Go BottomDigging small trench
 | Doug C.
Join Date: Posts: 1 
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2002-06-17 39617
I need to dig a shallow (7") deep trench for a single low voltage cable. The problem is it's 900 feet long, and the soil is very rocky. I was thinking of lowering one of the rippers on my box scraper and pulling that along to dig it. Any other ideas?
Thanks,
Doug
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| DavidJ
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 62 Alabama
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2002-06-17 39621
If it's really rocky with large rocks, you'll want to be very careful using a ripper in that fashion. You can tear it from the attachment or bend it beyond repair. If the rocks are smallish then you should be safe. If you have one available you could use a turning plow to cut it, again depending on how large the rocks are. ....
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 | BillMullens
Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 649 Central West Virginia 
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2002-06-17 39625
I've been thinking about doing the same thing for an underground dog fence. I also have problems with rocks; I think just going slow should minimize or eliminate damage to the equipment.
Bill ....
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| chim
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 31 SE PA
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2002-06-17 39628
There was a pretty good discussion,somwhere. A single shank subsoiler loosened up the dirt for me to bury rainspouts.
A couple of other posters made up a bent piece of conduit they fastened to the rear of the same implement to feed wire into the ground as they went. Sounded like it worked nicely. There are electrical code issues with anything other than low voltage buried at such a shallow depth...........chim ....
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| JJT
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 93 Upstate NY, USA
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2002-06-17 39629
A middle buster plow should do the job. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley 
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2002-06-18 39638
I think I'd try the box scarifier if I didn't have anything else that was mentioned. There’s always the chance of breaking something or that it just doesn’t work, but presumably implements are designed for use in ‘general conditions.’ For myself, I wouldn’t be too happy with the idea that I bought implements and then ended up not using them because they might break. The scarifies are there to be used, but you should recognize that if all scarifiers were fully extended then the tractor probably wouldn’t be able to pull the box very fast. No more stress than normal operation should be placed on a single scarifier at comparable ground speeds.
I'd use the most central scarifier and go very slow. My turf tires have less traction than ags, so I also have less change of breaking something as long as the ground speed is slow. However, the risks of this or any other task should be understood. In addition to the possibility of breaking the box or tractor, I recently heard of scarifiers breaking rocks and throwing chips toward the tractor—just a story though.
I'm not sure that the scarifiers on mine leave much of an open trench but I don't think I've ever used them fully extended either and the soil is very sandy here. I don’t believe that electrical codes apply to low-voltage systems where I am but I’d check to be certain.
....
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| bigbukhntr
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 56 flower mound, texas
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2002-06-20 39708
Hmmm....here in Dallas, you can rent a trencher with a rock chain for $100 for 4 hrs, $140 a day....it shouldnt take u more than a day to go 900 feet....might want to consider that before u take a chance on doing any damage to a $300-$500 blade or even worse, damaging your tractor... ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-06-20 39716
Similarly, I was in town yesterday, heard the sound of a big diesel in a 3/4-ton and looked up. Going by was a contraption in the truck bed that said 'Stump Grinder.' It appeared to be a stand-alone unit and had hydraulics. I wondered at the time if those could be rented anywhere. Rent may seem expensive sometimes, but usually is cheaper than buying for one-time projects. I don't think you usually end up with repair bills if something breaks either. I might be interesting in such a thing if we had any stumps to grind. My wife usually wants me to cut stumps off high so she can grow climbing things on them. ....
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| Slamfire
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 5 Coker Creek, TN
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2002-06-22 39743
The "tooth" on a scarifier or subsoiler won't pull the dirt out of the trench well enough to allow you to put something in. What you need is a "shovel" plow, which is what you see on a middle buster. If you have a subsoiler a 14" shovel costs about $45. ....
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| Bob H
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-07-06 40080
Doug, try lowering one side of your box scraper all the way and raising the opposite side all the way. Now with your box scraper at a pretty steep angle, lower the ripper on the low side to the lowest position. Rip slowly in rocky soil and you will be able to move all but the biggest rocks. The tilted end of the box scraper will remove a good amount of the dirt the ripper is loosening leaving a V in the ground with loose dirt in the bottom of it. I have done a lot of shallow trenches this way. You will be surprised how deep a trench you can do this way. You just don't get clean sides. 900 feet shouldn't take more than 20 to 30 minutes depending on what size tractor you have. Sometimes going back over it with just the scraper tilted and the ripper raised will remove even more dirt once it has been loosened up.
Hope this helps. ....
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