Trenchers?

[BAGTIC]

Question about the trenchers, both chain and wheel. Do they have to be used in reverse or can they be used going forward? Because of my neck arthritis I have a lot of problem working in reverse. The main reason I bought a PT was because I could keep most of the work in front of me.

I would like to lay a lot of irrigation pipe in the orchard and pastures. Leaving them on top of the ground results in too much damage from the tractor, cows, and mowers.

If the bucket trenchers are only supposed to last about a mile does anyone have any idea how long the big wheel trencher would last. If they only last a mile I will just hire someone to cut trenchs for me as I'm looking at, at least two miles.

 

[pajoube]

I have the trencher with the 6 inch larger blades. I have dug more trenches than I care to remember these past three years and so far everything is working just fine.
I would assume those that trench in rocky soil will cut the life of the machine much shorter than those that trench in just good old dirt or clay. Most of my trenches that I cut have been in dirt and clay.
PJ

 

[MossRoad]

Have you thought about getting a very wide rear view mirror and mounting it under the canopy so that you can flip it up when not in use and down for driving backwards?

 

[BobRip]

Have you thought about getting a very wide rear view mirror and mounting it under the canopy so that you can flip it up when not in use and down for driving backwards?

Moss, I had done just that. I have an automotive mirror hanging in the middle of the front of the canopy. What I have found that works is to set up a stake in the ground about 4 feet high and guide on that through the mirror. My neck is also getting old .

I

 

[BobRip]

Have you thought about getting a very wide rear view mirror and mounting it under the canopy so that you can flip it up when not in use and down for driving backwards?

Moss, I had done just that. I have an automotive mirror hanging in the middle of the front of the canopy. What I have found that works is to set up a stake in the ground about 4 feet high and guide on that through the mirror. My neck is also getting old .

I was told of the mile limit. I think the main point is the trencher is like a chain saw, it takes a fair amount of maintenace. You can bolt on new teeth periodically, which I have not done yet. I would estimate that I have about 2000 feet on my trencher (very rough guess as I dug a pond with it once) My biggest problem is getting something like a strap or vine caught in the shaft seal and then having to replace that seal.

 

[J_J]

Bagtic, I have used a wheel trencher for 15 yrs, installing irrigation systems. I also have the PT stump grinder/trencher, and the chain drive trenchers that I have used also. Some trenchers dig when going forward and others only dig going backward. If you have a wheel trencher, you might be able to simply turn the blade around, so that it digs as you go forward. I also have the hydraulic vibrator kind that you hook up to the pipe and set the pipe as you dig. If you have the newer stump cutter, I believe that you can reverse the blade, and trench fairly well with it. I have done landscape and irrigation for about 15 yrs. I have installed an irrigation system for a grape orchard with automatic controller's several years ago.

 

[Barryh]

Bagtic, I have used a wheel trencher for 15 yrs, installing irrigation systems. I also have the PT stump grinder/trencher, and the chain drive trenchers that I have used also. Some trenchers dig when going forward and others only dig going backward. If you have a wheel trencher, you might be able to simply turn the blade around, so that it digs as you go forward. I also have the hydraulic vibrator kind that you hook up to the pipe and set the pipe as you dig. If you have the newer stump cutter, I believe that you can reverse the blade, and trench fairly well with it. I have done landscape and irrigation for about 15 yrs. I have installed an irrigation system for a grape orchard with automatic controller's several years ago.

This topic is of great interest to me. A question for anyone that cares to answer, not to take away from the trencher specific topic, do you feel the stump cutter would be heavy duty enough to hold up well as trencher??

The price is more affordable. I've been thinking of buying this for my 180 as a landscaping tool for use as a tree stump cutter and as a trencher. Bob's comments about carving out his pond come to mind.

 

[JD-Beach]

The vast majority of landscape folks around here use a vibratory plow to install underground piping. It goes in fast, in one step, without tearing up the surface a great deal. The only digging that is needed is a foot or so at the pipe intersections and at the sprinkler heads. With the weather conditions here the pipe does not need to be too deep. Toro - Professional Contractor Compact Utility Attachments

 

[J_J]

This topic is of great interest to me. A question for anyone that cares to answer, not to take away from the trencher specific topic, do you feel the stump cutter would be heavy duty enough to hold up well as trencher??

The price is more affordable. I've been thinking of buying this for my 180 as a landscaping tool for use as a tree stump cutter and as a trencher. Bob's comments about carving out his pond come to mind.

I think Bob carved out his pond with a chain trencher, if I remember right. However, either one will chew up the ground or loosen the soil.

Yes, the stump cutter will work very well as a shallow trencher. You should be able to trench about 8 in deep. The wheeled trenchers will trench to about 12 in. Of course, if it is used in rocky soil, you can expect the teeth to wear more. You could make your self a nice trencher, by using a similar hyd motor, a hub to fit the shaft, a 30 in diameter disk, just drill the disk for the bolt on stump cutter teeth or trencher teeth. Put this together, with a quick attach plate, and you have a trencher.

 

[J_J]

The vast majority of landscape folks around here use a vibratory plow to install underground piping. It goes in fast, in one step, without tearing up the surface a great deal. The only digging that is needed is a foot or so at the pipe intersections and at the sprinkler heads. With the weather conditions here the pipe does not need to be too deep. Toro - Professional Contractor Compact Utility Attachments

Those vibratory plows are not cheap, around $1500 just for the shaker. I have one of the Davis vibrating units, and it does a good job. You can also lay wire with it.

 

[Barryh]

I think Bob carved out his pond with a chain trencher, if I remember right. However, either one will chew up the ground or loosen the soil.

Yes, the stump cutter will work very well as a shallow trencher. You should be able to trench about 8 in deep. The wheeled trenchers will trench to about 12 in. Of course, if it is used in rocky soil, you can expect the teeth to wear more. You could make your self a nice trencher, by using a similar hyd motor, a hub to fit the shaft, a 30 in diameter disk, just drill the disk for the bolt on stump cutter teeth or trencher teeth. Put this together, with a quick attach plate, and you have a trencher.

Sounds good thanks.

 

[BobRip]

I think Bob carved out his pond with a chain trencher, if I remember right. However, either one will chew up the ground or loosen the soil.

Yes, the stump cutter will work very well as a shallow trencher. You should be able to trench about 8 in deep. The wheeled trenchers will trench to about 12 in. Of course, if it is used in rocky soil, you can expect the teeth to wear more. You could make your self a nice trencher, by using a similar hyd motor, a hub to fit the shaft, a 30 in diameter disk, just drill the disk for the bolt on stump cutter teeth or trencher teeth. Put this together, with a quick attach plate, and you have a trencher.

I did kind of carve out the pond with the trencher. It breaks up the soil and acts as a conveyor to pull the soil out. This was a very small pond (20 feet in diameter and 4 feet deep). The trencher is good at breaking up soil and then typically you can use a bucket to move the soil. I think the stump grinder would do this, but 8 inches is not very deep. The beauty of the PT is that you can change attachments every few minutes and still be very productive. Perhaps one attachment will be very slow on a given project, but combining two can make a project go very quickly.

 

[Barryh]

I did kind of carve out the pond with the trencher. It breaks up the soil and acts as a conveyor to pull the soil out. This was a very small pond (20 feet in diameter and 4 feet deep). The trencher is good at breaking up soil and then typically you can use a bucket to move the soil. I think the stump grinder would do this, but 8 inches is not very deep. The beauty of the PT is that you can change attachments every few minutes and still be very productive. Perhaps one attachment will be very slow on a given project, but combining two can make a project go very quickly.

Bob good idea, those are my thoughts too, use the tree stump grinder to cut in and around then scoop out the loose soil with my small bucket, and use other attachments / including any home made stuff. Which will be my first priority now. To find a welder and make some custom digging tools to use with my hitch adapter / tubing. Appreciate your input.

 

[BobRip]

Bob good idea, those are my thoughts too, use the tree stump grinder to cut in and around then scoop out the loose soil with my small bucket, and use other attachments / including any home made stuff. Which will be my first priority now. To find a welder and make some custom digging tools to use with my hitch adapter / tubing. Appreciate your input.

Some people have used the potato plow to break up soil. This is must cheaper initially and much less maintenance. I think it actually might work better than the stump grinder for soil break up. I have not done this much since I do have the trencher.

 

[AltavistaLawn]

The vast majority of landscape folks around here use a vibratory plow to install underground piping. It goes in fast, in one step, without tearing up the surface a great deal. The only digging that is needed is a foot or so at the pipe intersections and at the sprinkler heads. With the weather conditions here the pipe does not need to be too deep. Toro - Professional Contractor Compact Utility Attachments

We're just getting into irrigation. I'm in the air between a vibratory plow or a wheel trencher for the 1850.

You guys that do irrigation, what do you suggest?

 

[J_J]

We're just getting into irrigation. I'm in the air between a vibratory plow or a wheel trencher for the 1850.

You guys that do irrigation, what do you suggest?

I have both, it is just a matter of choice for the differeent jobs.

 

[SGBotsford]

I would like to lay a lot of irrigation pipe in the orchard and pastures. Leaving them on top of the ground results in too much damage from the tractor, cows, and mowers.

I've been laying 1.5 inch pipe at my tree farm in what I call 'surface flush' I try to keep it just barely visible. In practice I have a black dotted line to remind me where it is. This way I can spot leaks, and the ice plugs thaw when the ground thaws.

What I've been doing is use a single chisel. The downside of this is that it makes a rough trench becuase it tears the sod.

I want to make a trencher for this using a couple of coulters from a 3 bottom plough ahead of the chisel. That way the edges would be neater.

For smaller line a pair of disks mounted so the front edges touch might just open up enough to stuff the pipe in.

Or run a furrow opener 2 inches down. I suspect that the sod might just flop back.

For a real trench, would it work to take something like 1/4 of a round of 36" diameter pipe. and bolt it onto a blade. You overlapp 6" onto the blade, then the bottom of the arc would be about a foot below the blade. First pass is about an inch down, to cut the sod in half. After that each pass takes about 2-3 inches. When it starts getting deep the blade spreads the spoils a bit. (Or you take off the blade if you want the spoils in windrows on either side.

Again, with this one it would do a neater job if you put coulters in front of it. Trouble is, that you either have to use big coulters, or you have to remove the coulters after the first couple passes. PITA.

A more general purpose solution would be to use something like a tool bar cultivator as the frame. Mount the scoop on a pair of the chisel/sweep mounting springs. Mount coulters the same way. (The TBC I have has two types of spring -- one with 2 turns which puts the chisel point in front of the bar, and one with 2.5 turns with chisels about 2 feet further back.)

With everything spring mounted the consequences of scooping the edge of a mother rock aren't quite as bone jarring.

Haven't *DONE* any of this. (except for the first thing) Just thinking out loud.

 

[BAGTIC]

I have discovered that breaking up the crust with the potato plaw first makes the rotor tiller work MUCH FASTER. I have gravelly loam.


Has anyone tried using the wheel trencher to grind down tree stumps?


The wheel trencher would have been much more useful if it had been offset to one side like the lawn edger. As it is it is impossible to cut a trench really close to an existing fence or structure.