Under ground cable

Carl_NH · May 31, 2002

How does this deal with roots and rocks? Is the leading vertical edge behind the point sharp behind to cut through the possible tree root?

Also, what about adding weight so the unit stays in the ground when obstacles are encountered?

Last question - estimated cost?

Thanks

Carl

runeare · May 31, 2002

I just used this on my lawn as far as buring the pipe and incountered a few rocks which rolled to the side, my ground is gravely sand with some clay here and there.
I have used this in the field and it tore through quite a few roots. This sod buster will not ride up much and once in the ground stays pretty well there.
As far as cost I have no ideal how much this sod-buster goes for it belonged to my buddies father back in the 60's 70's I would guess. If I could find my own I would go $100 I think it would be pretty handy to have a round. I also planted some small evergreen trees minus the conduit just to score the ground in an old field. It made it possible to get the shovel in the ground and made a fairly straight line. Hope this helps some.

wasabi · May 31, 2002

Neat tool runeare. It has me thinking about something along those lines to run cable down the side of our road. Thanks for posting it.....now it goes in the "tractor implement ideas" file.

cisco · May 31, 2002

Yup, common in my area. Most weld the tubing to the back side of the subsoiler, and if you also weld a "T" to the top of the subsoiler, you can put spools of wire or flexible pipe on the lateral extensions of the "T", and dispense with the friend who otherwise has to follow your tractor. Disadvantages are the limitation in depth of the trench, and inability to place thick (hence, inflexible) pipe such as Schedule 40 or 80. That said, for placing wire for a dog retaining fence or a distant lamp post, you've got the most efficient device I know of (way faster, and cheaper, than a trencher).

rockyridgefarm · May 31, 2002

Your setup looks great, I was wondering about a similar setup for sprinkler lines. Thanks for the very informative post, the pics are great.

<font color=blue> I don't know why you couldn't do some electrical runs also </font color=blue>

I'm sure you mean "low voltage" like malibiu lights. My neighbor had 110v wiring this way, it was real easy to find; just look for dead sheep or dogs laying over it after a rain...

Sometimes electric codes seem like such a waste of time, till someone gets killed....

Inspector507 · May 31, 2002

Couldn't have said it better myself
(check my profile)

beenthere · May 31, 2002

Would you care to explain why sheep and dogs died from a buried 110 volt line? I know of a lot of buried 110, and never heard of a dead animal, or person, caused by the buried line. Help me out here, please.

chim · May 31, 2002

The words "buried" and "electric" are not bad - as long as it's done properly. We've buried 15KV cables that will never harm a soul. What's scary are the weekend warriors who know just enough to be dangerous. There are different burial depth requirements for different installation methods. There are cables that are approved for direct burial, but most are not.

I remember being on a project years back when one of the carpenters was explaining to us how he planned on taking a "hot wire" to the reinforcing mesh in his new sidewalk so his snow would melt in the Winter. I don't know if we convinced him how bad an idea this was or not, but we tried..............chim

rockyridgefarm · May 31, 2002

<font color=blue>Would you care to explain why sheep and dogs died from a buried 110 volt line? I know of a lot of buried 110</font color=blue>

Direct bury cable needs to be 24" deep. My neighbors wasn't, and the sheep would fall over dead when they would cross it in the rain.

I'm the datacomm guy, I get to run network cables and am around the "hot" stuff, but I am no Inspector507. Maybe he can shed some light...

Carl_NH · May 31, 2002

UF is the code for underground wire. Sheep or dogs that encounter this digging when buried 8-12" deep are likely to get harmed if they can chew the insulation to that degree. I find the stuff tough to deal with so should they.

When running outdoor cable (UF)I size it based on the run, and expected amperage draw at the use point. For instance when I did the barn I ran two 10/2 UF lines 250' undergound with a breaker on the supply side 20 amps and the distribution side 15 amps with ground faults.

Regarding non UF wire I recently tore up the driveway 4" thick and found a 15yr old NM wire (not used anymore) to feed the garage in decent condition but with moisture damage to the paper based insulation but not effecting the actual wire coating.

Carl