Has anyone used a trencher on their Toolcat?

[Spudgunner]

I'm seriously considering the purchase of a Quick-Attach Trencher for my Toolcat. The mechanicals (weight, size, and attachment method) and hydraulics appear to be compatible (both "loflow" and "hiflow"). There is no electrical interface so I don't have to worry about that.

I have ALOT of work, both for myself and other$, that this machinery could address...I just thought I'd see if any other folks out there had tried such a piece of machinery and/or could offer their views on this type of attachment when used on a TC.

TIA!

 

[crzbear8]

Yes the Toolcat 5600 can handle the trencher and very well! I rent it out like that often.....

 

[Spudgunner]

Yes the Toolcat 5600 can handle the trencher and very well! I rent it out like that often.....

Welcome and thanks, crzbear8. That's very encouraging. Do you have a 3' boom on yours? I notice that 3', 4', and 5' booms are available...depending on manufacturer.

 

[radman1]

Only the smaller/less depth trenchers are approved for the toolcat. I can't determine why the 3-4' models can't be used. if the trencher is kept centered on the main boom. Twisting could be an issue if centered off to one side with the central boom of the toolcat.

 

[mouse]

i've got one and used it once so far. i tried digging a nice deep trench with my 3 foot digga model and a 6" chain, the soil was an old poultry shed floor of heavily compacted clay with good sized rocks maybe 8" by 3" by 6" sort of size thrown in - it digs well but throws the toolcat around a bit. (that may just be operator error)

i figure if it'll trench that it'll trench pretty much anything i want to do. the digga features 2 augers unlike the bobcat version.

I also just picked up the bobcat tiller, a 4 foot version, and it works a treat, in either travel direction, on the same surface. I had tried ripping and scarifying this surface to little purpose as its little different to concrete.

 

[goatman 1]

Be careful! I used a friends 4ft in some rather tough digging, very rocky, and bent the QA to the point that it had to be replaced. Too much torque stress I think.
Right, the tiller works great, if you dont mind going backward on the final pass.
Goatman

 

[MetroX]

I rented the Bobcat trencher to use on my TC last summer, to run 550' trench for power. I have rocky soil, most stones are 8" to 18" range. The trencher did a great job, I also felt it pushed the TC around quite a bit when coming up on one of those larger stones, but with patience it did a great job. On a couple of the larger stones I stopped and pulled them out by hand, after loosening with the trencher. Took me 3 hours to dig the 550' which I thought was awesome. I never used any trencher before, so I didn't know what to expect.

For my soil conditions, the trencher worked much better than the auger. The larger rocks would stop the auger in it's tracks, the only solution to loosen and remove the large rocks by hand. I think this would have been the case no matter what brand of auger or machine used to run it.

 

[Gadgetnut]

I also own the Bobcat trencher and I think it works great. Likewise we have loosened (discovered) large boulders with the trencher, then dug them out by hand, but other than that it's a workhorse. I've dug lots of trenches for water, power, communications here. Also used it to dig a shallow trench along the driveway and threw daffodil bulbs in-- and they're up blooming now.

I had never used a trencher before-- and this aspect is not Bobcat's "fault," it's just a consequence of using a trencher in this form factor... trenching with Bobcat you're working backwards don't forget, so you have to pay attention.

Another tricky aspect that messed me up a few times is, so you pull a trench from A to B. But if point B is near a house or corner or any obstruction, you can't trench all the way to B because the whole length of the Bobcat behind you is in the way. Rather than trenching the last 12 feet by hand, I have stopped early, turned around to start pulling from point B, then connect to the original trench from point A.

Eventually, after you've connected the trenches, the Bobcat is now straddling the trench and you need to get two of the wheels to one side or the other, so I've driven over bridges of doubled two by ten boards, etc. Not fun. Depending on your job, a portable trencher could be handy to clean things up at the end, or plan on doing a little hand work. YMMV.

 

[Spudgunner]

Follow-up:
The trencher arrived a couple of weeks ago and I am now playing with it to get a feel for it. First impressions:

1) It is heavy! Heavier than my 72" snow blower for sure. Shipping weight was around 1070 IIRC...at least that is what is on the shipping paperwork.

2) I presently have about 700 pounds of ballast in the TC's box. I think that helps dampen the trenchers impact on the TC. Will try it without ballast later this spring. Hopefully the trencher won't be the tail wagging the dog (toolcat).

3) Cuts a very nice, clean trench (6") in our soil. Supposedly the max depth for a trench with this thing is 50". I've gone down to about 46". Goes slow when cutting to this depth...even with high-flow and 3/4 throttle. Seems to hit its stride when cutting down to 30"-36" with 2/3 throttle....will fiddle with that more.

4) It helps to have one of those magnet-based protractors to gauge the bar/chain angle. One should be able to gauge the cutting depth based on combined boom and QA-plate angle, I would think.

More later. I've got to get some [paying] work for this thing given the price of diesel!

 

[mouse]

put my trencher through some lighter material the other day - a mix of soil and sand - and it fairly hooked through it. would've been better if I could have actually steered a straight course.

also use my auger today for the first time swinging a 2 foot rock auger, it works bloody well i must say.