ponytug
Super Member
Dear Craig,
FWIW: it runs pretty well into the nineties for me in CA, even with mowing. If it were me, I would just add an extra SPAL fan on the left side, about half on the engine and half off. I'm not sure, but the 2445 may come with a factory ducted engine which ought to be better cooled.
I have the chain trencher and I love it. I don't use it often, but when I do, it is badger of a digger. I have both the 4" and 6" widths and even in high gravel subsoil it just chews along. Hitting a boulder or a tree root at an angle will cause a deviation. I put down a chalk line and just watch as I trench along. It will clear a rock that is the size of the trench or smaller, but expect to shear bolts if you push it, especially on a larger rock. In my soil, it will put in a 48" deep trench. I have also used it to make terraces on a hill side. (Think chainsaw carving.) It also works well at that. Once I have a terrace large enough for the tractor, I use the trencher and the 4N1 to enlarge the terrace along the slope. Slice the uphill segment and you know the depth you are trying for- plus it fractures the soil. It paid for itself on my first project.
Compared to dedicated, you are way up on power for the rental ones. However, the dedicated trenchers tend to be on a monolith frame and they do straight lines more easily. They also usually comes with carbide teeth chains that are better at grinding away at large rocks and roots.
If you have just sand in Palm desert, you might want to consider a knife plow to draw cable and piping directly underground. Many of those will run from a pickup. (More weight/power) As always, YMMV.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Peter
FWIW: it runs pretty well into the nineties for me in CA, even with mowing. If it were me, I would just add an extra SPAL fan on the left side, about half on the engine and half off. I'm not sure, but the 2445 may come with a factory ducted engine which ought to be better cooled.
I have the chain trencher and I love it. I don't use it often, but when I do, it is badger of a digger. I have both the 4" and 6" widths and even in high gravel subsoil it just chews along. Hitting a boulder or a tree root at an angle will cause a deviation. I put down a chalk line and just watch as I trench along. It will clear a rock that is the size of the trench or smaller, but expect to shear bolts if you push it, especially on a larger rock. In my soil, it will put in a 48" deep trench. I have also used it to make terraces on a hill side. (Think chainsaw carving.) It also works well at that. Once I have a terrace large enough for the tractor, I use the trencher and the 4N1 to enlarge the terrace along the slope. Slice the uphill segment and you know the depth you are trying for- plus it fractures the soil. It paid for itself on my first project.
Compared to dedicated, you are way up on power for the rental ones. However, the dedicated trenchers tend to be on a monolith frame and they do straight lines more easily. They also usually comes with carbide teeth chains that are better at grinding away at large rocks and roots.
If you have just sand in Palm desert, you might want to consider a knife plow to draw cable and piping directly underground. Many of those will run from a pickup. (More weight/power) As always, YMMV.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Peter
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For electrical work we most often only need a 24" deep trench, so should be easy for a machine this size. Your terrace application sounds pretty neat.... don't have that requirement on any of my properties at this time, seems it's either sand or rock, but who knows what will come up.