Anyone here use a trencher/ ditch witch?

[IronWing]

I'm thinking about installing a couple yard hydrants. To run the pipe below I'm thinking that renting a 36" trencher should work. What sayth ATOT? Are trenchers straight forward to use? Is it a "yeah, a day of dirty work is good for the soul" type experience or a "pay someone else to do it, I wake up in the night screaming over how much it sucked" type experience?

The pipe run would be approximately 100' with a burial depth of 24" with one or two corners to turn/cut.

 

[highland145]

Tractor or walk behind?

Depends on the ground but a hell of a lot better than by hand.

<--former ditch digger

 

[lxskllr]

Sounds like an easy job. I wonder what the cost comparison is between renting, and having someone come out. Personally, unless the ground is hard as rock, I'd hand dig it. You've gone this long without water. If it takes another year to get it in, it's no big deal, and you'd get exercise others here pay big money for.

 

[IronWing]

Walk behind similar to (or exactly like) what Home Depot rents.
http://www.homedepotrents.com/proTools/trencher.asp

Soil is rocky, often caliche cemented, desert soil.

 

[highland145]

Sounds like an easy job. I wonder what the cost comparison is between renting, and having someone come out. Personally, unless the ground is hard as rock, I'd hand dig it. You've gone this long without water. If it takes another year to get it in, it's no big deal, and you'd get exercise others here pay big money for.

That's because you're cheap.

My L5 says pay the $$.

Edit:
Caliche is a sedimentary rock, a hardened deposit of calcium carbonate.

TNT, imo.

 

[lxskllr]

Soil is rocky, often caliche cemented, desert soil.

That's kind of what I thought, but I'm not familiar with desert soil :^(

If you have subdivision work going on around you, you may be able to pay someone installing cable to stop by your place.

Edit:

That's because you're cheap.

No doubt about that :^D

I'm also predisposed to doing things the hard way. I tend to put more value in ecological solutions that create more work for myself, but sometimes laziness wins out. I mowed my yard with a reel mower for years. I now use a riding mower. The rider has been a PITA, and I've been considering switching back. The biggest thing is the damned sticks. Nothing like mowing the yard in 95 degree weather, and having handle bars punch you in the stomach for the 20th time after the reel gets jammed with a stick :^S

 

[vi edit]

Depends on the trencher. I rented one of these to dig in some drainage tile:
https://hen6qa.bay.livefilestore.co...0Uy-exLkBrVf/2012-11-23T09-00-59_1.jpg?psid=1

The clutch was a jumpy bitch and if the ground so much looked unlevel it was a tipsy, unsafe and miserable POS to operate. I hated using it.

If you have flat ground and aren't trying to get fancy with turning it all over the place it'll be fine. Just take your time and let it do the work for you. If you have to operate it on slope then be prepared for the misery or try to get one that has four wheel drive and not two on the back and a guide wheel like the one I had.

 

[GasX]

A trencher from Home Depot will do 90% of the labor for that job in 60 minutes. How much is your time worth?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I've used a trenchwench in just that kind of soil and can recommend making several passes rather than trying to dig the full depth in one pass. My arm muscles and back screamed at me for the next day because I tried to do it in one.

 

[DrPizza]

Sounds like an easy job. I wonder what the cost comparison is between renting, and having someone come out. Personally, unless the ground is hard as rock, I'd hand dig it. You've gone this long without water. If it takes another year to get it in, it's no big deal, and you'd get exercise others here pay big money for.

You're insane. I, on the other hand, have been blowing off digging a big hole for bilco doors to my basement. Every once in a while, I'll feel in the mood to dig. So, I'll dig. And dig. And dig. And dig. And the pile next to the hole gets bigger. But, after an hour of digging, I don't even notice the difference in the hole from before.

 

[highland145]

You're insane. I, on the other hand, have been blowing off digging a big hole for bilco doors to my basement. Every once in a while, I'll feel in the mood to dig. So, I'll dig. And dig. And dig. And dig. And the pile next to the hole gets bigger. But, after an hour of digging, I don't even notice the difference in the hole from before.

Related to Forrest G.?

 

[vi edit]

I paid $150 for a days rental of my trencher. That was "tow your own". I trenched over 600 feet worth of drainage lines ranging anwhere from 6" to 3'+ deep. That would have taken me....weeks? Months? Of miserable work. Screw that. Money well spent.

 

[skyking]

1) Call 811
2) see #1

Trenchers work well in soil. rocky, stony ground is not good. whatever you do, call locate first.

 

[highland145]

1) Call 811
2) see #1

Trenchers work well in soil. rocky, stony ground is not good. whatever you do, call locate first.

:thumbsup: