Is a 9" bucket good for trenching?

SheepDog · May 5, 2003

Is a 9\" bucket good for trenching?

I need to run some trenches for water lines on my land (>600'). How well does the 9" bucket work? I saw some posts that the 12" has a problem with dirt sticking and being hard to empty. Is the 9 incher the same.

What do most of you use when you have to trench?

FWIW: A 3pt trencher is out of the question /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Thanks,

Richard

bncsauve · May 5, 2003

Re: Is a 9\" bucket good for trenching?

I have 9" and 16" buckets for my Kioti backhoe. I just got done using the 9" to bury
a cable line. About 200'. The 9" bucket worked very well, without making too big a trench.
Yes. there is a tendency for wet soil or clay to stick, but not a huge problem.

rdln · May 5, 2003

Re: Is a 9\" bucket good for trenching?

dirt sticking in a small bucket can be problem, It is tough to tweak the bottom of a 9" trench any deeper than 24".

I would say if your trench needs to be deeper than 2 ft avoid the small bucket.

Taylortractornut · May 5, 2003

Re: Is a 9\" bucket good for trenching?

If yloull notice on industrial buckets like we use in the construction industry have a tapered back side they are narrower towards the back of the bucket to help avoid a good suction. What soil type you have is another concern. Ive worked in hevy wt clay before and had to use a 2 foot bucket. to lay 3 little peices of conduit. Best wishes Taylor Lambert

chrisjbell · May 5, 2003

Re: Is a 9\" bucket good for trenching?

I'd suggest the smaller bucket, but...

 FWIW: A 3pt trencher is out of the question 

I have a BH but had to lay a few thousand feet of irrigation lines a few years back. I reluctantly rented a trencher (one of those ride on Ditch Witches), hoping that it would do the trick. I strongly recommend that you rent a trencher. They aren't that expensive (I think I paid $200 / day) and will make very short work of trenching where you'll spend days (if not weeks) digging the trenches with a BH.

The trencher is nearly as stable as a tractor with a BH so you can go just about anywhere a tractor can, it is 4WD, and has a nifty little blade on the front to backfill the trench.

For only 600' you could probably get away with renting a walk behind version (they have powered wheels). And for that short of a run I'll bet you could do it with either in half a day.

Backhoes will work OK for trenching, but even the larger ones have to be moved so often that it takes a while. For a short run it isn't bad, but the more trenching you have to do the more it makes sense to rent a trencher. Its almost like those things are purpose built to trench /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif...

40Kchicks · May 5, 2003

Re: Is a 9\" bucket good for trenching?

A few of years ago I had to run about 250' trench for electrical conduit. I went out and rented a large trencher like taylortractornut did. It was easy to use and fairly fast for the first 75ft but then I started going through a muddy area and got stopped. It was absolutely worthless in those conditions. I ended up having an excavator come out and finish the job. It made the job alot more expensive paying for both tractors.

Anouther time after I got my skid steer I needed to dig about 500' of trench for electrical 3'deep. The CAT dealer that I got my skid steer from recomended a trenching attachment. I was worried that it wouldn't work so they said try it and if it doesn't do the job we won't charge you. Well wanting to try out attachments I agreed. The trencher worked perfect until I started hitting some rocky areas. The trencher would dig out most of them but many rocks were too big. Once again I hired an excavator to finish the job. At least the cat dealer didn't charge me.

So you can see. I feel that an excavator is the best tool for varied ground conditions, a backhoe is also fine but will take longer, and the trencher is really good for soil that is dry and only has small rocks.

Eric

chrisjbell · May 5, 2003

Re: Is a 9\" bucket good for trenching?

 I started going through a muddy area and got stopped. It was absolutely worthless in those conditions 

Um, good point. My soil was pretty dry when I trenched. I do have some pretty decent sized rocks - when I'd hit one I'd just go over it and then went back with my BH and dug 'em out. But mud would be a disaster with a trencher, I'd bet.

Hoeman00 · May 6, 2003

Re: Is a 9\" bucket good for trenching?

On the CUT hoes 9,12,15" buckets will all stick w/ wet clay.
I now use my Deere SSL w/ 4' trencher and the hoe at the ends, tracks on the SSL helps in mud.
W/ the SSL and trencher I can dig 500+' per hour at 24-30" deep in decent conditions.
I have dug out 12" rocks w/ the 6.5" wide chain.
If u hit a large rock (doesn't come out quickly) I raise trencher and go over rock to relieve some of the dirt on top the go back and let chain pull rock out.
I have a trench shovel to clean out spillage after trenching but I usually walk in 6.5" wide trenches up to 40" deep when installing 10'long tile.

5030 · May 7, 2003

Re: Is a 9\" bucket good for trenching?

I agree with most everyone else, rent a trencher. A lot easier and less messy than the backhoe method. I laid 250' of water line 2 years ago with my backhoe and about 1\2 way through, my neighbor had to lay about 500'. he rented a Ditch Witch and finished and backfilled before I was 2/3 of the way done. Boy was I embarrassed.

Anonymous Poster · May 8, 2003

Re: Is a 9\" bucket good for trenching?

 ...he rented a Ditch Witch and finished and backfilled before I was 2/3 of the way done. Boy was I embarrassed 

Yea...but just think of all the beer that rental fee you saved could provide! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Or soda...or coffee...or...or...

250 feet would be about my limit too with my backhoe. If I had to go 500 feet I guess I would have to drink water for a while... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif