Running a Ditchwitch-Questions Please

[BSVLY]

I need some trenches dug in fairly rock-free sandy soil with only some clay. Pretty easy digging. I can rent a ditchwitch and not sure of model but it rents with a trailer and they say it digs around 30 inches deep and the blades/tines look like they span 4-5 inches wide total. I have never run a D-Witch before.

Question: Can you run these in two passes side-by-side to get a wider trench? Also- any tips for running one?

Thanks

 

[EddieWalker]

No to the idea of digging two ditches side by side for a wider ditch, unless you do it on oposite sided of the spoils and you leave allot of dirt between them. Then you will have to dig it out by hand. Not really a practical idea.

Most ditchwitches can be set up to dig fairly wide trenches. You just removed every other tooth and remount it on the outside of the chain. If it's a ridealong unit, I'm pretty sure you can get it to dig 9 inches on the basic models, and over a foot on the bigger units.

How wide do you need the trench? What is it for?

A four inch trench is pretty darn big!!!

Eddie

 

[BSVLY]

No to the idea of digging two ditches side by side for a wider ditch, unless you do it on oposite sided of the spoils and you leave allot of dirt between them. Then you will have to dig it out by hand. Not really a practical idea.

Most ditchwitches can be set up to dig fairly wide trenches. You just removed every other tooth and remount it on the outside of the chain. If it's a ridealong unit, I'm pretty sure you can get it to dig 9 inches on the basic models, and over a foot on the bigger units.

How wide do you need the trench? What is it for?

A four inch trench is pretty darn big!!!

Eddie

Thanks Eddie. Well I know I need a tractor and that is not in the immediate pictue.

The ditchwitch will work fine for laying the 65 feet of gray pipe for the electrical run from the pole to the garage. However it crosses a future 2" water pipe @ 90 degrees and I was hoping to dig side by side to get the water pipe trench 30" deep and then wide enough to just finish the 10 foot section by shovel to 48". Here in Central NV, pipes freeze solid at 36". So I want to put in that partial water pipe section and then put in the electrical over it.

Anyways-Researching getting someone local with a BH and 12" bucket to get it all.

Thanks for the info.

RL

 

[EddieWalker]

One thing that I've done when marking the location of an underground utility that I know that I'll have to dig under or over in the future is to put a five gallong bucket upside down in the hole. In some places, I might put two bucktes on top of each other with their lids on. This way, I have years to come back and do what I need to do, but the wires are easy to find because of the buckets. I dig to the bucket with the backhoe, then clean it up with the shovel so that nothing gets damaged.

Eddie

 

[Mike058]

I need some trenches dug in fairly rock-free sandy soil with only some clay. Pretty easy digging. I can rent a ditchwitch and not sure of model but it rents with a trailer and they say it digs around 30 inches deep and the blades/tines look like they span 4-5 inches wide total. I have never run a D-Witch before.

Question: Can you run these in two passes side-by-side to get a wider trench? Also- any tips for running one?

Thanks

I dug 200' of trench for water, electric and phone this summer. You won't be able to dig a double wide ditch - the dirt from the second will fall into the first. Bring a couple of pieces of 3/4" plywood. At some point it will be handy or necessary to cross one your new ditches. The back end of that thing is really heavy. Get too close to the ditch with one of the rear wheels and down she goes. Most of the dirt from the ditch ends up on the right side-try and put that uphill, it'll make it easier to refill the ditch. You can move the stinger up and down if it hits a really big rock. That'll help it pull the rock out. If you come across something really big, like it's not coming out for anything, move the DW a bit to the side continue the ditch as much in line with the original as possible. I changed the angle and ended up having to bend a bunch of conduit to fit the angle.

 

[BSVLY]

Thanks for the great tips Mike and Eddie

 

[Rhino59]

A couple of tips for you:

You can get a wider trench out of that machine - ask the rental store to space the chain out so it cuts 6" or 8". They should be able to do that by adding spacers between the side plate of the chain and the tooth.

Another tip - don't run the chain speed at 100%. Cut it down to 75% or so and give the teeth time to cut and remove the dirt. You'll actually have a cleaner ditch when you're done and you'll have a much smoother ride when you're digging.

 

[saturnalley]

I may be stupid but I don't see how to begin a new Ditch Witch discussion. Is it fair to do it this way?


I have a nice old J120 Ride-on.
I put on new belts by hand. No nut loosening seemed required. Bought the belts onlines. The J120 pushes off the third belt to the right as soon as I engage the drive. Also, the first two belts jump one pulley to the right, but only on top. They remain in the proper lower large pulley.

When I bought it it had only 2 belts on it but worked ok. These 2 belts may HAVE BEEN IN THE RIGHTHAND POSITIONS--i CAN'T REMEMBER.

So you J120 experts please advice: did I buy the wrong belts? Should they have been harder to install, like requiring loosening of the upper pulley bar components? Does this sound like a tensioner problem? Would I be stupid to think I coul;d take the darn thing apart with hand tools? Does anyone know of affordable Ditch Witch mechanics in the Napa CA area who make house calls? (Or has anyone succeeded at hauling a J120 in the back of an 8 cylinder 1991 Ford F150??) If anyone can help I will reciprocate somehow!

David 707 287 5200

 

[Xfaxman]

Congratulations, I see that you figured out how to start a new thread: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/construction-equipment/356482-ditch-witch-j120-belt-problems.html

 

[saturnalley]

Congratulations, I see that you figured out how to start a new thread: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/construction-equipment/356482-ditch-witch-j120-belt-problems.html

Yes ...the option finally appeared and I swooped down upon it. May your threads be gold...