Need some advice on underground fence

[bhostasa]

Hi all. I'm about to install 1500' of invisible fence around our property. My problem is I can't decide the best method to do this installation. Should I buy a sub soiler (approx. $175) and mount a 1" pipe to the rear of it to lay the wire or should I rent one of the walk behind ground cutters (approx. $50)?

I'm leaning towards the sub soiler because I'll be dealing with tree roots for about 75% of the job but it is more expensive than renting the other unit. I need to stay about 3" deep throughout. Has anyone used the ground cutter in a heavily wooded area? If so, how did it do?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[wedge40]

Walk behind trencher. It will cut through the roots for you. Unless you will have other uses for the sub soiler later on.

Wedge

 

[flusher]

Hi all. I'm about to install 1500' of invisible fence around our property. My problem is I can't decide the best method to do this installation. Should I buy a sub soiler (approx. $175) and mount a 1" pipe to the rear of it to lay the wire or should I rent one of the walk behind ground cutters (approx. $50)?

I'm leaning towards the sub soiler because I'll be dealing with tree roots for about 75% of the job but it is more expensive than renting the other unit. I need to stay about 3" deep throughout. Has anyone used the ground cutter in a heavily wooded area? If so, how did it do?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

There are smaller walk behind trencher made for landscape irrigation pipe for shallower trenches (~12" deep) that probably would be a match to your 3" requirement.

However, roots are a problem. I rented a Ditch Witch 1330 walk behind trencher (a heavy unit weighing 1000 lb and capable of digging 36" deep trenches) from Home Depot when I cut trenches for water, electirc power and gas lines (1100 ft of trench 24-30" deep). This 1330 was stopped cold by roots from my old almond trees when I ran some of the trenches through the orchard area. You probably will have to cut the roots out with a Sawzall or equivalent.

 

[Jimbrown]

Trencher will be far easier.

 

[jwstewar]

I used the subsoiler method when I put ours in. Of course, I already had the subsoiler but that is beside the point. I put in about 2500' in I think about 3 hours. That included stopping every 500' to put the joint together. Worked fine. The lady that cuts my hair, her husband works for a landscapping company. He brought their trencher (not sure of the type, but they use it to bury wire) and they only put in about 1000'. She said they were all weekend (roughly same type of terrain) and pretty sore because of crawling behind it. My way there was no crawling. Just me driving and Monica walking behind to make sure the wire was going into the trench and that it didn't get hung up going into the pipe on the subsoiler.

 

[fishfighter]

When I put mine in,I used a lawn edger.You know of the ones that trim grass away from concret?Work great and didn't leave a mess behine.I did run thru some woods with no problems.

 

[UpstateSC_Papi]

I'm about to put the same amount in tonight. I have a single blade plow with a tube welded to the back to feed the wire through. Might not hit the hole/trench everytime but my son is going to walking behind and kick it in.

I've had several friends use the lawn edger idea. We are going to most likely end up having to create a few zones later on around the deck/pool/garden/etc and will use our edger for that. Works well.

 

[arrow]

I used a middlebuster to go through the woods. Had to make several passes through rock strewn areas. Ground was knarly with roots and vines, brush and rocks. The ditch with a subsoiler just kind of filled in after a pass so I switched to the middlebuster. I also ran about 1500 ft.

 

[UpstateSC_Papi]

Have had the wire on top of ground since mid-October. Finally trenched out most of the run with the aforementioned "plow". Worked pretty well, but clay was a little dry so it fell back into trench after plowing it up. Didn't take much tho' to scoop out enough to get the wire in and buried. The several hundred feet that ran through the woods, left it on top of ground for now. Might splice it later on and move it deeper into the woods to give the girls more room in the woods to play.

 

[DanD78]

I made my cable knife out of an anhydrous ammonia applicator knife and welded a 3/4" tube with a 90 at the bottom to lay the wire in the bottom of the slot. It will easily go about 10" deep. It is mounted on a 2" square tube and slides in to a receiver on the 3 point hitch.

 

[stinkieb]

Box blade works too with one tooth dropped. If you already have one, this would save you some cash. I used this and a middle buster some too. The middle buster works better unless you're in hard ground with roots and rocks. I just stretched the wire out and kicked the dirt over it after digging the trench. If it's somewhere you dont mow often just lay it on the ground and the grass/weeds/etc.. will eventually cover it on its own.

Dont bury it too deep or the collars wont pick up the radio signal.