Help with selecting a trencher for my BX

[C4Ranch]

Yeah, I've used the subsoiler/middle buster for trenching before at my home... Got by with it for shallow trenching but still required manual work...

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...g-middle-buster-lay-4-a.html?highlight=Trench

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Ron, how deep will the subsoiler go? I have never used one.

Mark, I have not used it yet; thought you might want to be my guinea pig. Pure physics would indicate the variables are the friction of the soil and HP of the engine. The shank is about 20" long. I doubt our BXs will bury it to the hilt.

Ron

 

[dragoneggs]

Mark, I have not used it yet; thought you might want to be my guinea pig. Pure physics would indicate the variables are the friction of the soil and HP of the engine. The shank is about 20" long. I doubt our BXs will bury it to the hilt. Ron

I can be your guinea pig! Maybe this soaking we are getting will help. Talk soon. Thanks!

 

[boggen]

seems like everyone has most things covered... will just hit on a few things again...
the large chain saw like trench machine = hate's large rocks.

a "ditch witch" generally have a "chain saw trencher" on one end, and a "backhoe" on the other end, and then a small little push blade on one of the ends as well. chain saw your way through dirt till ya hit a rock or come up into a corner then it is the backhoe turn to play in dirt.

middle buster / potato plow. run it shallow first path, run it a little deeper next path, so on and so forth can help open up a trench to depth. some of the middle busters are more called "cable plows" if memory is correct on "key terms" and they have a little funnel / pipe that you send your wanted water hose / electrical wire through. and it inserts it right to depth as you go along.

from looking at the rocks in a few of your pictures, it reminds me of trenching through gravel driveway to run new eletrical / water lines. and backhoe might be easier. granted a bigger mess. but it can be rather tiresome quickly trying to deal with a "chain saw" like trencher. when they get into bigger rocks. chain saw like trenchers normally need to be kept greased and oil'ed up. to keep things moving freely and easly. and correct tension on chain needs to be maintained. to much tension or not enough tension can have drastic results in how quickly it cuts and how it cuts the trench in.

===================
i am not a fan of burry stuff just a few inches under soil. more so around this farm over years... from semi (18 wheelers) to various grain trucks, combines, and all the other tractors that run through property. heck just me running through yard with vehicle and trailer let alone with tractor. i could do some pretty bad damage to pipes only a couple inchs underground.

further you bury pipe, the less likely they will get damaged by moles, along with any sort of long term erosion deeper will keep pipes from becoming exposed.

WARNING with amount of rocks in soil. it might be advised to get clean fill.... i generally can get clean sand from local quarry fairly cheap. and put some down in bottom of trench, compact it down, then put hose in, then more sand and compact it down. then i will put dirt back in. all those rocks. and only bury a few inches in ground = a good chance of riding tractor across yard and having a rock more likely pushing into and causing a kink or hole in a hose / pipe.

 

[dragoneggs]

seems like everyone has most things covered... will just hit on a few things again...
the large chain saw like trench machine = hate's large rocks.

a "ditch witch" generally have a "chain saw trencher" on one end, and a "backhoe" on the other end, and then a small little push blade on one of the ends as well. chain saw your way through dirt till ya hit a rock or come up into a corner then it is the backhoe turn to play in dirt.

middle buster / potato plow. run it shallow first path, run it a little deeper next path, so on and so forth can help open up a trench to depth. some of the middle busters are more called "cable plows" if memory is correct on "key terms" and they have a little funnel / pipe that you send your wanted water hose / electrical wire through. and it inserts it right to depth as you go along.

from looking at the rocks in a few of your pictures, it reminds me of trenching through gravel driveway to run new eletrical / water lines. and backhoe might be easier. granted a bigger mess. but it can be rather tiresome quickly trying to deal with a "chain saw" like trencher. when they get into bigger rocks. chain saw like trenchers normally need to be kept greased and oil'ed up. to keep things moving freely and easly. and correct tension on chain needs to be maintained. to much tension or not enough tension can have drastic results in how quickly it cuts and how it cuts the trench in.

===================
i am not a fan of burry stuff just a few inches under soil. more so around this farm over years... from semi (18 wheelers) to various grain trucks, combines, and all the other tractors that run through property. heck just me running through yard with vehicle and trailer let alone with tractor. i could do some pretty bad damage to pipes only a couple inchs underground.

further you bury pipe, the less likely they will get damaged by moles, along with any sort of long term erosion deeper will keep pipes from becoming exposed.

WARNING with amount of rocks in soil. it might be advised to get clean fill.... i generally can get clean sand from local quarry fairly cheap. and put some down in bottom of trench, compact it down, then put hose in, then more sand and compact it down. then i will put dirt back in. all those rocks. and only bury a few inches in ground = a good chance of riding tractor across yard and having a rock more likely pushing into and causing a kink or hole in a hose / pipe.

Thank you Ryan for your comments. I am thinking the ideal situation is to find a smaller bucket (used) if I can for my BH.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Mark,

Smallest bucket made by K is 8". It takes that much width to accommodate the pins and linkage. A narrower bucket would have to be as long as you want the trench to be deep to keep the linkage above grade. Then the problem is keeping material from sticking in the bucket like I already have with the 8". Maybe we can get together with Shield Arc and make one in his fantastic shop with all its great equipment. You and I share cost of material, use his shop, and then share its use 3 ways. I have an 8" bucket; now off the BH we can use to work out the attachment details. Maybe add in a quick connect device also for all the buckets. I would like to have a 24" bucket for ditch contouring/cleaning. I have debated buying or making another 8" bucket and take the teeth off for smoothing ditch bottoms and not have to keep removing teeth. IDEAS!! IDEAS!!

Other TBNers out there: Anybody know if buckets are made of mild steel or is it some alloy; or, would mild steel be adequate for a non-production type bucket? More Ideas being formulated.

Ron

 

[/pine]

FWIW...if the local geology is generally rocky (glacial till etc...) local rental trenchers (ditch witch etc) will have rock teeth on the digging chains...

 

[dragoneggs]

Mark, Smallest bucket made by K is 8". It takes that much width to accommodate the pins and linkage. A narrower bucket would have to be as long as you want the trench to be deep to keep the linkage above grade. Then the problem is keeping material from sticking in the bucket like I already have with the 8". Maybe we can get together with Shield Arc and make one in his fantastic shop with all its great equipment. You and I share cost of material, use his shop, and then share its use 3 ways. I have an 8" bucket; now off the BH we can use to work out the attachment details. Maybe add in a quick connect device also for all the buckets. I would like to have a 24" bucket for ditch contouring/cleaning. I have debated buying or making another 8" bucket and take the teeth off for smoothing ditch bottoms and not have to keep removing teeth. IDEAS!! IDEAS!! Other TBNers out there: Anybody know if buckets are made of mild steel or is it some alloy; or, would mild steel be adequate for a non-production type bucket? More Ideas being formulated. Ron

Love it! I'm envious of all you retired guys that have all the time to play/work on what you want!!!

 

[boggen]

few years back, when i went on hunt for TLB and ended up with the ford 555c. i went by a good amount of places that had buckets. but the companies really did not have an internet website or listed anything on there websites. you might try hitting machinerytrader website and see if you can dig up some nearby companies and giving a few calls around. *shrugs* you might come up with something.

we all have issues with dirt / mud getting stuck in bucket from FEL to backhoe / excavator buckets. i have seen a few variations (never used them) from holes in back side, to holes in the sides near the back. i have also seen some sort of hydrualic "punch" for lack of better words. that pushed the dirt from back of the bucket out. the bucket was kinda like a cylinder, and the back was like the piston of a hydraulic cylinder pushing sticky mud out.
--the backhoe bucket i have does have rear hole in it. and it has saved me a few times from suction holding dirt/mud in bucket. i am not sure if everything gets a little "edgy" for hole in bucket thing a little spilled dirt is going to ruin your day or what. maybe dealing with pea gravel to 1" gravel for say flower beds around house or driveway. but for just general dirt? *looks confused*

another issue with buckets at least for me is "side scraping" of the trench, i either hit a larger rock only partially sticking into trench, or run into a tree root or like. it is easy enough to knock the rock / root off to the side with the bucket and rip the roots out or cut the root. but being able to toss on some sort of side scrappers i would love to have them. never used them. but there been times were i had to take out a larger area via digging to deal with a root / rock. if i could bolt on a couple side scrappers i would imagine things would of went easier. even with down time of messing with bolts for side scrapers and getting wrenchs and like around to do it. then take them off. just being able to put a little "notch" into the trench so i could slip the pipe around the rock / root would have made my day much easier. and then dealing with filling everything back in.

i would prefer "bolt on" teeth on backhoe bucket. to help scrap bottom of the trench to clean the bottom of trench out better. teeth just seem to make a bigger mess for me. and trying to use bottom side of bucket can bet a tad tedious at times to compact the dirt in the bottom of trench before pipe goes in. on other hand, i most likely require teeth. trying to dig in to a few places here on farm. and about only way i got through the first few inches of hard compacted dry clay was due to the teeth on the backhoe bucket.

google keywords...
backhoe trencher bucket

Trenching Bucket Fang for Excavator Mini or Backhoe | eBay flipping through pictures the bottom of a couple of them *cringes* i like compacting dirt with bottom side of bucket. and some these buckets had an upside down U shape to them... huh?
TRENCHER FANG same as above
Railroad Cribbing Buckets for Loader Backhoe and Hydraulic Excavator -- Dymax Attachments
Trenching Buckets – Insightful Notions One Should Know | Il Zacatecanos like overall shape more of a J shape. meaning does not matter what angle i have bucket i am sure to make contact with bottom of bucket and bottom of trench to compact stuff.
12" backhoe bucket | no-reserve auction on Thursday, February 28, 2013 | re-inforced sides? be nice if it was sharpened down for side scraping.
http://www.craigattachments.com/exbmass/ standard D shape bucket. not really impressed with. you see them everyone in advertisements. the buckets work but...
http://digrite.com.au/300mm-trenching-bucket-adaptor-teeth-4-6t-excavator-d307/ bucket looks like a nightmare to get mud/dirt to clean out of it when you go to dump the bucket due to how deep it is.
http://digrite.com.au/300mm-trenching-bucket-with-flat-teeth-4-6t-excavator-d268/ to much L shape to it. look to be a nightmare to use back side of bucket to compact dirt with. flat bottom really? maybe bucket used for something else or just simply have not used it and not understanding it.
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/12-backhoe-bucket looks like it ready to take on some side scrapers.

i noticed skidsteer buckets for trenching tend to be a longer J shape like bucket.

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

'eggs & Seabee - howdy neighbors!

I've got the little bucket on my BX24. When I was putting in water line around my gardens it wouldn't touch the glacial till (hardpan). For those who haven't encountered it, big rocks aren't the problem. It's more like trying to dig in a paved parking lot - paved all the way down to Hades.

The blasted hardpan was just shallow enough that I had to get into it in a few places. The bucket just struck sparks. Had to get off the tractor and us a steel bar by hand to chip away at it. Never again.

It's possible that a single ripper tooth would have worked - slowly. The blunt teeth on the little bucket just weren't made for the job.

Good luck,
Z.