Ditching with a middle buster (tater plow)

[WVBill]

Tim:

I got mine at Southern States but they also have them at Quality Farm & Fleet and at Central Tractor at around $90 - $100. I don't know the manufacturer, figured it didn't really matter much for such a simple implement.

I just used it again to cut a trench to bury the bottom of my rabbit-guard fencing around my vegetable garden. Worked like a champ.

One caution (pointed out by someone else too) is that if your wheelbase is narrow, and you need to make a second pass to go deeper, your wheels may ride up on the just-removed dirt from the first pass, reducing your max depth. Also, remember to leave yourself an "out" at the end of the trench.

 

[jimmoore]

Bill, I did the same thing when I ran a water line to my barn, only I used the black polypipe that comes in a roll. Alot cheaper and more easy to handle than pvc.

jim

 

[Alan L.]

When you use the black poly pipe how do you put fittings on it? That is how do you hook up to the regular pvc pipe?

Alan L., TX

 

[jimmoore]

I bought the plastic nipples that fit into the pipe and have pipe threads on the other end and screwed it into a pvc 90 degree elbow and made the riser with pvc up to where the fawcett went. I used stainless steel hose clamps to secure the pipe to the nipples.

jim

 

[WVBill]

Right now I've got hundreds of feet of garden hose running all over our 3.75 acres (Vegetable garden, "orchard", 3 flower gardens, misc. trees). My wife (in charge of gardening) has a tough time dragging these hoses around.

On my "to do" list is to run the black poly pipe out to several strategic points closer to where we need the water to make dragging hoses less of a problem.

These poly pipes will not be below the freeze line so I plan to blow them out with compressed air before the first hard freeze. Do you think that will protect them enough?

 

[jimmoore]

Bill, my line has a downhill slope all the way to the end and ends at an embankment. i installed a drain valve at the end and just open the drain during freezing weather. Your idea of blowing the water out of the lines should work OK. As long as the line is not full of water, any remaining spots of water would have room to expand without bursting the pipe during a freeze.

jim

 

[BruceW]

Bill,

I have pvc irrigation pipe running all over creation in my wife's gardens and orchard and they are only 6" deep as I installed them pre kubota. Blowing out works fine and I have found that hitting it with the air 2 or 3 times really cleans it out.

 

[Tom_Trees]

Bill, I wish I'd followed your suggestion.

I could have picked up a middle buster for $109 at TSC. Instead, I rented a walk-behind trencher for half a day for $90. Boy, what a mistake! First of all, a recoil starter on a 15 horse gas engine with no compression release. I understand the rental agency has had some people break wrists just starting the beast. And then you stear it by tilting it up on the rear wheels and angling it.

I weigh in at 270 - and I wasn't heavy enough to tilt the thing. I ended up sliding it around on the clay. Oh, an that's the final straw on the process. It managed to bog down four times to the point I had to lift it out of its own ruts. I'm a desk jockey; I don't do this kind of work!

I think I see a trip to TSC next week - I didn't get the trench finished in the four hours /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif.

Tom

 

[DaleW]

I just got a Middle buster / sub soiler combo from eagleline equipment in Tenn. I tried to mount the unit on my 2710 and found that the 3pt will not lift high enough for the unit to swivel so I can connect the top link unless I take off the chisel or the plow blade first.
From your pictures it looks like yours is quite long also. Did you experience the same mounting problems and if so what's the remedy?

Thanks
Dale

 

[WVBill]

Mine just barely cleared the ground. As I recall, I had to lengthen the top link before I attached it (i.e. I didn't swivel the plow, I lengthened the top link to meet it.)