ditch digging

[jimmyh]

What would be the best attachment for making shallow(1' deep x 3' wide) drainage ditches? I will be using a 35 hp tractor.

 

[AndyMA]

Definately a backhoe. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Unless you have very soft sandy soil and then you could probably drag some type of scraper.

Andy

 

[Glenn9643]

I've been working for a couple of years trying to get this 20 acres of Louisiana delta dirt ditched well enough to eliminate standing water. My implement of choice for shallow ditches is the box blade. At times you'll need the scarifiers to help break up the ground. Using the tilt adjustment on the 3pt hitch you can set a pretty good angle to the blade and end up with a ditch that you can mow through or drive through without any problems. Depending on how deep you need to go, I have used a middle-buster to start and then set the tractor wheels in that furrow and drag it out with the box blade or push it out with the FEL.

 

[rdbrumfield]

If the center of ditch is 1ft in depth with the sides tapering up from that I would recommend a back blade if the soil is not too hard, it will make a cleaner ditch.
If your need is a flat bottom ditch 3ft wide, a backhoe for sure. Just be sure to throw the dirt to the lower side as to not make a dam on the upper side. To my amazement, I have seen that done

 

[JerryG]

As have been said a box blade or a multi position rear blade would work. It would depend on the type of soil that you have as to which one would work the best. If the soil is hard and rocky, you would more than likely be better off with a box because of the rippers. I have used both to make ditches in hard packed rocky clay soil.

 

[jinman]

I think my first choice might be a dirt scoop instead of a boxblade or rear blade. You can buy a 3PH dirt scoop that is 30" wide or 36" wide and they will dig just fine in normal soil conditions. If you have lots of rocks or tree roots, probably the boxblade would be my next choice, but your swath is going to be much wider with the boxblade. I personally think a backhoe is overkill for such a project. If you need to loosen soil, a few passes with a subsoiler will get you started. Scoops blades and scarifiers are going to cost less than $1000 /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif, but a backhoe would be about $5000 /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif unless you rent one.

 

[cisco]

Same question as others - a 3 foot wide swale with a depth of 1 foot, or a 3 foot wide by 1 foot deep ditch? If a swale, then the reply by Glenn is right on (I've done it, same way, and it works well - no steep sides to erode). If a ditch, a backhoe is ideal, but it costs a bit. I've used my FEL, which digs about 1.5 - 2 feet into the ground, working on one side of the ditch to get about 2.5 feet of the width, and then running the tractor around to the other side (can take a while if you've a long ditch to dig) to access another 2.5 feet (for total ditch width of about 5 feet, max; I've an L3410). It's sure not a neat as a backhoe, and it leaves some loose dirt in the center of the ditch.
This stuff is fresh in my mind, as I spent most of last weekend trying to construct a drainage ditch through a 20-30 foot wide boggy part of my property. Box blade didn't work - tractor would bog down with even minor amounts of dirt in the box. Middle buster would have just churned the muck. So, I had to work from the sides with the FEL, and I REALLY got tired of having to also use that blade and 4WD to back out of the bog, near-mud up to my front axle (if I got my back tires deeply into that stuff, I'd still be out there trying to extricate my tractor).
So, I got about 100 feet, of a ditch about 1.5 feet deep by 2 feet wide - and both the tractor and I needed a good bath.
Next weekend I'm renting a back hoe.

 

[Phred]

I bieleve the best option is a rear blade.

I have done this with a miniexcavator and my rear blade.

The rear blade is better for drainage beacuse:
1) If your not going to cover it up like a french drain, the backhoe / excavator will leave a steep walled ditch. The rear blade can make a smooth ditch that you can mow easily.
2) If you are going to make a french drain what happens some day when the pipe clogs or breaks? If the bottom of the ditch is smooth and drains well, and you have taken meausres to keep it from silting up, it will continue to work fine. Its harder to make a smooth ditch bottom with a hoe since you are cutting out a bit at a time and the spaces between the bites you take make little dams if your not careful.

The key to a good ditch is a very heavy blade and plenty of hp to pull it.
My blade weighs more than 1000 lbs, see attached. You will be disipointed if you go with a tractorsupply special.

just my opinion.

www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/37-218325-bladeinaction1.jpg

Fred

 

[narcnh]

Fred, I have blade envy. But, I did manage to ditch both sides of my drive this past fall with a smaller combo, using my Woods RB72 on my B7800. It pulled up some pretty decent rocks without complaining, but for the really big ones I popped 'em out with the FEL. I only went about eight inches deep and a foot across, but as has been posted, I could have kept on going by setting the rear tire in the channel and working lower and lower. This makes a nice, smooth-sided ditch that you won't bust an axle in, if your F-150 goes into it, when sliding down your drive on an icy, December morning. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[jimmyh]

Thanks for all of your suggestions.