Ditching with a middle buster (tater plow)

WVBill · Mar 7, 2001

I needed to run electricity from my house out to the new barn I built and since I have the tractor, I didn't want to go rent a ditch-witch.

So I bought an $80 middle buster and used it to dig the ditch for the electric conduit.

It's 135 feet from the house to the barn.

After about four passes with the middle buster I had cleared the trench maybe 14" deep. Because of its narrow wheel base, the tractor was riding on the hills of removed dirt so the plow was as deep as it would go. I don't think you can go deeper than the length of the plow's moldboard without alot of hand cleaning of the ditch anyway.

The little 14HP Kubota pulled the plow thru the damp clay without strain.

The National electric code says 18" deep for conduit but my county has not adopted any building codes so I'm "legal" at 14"

I plan to use the same technique to run PVC water lines out to my garden area.

cowboydoc · Mar 7, 2001

Great idea Bill! I bet that would work to put in my drain tile too. I hate paying out the $175 for a trencher. Thanks for the info.

WVBill · Mar 7, 2001

I forgot to mention the pictures in the attachment to my first post.

In the upper left is an overview of the area with the conduit laid out along the path of the ditch.

The upper right and lower left photos were taken during the second pass with the plow.

The lower right photo is after I placed the conduit in the ditch.

DDT · Mar 7, 2001

I like what you've done to the place, fresh winrow of dirt! If you need to get deeper, get the welder out and put another set of lower pins about 6 to 8" above the factory ones (just make sure the moldboard does not drag the ground when in raised. just a though!

PaulInMi · Mar 7, 2001

Looks great Bill. Any traction problems while you were working?

Paul

Alan L. · Mar 8, 2001

Great! Where can I get an $80 middle buster?

Bird · Mar 8, 2001

Alan, you might have to find a used one for $80 in our area. Tractor Supply Co. gets $99.99 for a new one./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

markcg2000 · Mar 8, 2001

That's exactly what I plan on doing this Spring. The guy who had the place before me ran 12-gauge out to the barn just to get a couple of lights /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif. I know that's not the right stuff! What guage did you use? Also, did you think to run phone/date/cable in there? Either in the same conduit or a second one?

... Hey, you guys. don't laugh at the idea of data or cable in the barn/workshop - nothing better than watching Norm while I'm actually sitting next to my (admitedly pathetic) tools /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif, or getting the this site up while actually standing next to my tractor /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

mark

WVBill · Mar 9, 2001

Paul: No traction problems at all. I just dropped the 3ph all the way down and let the plow pull as deep as it could. With the combo of the ags on front and those wide turfs on back and 4wd I seem to be getting "the best of both worlds".

Alan: Southern states had them on sale for $89.95 and I got mine from a small equipment dealer (Roadside Farm Equipment outside Winchester VA) for $80.

Mark: I have a woodshop in the barn so I wanted 60 amps. I ran #4 Guage (red, black, white) with a #6 ground. I just tossed a phone wire in the ditch along with the conduit (not in a separate conduit or anything). I figure that's good enough because the incoming wire to the house is just laying in the ditch along with the electric company's feeders... I'm going to half-fill the ditch then lay in some yellow caution tape before the final fill just in case I forget sometime down the road where I put this line.

Harv · Mar 9, 2001

<font color=blue>I just tossed a phone wire in the ditch</font color=blue>

I did the same thing with a short run between houses at the property, but I was using the same direct-burial cable that the phone company uses. I hope yours was also designed for being buried, or you might experience slow TBN downloads to the barn some day. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif