What have you built to do trenching with

[Pooh_Bear]

I need to do some trenching around the yard.
I know I can rent a trencher, but I don't need it all done at once.
And renting a trencher several times would cost too much.
I have an 8N tractor. So what can I build for it to trench with.

I came up with one idea.
I could pull this behind the 8N and make several passes.
Then I would have to go along and shovel it out.
It would just loosen the dirt and make it easy to shovel.

There is a place there towards the back to put a top link.
I couldn't draw a top link.
That would make the angle of digging adjustable.

Thoughts, comments, ideas??
Anyone got a better idea??

Thanks.

Pooh Bear

 

[Deerlope]

That seems like a lot of work for what you want to do. I just took an old land plow beam and took the point and share off, reshaped the end and put a backhoe tooth on it. Then added a couple of wings. I could make a 4" wide trench for laying conduit.

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I could use a plow.
But I need more depth.
I need to go down 18-24 inches.

Pooh Bear

 

[bobodu]

Less you're REAL good on the tractor,it may be hard to keep it in the trench for several passes.May spend more time digging out what ya scraped off the sides.Ya got roots down there???
I made a cable plow to fit an Oliver 1850.Used a half inch by six inch steel plate with a small sweep welded on the bottom for downforce.Deepest we could get was about ten inches before the tires would spin.That was fine for irrigation,but it sounds like you are running wire.When I wired my barn,I ended up using my Gravely rotary plow.Was able to go down a foot and had to dig our hard clay for the last six inches.

 

[Farwell]

PoohBear,
Your blade needs to be made of a very strong material. Don't know what the horse power of an 8N is but it would take quite a bit of power to pull an 18 inch blade through soil. May be able to do it in a lot of passes.
Take a look at TSC's sub soiler and think about getting a longer blade for it. That may work for you.
Farwell

 

[Egon]

Think I'd try for a solid shank pulled at full depth and addapted to lay the pipe or cable at the same time. If this can't be done bite the bullet - lay out the lines required and rent a trencher! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The frustration releif will be well worth it.

Egon

 

[MMM]

I'm pretty sure you can get a ripper or subsoile shank 18". Also pretty sure what you've drawn won't work. The tool has to slant in direction of pull or will float. If your tool is adjusted for proper angle the blunt end will face forward.
What about dropping as bottom off that plow you picked up a while back and mount another set of pins higher to get you deepe? It should throw the majority of dirt out of trench. Easier to modify what you have than redesign the wheel. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Pooh_Bear]

You just gave me an idea.
I could take the bottoms off of that plow I have.
And replace one of them with a single ripper shank.
It would be easy to make and it would rip that depth easy.
Would still end up shoveling it out.
But I wouldn't have to build something complicated.

Thanks.

Pooh Bear

 

[Larstan]

You probably have around 25 HP with that tractor if it is running great, your biggest problem will be with traction and keeping front end down when it diggs in. I have a 9N and did alot of work with it before I got my Mahindra 2615, I used my BB sometimes to rip trenches pulling out all the scarifiers except one. That gave me 6-8 inches depending on the how smooth the surface was. Great old workhorses but traction was always an issue with mine. I you are pulling cable here is a link to Bob Skurka's sub soiler-brilliant idea in my opinion....

BobSkurka_subsoiler_cablelayer

Good luck-

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I have soil that is easy to work in. Real easy.
My 8N tractor should not be able to pull a 2x16 plow.
But that is what I have and it pulls it with gusto in this soil.

I have some water line to trench for.
And some electric.
And some drainage pipe.
I could do the water and electric with a cable trencher/puller.
But that 4 inch corrogated drainage pipe will have to be trenched.

Pooh Bear
Pooh's Place