How to Guestimate Depth While in Seat?

[Haoleguy]

Recently I had used an excavator to make a tile trench and tried to keep the depth at 5 ft as it went down a gentle hillside until I tapered it to surface level at a low point. My question is what guide do you use to: (a) ensure you are at specified depth and (b) are making a gradual decline for drainage? For (a) I tied pink surveyor tape at 5ft from bottom of level bucket up to a point on the stick when stick was perpendicular to ground...I checked the trench depth this was as I went along. And, for (b) I eyeballed it. What have you tried? Thanks, Gary

 

[KPark]

Sounds like you got it. Some are blessed with a very good sense of distance, and for the rest of us it's visual aid required. The only thing I would have done different would be to string a line from one end of the ditch to the other starting at the height of that pink tape and rising (or lowering) to account for grade. That way you don't have to stop and check all the time.

 

[rdbrumfield]

If you have a lazer handy, figure the degree of slope you want to dig, get your ditch started, put the lazer at the depth you want, or just above, point it in the direction you want to go and go for it. It helps if the ditch is not sunlit so the beam is easier to see. By having it a few inches high you can keep your digging on as the beam will be just off the floor of the ditch.

 

[KWentling]

To keep the desired slope, I use a level shimmed and taped to a 2x4 that a lay in the ditch. Make the big adjustments with the hoe, the little ones with a shovel.

Kim

 

[Egon]

Some years ago batter boards or a fellow in the trench with a level would have worked.

Today a laser and pegs driven into the ground would probably be the method used.?

 

[powerstroke444e]

I like the laser set to grade or angle you want and set the sensor on stick that will beep when I am around 1/2 inche or so to grade.

 

[Haoleguy]

I like the laser set to grade or angle you want and set the sensor on stick that will beep when I am around 1/2 inche or so to grade.

Thanks powerstroke444e. That set me off to looking at vids that demonstrate how it works. Seems relatively straightforward to setup and a little stick time to make one efficient at making the correct grade. I'm assuming that there are low cost lasers & receivers on ebay that would fit this bill? Would something like a Topcon RL-H3C would work well for this? ....Gary

 

[powerstroke444e]

That looks like it would fit the bill. Should not be to hard to fab up some thing with that.

 

[Haoleguy]

That looks like it would fit the bill. Should not be to hard to fab up some thing with that.

Thanks for the confirming reply. One thing I didn't realize earlier is that slope control is not a given on rotary lasers and , secondly, it sounds like it is important to get the sensor made for that laser model.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Thanks for the confirming reply. One thing I didn't realize earlier is that slope control is not a given on rotary lasers and , secondly, it sounds like it is important to get the sensor made for that laser model.

Simple laser targets are almost a dime-a-dozen. You can even pick them up online or at Home Depot without the stick.