Subscriber Discussion

Any Experience With Trench Diggers?

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Jan 16, 2019

I allready red the (very good) IPVM discussion Cable Trenching for Surveillance from 2013. 

My question: Can anyone recommend a trencher like this one 

Hydraulic Trencher 18" or like this one Terrasaw portable power mini trencher ?

Or do you prefer manual labor and hand tools like shovels, pickaxes, and hoes?

Work to do: ~ 2.500 ft direct burial fiber optic cable (maybe with or without conduits) on a private property.

 

Avatar
Brian Rhodes
Jan 16, 2019
IPVMU Certified

For a dirt-saw like the one above, there are site factors that help make the decision:

1. Is the soil rocky or full of roots? If so, then directional boring may be easier/faster.  Surface cutting can take time if you manually excavate rocks or tree roots every 10 feet.

2. What is the typical frost line in the area? If shallow, saws are not problem.  But if deep (24" or more), then other methods are faster.

Or do you prefer manual labor and hand tools like shovels, pickaxes, and hoes?

Some is always required, but no one likes digging ditches! :)

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U
Undisclosed #2
Jan 16, 2019
IPVMU Certified

Digging trenches by hand sucks, but on the other hand an Air Spade blows:

*Disclaimer: have never dug a trench by any means, but had a huge tree/root system removed by a contractor using something like this (with other tools).  I asked to try it.  He said no.  That’s where my experience ends.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Jan 16, 2019

Personally if trenching 2500 feet I would rent a larger machine either a walk behind or ride on. 

Something like this: 
https://www.ditchwitch.com/trenchers 

But it would depend on the depth and type of soil you are going through. 

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Avatar
Brad Wareham
Jan 16, 2019

If your timeline is in the near future, it's slow for landscaping/sprinkler companies and/or business and their hardware is parked (not making them any money).  Reach out, you can probably get a pretty good deal and save yourself some grief.

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JH
Jay Hobdy
Jan 17, 2019
IPVMU Certified

We trench on a regular basis 200-300'. We usually use a rental from home depot like the one the OP posted. For one project we had someone come in with a tractor and put the conduit in. It wound up costing us way more than my labor cost and we had issues pulling cable and had to dig the conduit back up in some spots.

 

For 2500 feet i would get some type of sit down unit.

 

We looked at the air spade. My issue was it blows the dirt everywhere and there is no way to backfill the trench. I talked to the manufacturer and they had no answer/solution. How did they fill the hole left by the missing rootball?

 

Is wireless an option here?

U
Undisclosed #2
Jan 17, 2019
IPVMU Certified

How did they fill the hole left by the missing rootball?

Jacuzzi ;)

SD
Shannon Davis
Jan 17, 2019
IPVMU Certified

As Jay says above. If you trench on a regular basis then you are probably better doing the trenching yourself. If you don't then a 2500' run could really turn into a disaster. To me there is way too much liability with this. The smaller runs like the 200' to 300' are one thing but nearly a half mile is another. Regardless this is going to be really expensive. 

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #4
Jan 18, 2019

and of you are in the US, don’t forget to call the utility markers first.   You never know how deep or where they have stuff in the ground.  If you hit it....it can be really bad if you didn’t call first. 

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Avatar
Brian Rhodes
Jan 21, 2019
IPVMU Certified

Note:  We updated and republished Cable Trenching for Surveillance for ongoing reference.

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