

[lstinthot]

I would do the backhoe over a trencher if it was me. I have done both and like the backhoe as long as it is in an area that can be messed up. Last time I did the backhoe close to the house it messed up more than I really needed too, however it was easily filled in with the backhoe and cleaned up with the rake and tiller. Trencher ends up beating up the operator a lot if the ground is not soft, backhoe just sit and enjoy the tractor time.

 

[MBTRAC]

I'd way up the cost, equipment wear & "pucker"/risk factor carefully before tackling what appears from your description a large & risky job.

We bought this dozer in the photo's for a similar on farm task & use it regularly for cable/pipe laying & contracting, the trencher (with rock teeth) & vibrating ripper plow handles most rock without drama (cable drum mounts on a blade mounted bracket & spools out across the top of the cab to the plow )- if there's optic/data cabling in your region there's bound to be heavy dozer based tracked trenchers around ...........using a small BH or excavator to trench the distance you're contemplating is long hard work: digging the trench is only half the job, manually laying the cable & backfilling will take equal or possibly more time, & you'll be left with a "spoon drain" from the greater ground disturbance by using a bucket with more potentential for water erosion.

Yes you can use a compact backhoe for the job & it's your machine/time..etc., afterall the chinese have built huge dams using only a heap of people, cane baskets & picks/shovels..but I'd suggest there's easier ways.

 

[Verticaltrx]

As long as the hill you are working down isn't too steep, I say go for it, make the 'bota earn it's keep. :thumbsup:

In many cases a trencher is faster, but not always. I've dug 500' with a B21 (which actually specs out real close to a BH77) in a few hours and I was going 4' deep. This was in fairly good soil, but I was also going pretty deep. I personally like working with a 10-12" wide trench better than a 4-6" trench left by a trencher. I've found the wider trench is easier to backfill and compact. Also it's wide enough to get down into if you need to clear something out of the bottom.

This will be a big job any way you look at it, I say start out with your current BH, dig 200' or so and then re-asses from there.