Middlebuster-subsoiler for ditch digging ??

[Pooh_Bear]

I need to dig some ditches for water lines.
The ditches need to be about 16-18 inches deep.
I can rent a ditch digger for just over $300 for 2 days.
Or I could buy a middlebuster/subsoiler.

How deep could I dig with a middlebuster/subsoiler.
How much shoveling would I have to do.
I have a lot of ditch to dig so I would
like to keep the shoveling to a minimum.
How wide would the ditch be.

Is there a better way to do this.

Nearest rental place is an hour's drive one way.
It would be better if I can do this with my 8N.

Thanks.

Pooh Bear

 

[RobJ]

If you can get it to go that deep you will not get a clean hole. You'll have to hand shovel it to clean it out but it will be loose. I used one for a water line and this happened. I only needed about 100' so cleaning out the trench wasn't that bad.

Good Luck!

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I've got about 500 feet of water line to start out with.
Mostly I need to know if a middlebuster/subsoiler
will go deep enough for this. 16-18 inches deep.
I expect it will just break up the dirt and make
it real loose for shoveling out of the ditch.
But I need to know if it will go deep enough
before I go out and buy one of these things.

Thanks.

Pooh Bear

 

[ToadHill]

The middlebuster I use is "ok" for plowing potatos and thats about it. If your lucky you can get a clean ditch about 10 to 12 inches deep.

 

[Redbug]

If you can adjust your lower links to almost ground level, a subsoiler will go that deep. You will have to make a few passes with it. With each pass it will go deeper.

Measure the subsoiler/middlebuster before you buy it. From the lower linkage hookup to the bottom of the implement it's got to be 16 to 18 inches long...to go that deep. I have noticed that some of the middlebusters are not that long. Also, the more weight it weighs...the better, since the lower links do not provide any down force.

Leinbach Machinery Catalog

 

[ctpres]

Buy subsoiler because they generally have a longer down shaft. then buy plow blades as need to fit subsoiler. I did 500 plus ditch and found: use subsoiler first to loosen things up, cut roots and define path. Then follow up w plow to move dirt up and out to sides, had limited luck using fel to remove dirt after plow. Shovel did the rest. I did try coming at ditch from sides and using fel but that created to much damage to ground nearby. If I had $ I'd get a dirt scoop. Many good entrys here on using subsoiler to run water and elec without any other tools and no shovel

 

[zeuspaul]

Do you need an exposed ditch? What kind of pipe?

You can make a pass with a subsoiler and then tie PVC to the bottom of the subsoiler and pull it. I haven't done it myself yet but there are threads here by someone who has.

Zeuspaul

 

[gabby]

Why dig a ditch? That's too much like work.

This is a picture of my subsoiler pipe plow pulling 1" PVC pipe about 12 inches deep.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...as-any-one-built-sub-635284-pipe-furrow-240-x

 

[RalphVa]

I'd think poly (black pipe normally used on well pump discharges) pipe would be tougher to pull behind a sub soiler. Looks like the sub soiler won't get to the depth you want either.

You can also dig a trench with disc hillers discs. My 20" discs would probably cut a pretty good and cleaner trench than a middle buster plow would, but getting down to 16-18" would likely not happen. Also, you'd have a time keeping it going straight. A middle buster would probably be easier to be held straight, but you'll have a tough time getting depth and a clean hole.

I'd go with the trencher rental.

Ralph

 

[Pooh_Bear]

The pipe is most likely gonna be 3/4 inch galvanized.
It will either be 1/2, 3/4, or 1 inch galvanized.

The last ditch I dug was for 80 feet of electrical conduit.
I used a bottom plow and a 24 inch dirt scoop.
That was an awful lot of dirt moving for a 12 inch deep ditch.
And this ditch needs to go at least 16 inches deep.

Pooh Bear