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Ditch Witch trenching machine

twotowers | Posted in General Discussion on November 4, 2005 08:07am

Hi All;
I have rented a trenching tool to lay electric cable for an outside shed. I am in Connecticut – the land of the never ending stone wall..My rental price is $200.00 a day and I have to dig a trench 20 inches deep over 200 feet. I have a bad back. People have chided me on a poor choice of rental equipment. I have no Idea on what to expect.
Can any of you with experience give some advise on how easy, how fast and what problems to look out for…….it;s planned as a days work.
TwoTowers

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  1. User avater
    ProBozo | Nov 04, 2005 08:17am | #1

    did you get a quote to just have the trench dug and left open? I've done that a couple times, last time was 100' in light soil, took him longer to unload the trencher than to cut the trench. $80 for the job.

    what's yer soil?

    1. twotowers | Nov 04, 2005 08:19am | #2

      It was a new house and ground in 1999 but I expect it is rockey below the serfice
      TT

  2. davidmeiland | Nov 04, 2005 04:24pm | #3

    I had a ditch witch cut a 50' trench recently, like Pro said more time to get it off the trailer than to do the work, less than one hour total. Our soil is full of gravel and rocks up to 1' diameter. It's a workout for the machine but the trench is only about 6" wide and easy to fill in.

    Recently hired a backhoe to dig a trench on a job where I feared boulders in the soil. None materialized, but he dug 80' of 24" deep trench in less than 30 minutes. Slightly more expensive, a lot more versatile.

  3. User avater
    CapnMac | Nov 04, 2005 07:22pm | #4

    My trencher problems have been more with bad seat "kill" switches than anything of else of late (enough that I have them fire it up on the trailer and wriggle around a bit to be sure the switch works).

    Patience is a good virtue to have while trenching.  Planning the route out is also a good thing. 

    Since you seem to be a bit new at this, it can be worthwhile to run the trencher along the whole proposed route without digging anything at all.  This may show you a couple of spots where you might have to dig in the "other" direction first, and then play connect the ditches.  Practicing those maneuvers first can be very instructive.  The "test drive" will also tell you if the ditcher you have will be tough on your back, too.

    I've heard folks advocate making shallow cuts in soil with potential obstacles, but that means making more than one pass over the same trench, which never has worked out for me.  The "trick" of it is to find the right rhythm for the depth you need, neither too fast nor too slow. 

    And this will be dull, slow work, which can let you get distracted--just when you need to pay attention.  As to hitting things, there's rocks, there's stones, and there's ledge--each has a different effect on the ditcher and its driver (so does finding the abandoned 1 1/2" iron pipe from the well which is as long gone as the well head and the barn it served) . . .

    Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
  4. User avater
    txlandlord | Nov 04, 2005 09:44pm | #5

    Here we have 1/2 day or 3 hour rentals....ask your company...only problem is you must take it back when you could be working

    Recently trenched 125 ' 36" deep ( 2 passes in 1.5 hours.

  5. WingNut | Nov 04, 2005 10:27pm | #6

    If you have a bad back I would strongly suggest you take a look at the machine at the rental yard first and make sure you can maneuver it.  Some models are very heavy and awkward and you need to put some back into it to get it going.  Could be a tough day if you already have a bad back. 

  6. bigman | Nov 05, 2005 01:01am | #7

    Hi twotowers, I also live in CT, but down by the SE coast where the soil is ROCKS, not the red dust they have in N/W.CT. I am an electrical contractor and I will tell you right now forget the DitchWitch, it will not handle rocky soil  (average rocks over 8") it will jerk and drag you all over the place. The best thing to do is find a lawn sprinkler company and have them use a vibratory plow to install a 1" poly well line to your shed. I know that code says 18" burial for conduit, but for years I have used Bob Kohler (Kohler Irrigation?) to drag a 1" line about 8-12" below grade and then run UF cable thru the pipe. If I could figure out how to downsize a pic I could show you the size of the rocks they have been pulling out of the ground at my new house, un-freaking believable, CT is the land of the "stone walls" without a doubt.

    1. User avater
      whoodle | Nov 05, 2005 02:44am | #8

      I am an irrigation contractor and I pull in pipes for people all the time.  Definitly the best way t go.  THen suck or blow a string with a bit of insulation tied to it to pull the wire back.

  7. User avater
    Matt | Nov 05, 2005 03:43am | #9

    This may seem kind of obvious but they work much better going down hill - even if it is only a slight hill.  Just sharing what I've learned the hard way.

    1. donpapenburg | Nov 05, 2005 04:39am | #10

      Don't let anyone look in the trench as you are digging .  My little Davis T66 will thump you a good one witha well placed rock to an unsuspecting observer/superviser.

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