Help with selecting a trencher for my BX

[dragoneggs]

I have several hundred feet of glacial till (hard rocky ground) to trench to lay water pipe around my property. I have looked on line at BXpanded and BroTek products and I own several products from each company and can attest on the quality and usefulness. But what else is out there? That said, I am wondering what experiences you have all had. I thought about building my own but too many projects and think this is one that I ought to pass on so I can get 'real' work done. Help!!!

 

[mendodave]

I don't think you'd be happy with the ripper/trencher from BroTek...I have one, it works fantastically on my soil, but I have very few rocks. I would just rent one of those big chainsaw trenchers, unless you have other uses for the trencher or ripper tooth. That tooth is awesome.

 

[dragoneggs]

Yes I am also considering renting a 36in trencher on tracks from Home Depot. About $70 for 4 hours or $100 a day. Eventually want to put in a couple hundred more feet of trenches for water and wiring so figured I would get plenty of use at my pace if I had my own trencher attachment.

 

[HeLa]

i would suggest renting a mini-excavator or a large backhoe for rocky soil. heavier than your BX and with longer reach.

those smaller "chainsaw trenches" are pretty well worthless when they encounter stones larger than what can be pulled up through the narrow trench.

 

[dragoneggs]

i would suggest renting a mini-excavator or a large backhoe for rocky soil. heavier than your BX and with longer reach.

those smaller "chainsaw trenches" are pretty well worthless when they encounter stones larger than what can be pulled up through the narrow trench.

Thanks HeLa... actually my BX has done quite a bit of trenching... (100+ feet already). I just don't want a 12in wide ditch as I will be tearing up a gravel road I made a couple years ago. Most of the 'boulders' are softball size or smaller. A few may be volleyball size... those I know will be a pain in the arse if I don't catch it right with the trencher.

 

[Sprinklerman]

I have a bx , I am not easy on it , I dont think it would handle a chain trencher , I dont think it has enough hydraulics . I just rented a nice 3 foot walk behind , all hydraulic ,I fought it with rocks , constantly going from foward to reverse . Rent one , or find a used one

 

[Coyote machine]

Lay water pipe for what? Irrigation? Auto watering of lawns? Depending on what you want to do and where could determine which equipment to use, rent, buy.
Give us more details so we can suggest best practice.

 

[dragoneggs]

I have a bx , I am not easy on it , I dont think it would handle a chain trencher , I dont think it has enough hydraulics . I just rented a nice 3 foot walk behind , all hydraulic ,I fought it with rocks , constantly going from foward to reverse . Rent one , or find a used one

No I think you are misunderstanding me. I am debating on buying narrow bucket or trencher attachment for the backhoe vs renting a 36un trencher walk behind in tracks.

 

[dragoneggs]

Lay water pipe for what? Irrigation? Auto watering of lawns? Depending on what you want to do and where could determine which equipment to use, rent, buy.
Give us more details so we can suggest best practice.

Well, I have about an acre of pretty steep land that I want to supply water to instead of long hoses and auto timers. I want to tap into my main water line before it enters the house from our well. A couple hundred feet or more to run down to my wife's garden, install a few risers around the property and also a Rainbird lawn/garden watering system. I have done some trenching to my greenhouse near the house but I want a much narrower ditch than 12in wide that makes a serious mess to get down to the lower part of the property that is flatter and where the vegetable garden and lawns are at.

 

[Coyote machine]

Steep it is. You need dynamite and a dozer to level things off some!:laughing:
Try MIE, (Michigan Iron & Equipment); they can size a ripper tooth like I have, that will get you trenching a path just wide enough, but not as wide as 12".
They do custom work, that would fit your hoe to your specs.

 

[dragoneggs]

Steep it is. You need dynamite and a dozer to level things off some!:laughing:
Try MIE, (Michigan Iron & Equipment); they can size a ripper tooth like I have, that will get you trenching a path just wide enough, but not as wide as 12".
They do custom work, that would fit your hoe to your specs.

Oh I have been attacking it for the last two summers with my BX. Have racked up 250 hrs and love her more every time I mount her. That sounds bad.

 

[AStanton]

Dragon,
Have you ever thought about capturing rain water? I have a 1,100 gallon cistern and 400 gallons of stock tanks. This gives me more than enough to power wash and water my gardens. I did this because I'm on a well. I collect the water off my house and shed. A 1"rain off a 1,000 square foot roof is suppose to give about 600 gallons. I'm wondering if this would mean less digging to your water line. Here's a pic of my cistern.

 

[ryan08]

Have you looked at the BXpanded ripper tooth? I wonder if that would work for you if you were just running PEX or small PVC?

 

[dragoneggs]

Dragon,
Have you ever thought about capturing rain water? I have a 1,100 gallon cistern and 400 gallons of stock tanks. This gives me more than enough to power wash and water my gardens. I did this because I'm on a well. I collect the water off my house and shed. A 1"rain off a 1,000 square foot roof is suppose to give about 600 gallons. I'm wondering if this would mean less digging to your water line. Here's a pic of my cistern.

You know... that might be a good idea. Probably still want to run underground lines but it could save me some trenching especially near the house. And I wouldn't have to tap into the house main supply line and tear up my front yard in doing so. I wonder what kind of volume I should consider? Do you pressurize your system? I could 'hide' it in the woods at the top of my property but routing collection water to it from the roof would still be a logistics issue. Might have to investigate costs of a tank/system.

 

[AStanton]

I just use a 1/2 HP Wayne pump. Most plumbing supply shops have them or you can buy on line. I filter the water going into the cistern with a bug screen sandwiched by hardware mesh screen.

 

[C4Ranch]

I've done several hundred feet in hilly rocky terrain. First I Subsoiler to pop the large rocks out then I rented a 45hp ride on trencher and worked it hard. Got the insurance and glad I did.

 

[C4Ranch]

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Mark,

I have a subsoiler you can borrow and try out. It is about 4" wide; you can probably find a shovel 6" wide if necessary. I have a middle buster blade for it also.

Ron

 

[dragoneggs]

Mark, I have a subsoiler you can borrow and try out. It is about 4" wide; you can probably find a shovel 6" wide if necessary. I have a middle buster blade for it also. Ron

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

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I know depth is important for water lines that keep water in them for the freezing season but if you can drain it at the end during the winter then depth shouldn't be an issue. I bought a single bottom mold board plow a few years ago that looked like it could fly. I was having some drainage issues at my flat rental property. I hooked up the plow and took off. WOW!! Laid the coolest 6" wide by 6" deep trench. I went crazy and trenched every where. Looked like a 1000 gophers had gone crazy. The dug out part just laid over perfect with the grass on the bottom ready to be turned back over with grass on top which I didn't do because I wanted small ditches to mow over while directing the flow of water. Let my building contractor friend borrow it to bury some gutter drain spouts and he came back and bought it from me for under $300.
You know water flows down hill and will empty out the lowest end for draining.