Small trenching with a CUT?

[JackMentink]

I am looking at doing some small trencjhing with my Montana 3644. I need to excavated some small very shallow trenches for burying 4" pvc pipe less than 1 foot deep. Is there anything available like a spade type attachment I can put on the fromnt of my tractor without buying a backhoe attatchment? I really don't wantto spend 4-7K for a back hoe but would like something less.

Any body have any experieince with anything like this?

 

[jeffinsgf]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

Sub-soiler. In Rolla it might take a couple passes. Depending on how much of it you have to do, you can follow up with a shovel or (for more than you want to shovel) a turning plow.

 

[OlderToday]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

I think jeffinsgf has a good idea. Find something like this 2 in 1 attachment Tractor Supply has Tractor Supply Company - XB Middle Buster/ Sub-Soiler. You could make several passes using the subsoiler point, then bolt on the middle buster to clear-out the soft stuff. $140 not too bad if it's strong enough for your cut and your soil isn't real heavy/rocky.

 

[nybirdman]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

If you want to spend more ::check out virigmfg.com
their u-blade 30 inch model will go 4 foot,cost about $1200.
Poor man's back-hoe.

 

[Gittyup]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

There is a good thread on here somewhere with lots of pictures using a subsoiler or home made equivalent. Worth searching for.

 

[MarkLeininger]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

I need to excavated some small very shallow trenches for burying 4" pvc pipe less than 1 foot deep.
Any body have any experience with anything like this?

I rented a ditch witch to do the same thing. Cost me $75 for a half day, laid 400 feet of pipe, took about an hour to dig the trench. Nice thing was the clean narrow cut it made, used the bucket to push the dirt right back in.

 

[Kfbeal]

Have you considered a single middle-buster?

Tractor Supply Company - Middle Buster

is one that may work. We've used these for making ditches. You would need a blade to back-fill. It may not be pretty but it may work.

 

[TheKid]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

I made a couple of attachments that bolt to my weight box. One is for a narrow trench for wire, and the other is wide enough for the 4" black corrugated drain pipe.

 

[Charlton John]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

This is an option as well, I am personally looking into one of these but want to get some feedback first which I havnt gotten yet.

Quick Spade

 

[daBear]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

I have used a subsoiler to make several passes and break up any roots or rocks then come back with a middle buster to clean it out. I did over a thousand feet of lawn irrigation this way. Actually I wish I had just rented a trencher and done it that way because of the mess and effort I went to doing it with a sub soiler and middle buster. I have about 500 feet to go this summer and will rent a trencher.

 

[Savagepike]

I just buried a waterpipe 12" deep last weekend. I used a single shank ripper first to break up the really packed stuff, then used the middle buster to clear the trench out. Worked great, almost felt guilty for not getting enough exercise while doing it.

 

[jeffinsgf]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

daBear,

I've used a trencher and can tell you that you can't match it if what you need is a trench. When I put in my lawn irrigation I was sure that it would take me 2 days to trench. It took me just over 5 hours. And, that is in very, very rocky ground.

That said, my next irrigation project I'm going to pull my pipe with the tractor and a sub-soiler. There's just so much less disruption of the ground.

 

[srjones]

Anyway, I'll throw in another option. Use a single bottom plow to cut under the sod and turn a single furrow. If that's not deep enough, use a hand shovel or a subsoiler to get it deep enough. Lay the pipe in, and then roll the sod back over it.

For a 4" PVC pipe, 1 feet seems rather shallow.

 

[IslandTractor]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

This is an option as well, I am personally looking into one of these but want to get some feedback first which I havnt gotten yet.

Quick Spade

I have a Quick Spade. It is essentially a large shovel and attaches to a set of forks. It can easily dig a spade width trench but I don't think it would be as fast for this task as the subsoiler/middle buster technique and certainly not as fast as a Ditch Witch. The reason is that while it digs very efficiently and you can get quite a lot of dirt in a single shovel full (about 4-5 time what a human powered shovel would get), the issue is that you then need to back the tractor up and turn it to dump that load before you can take another bite.

 

[J_J]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

Here is just one more option. Something new in cutting trenches.

 

[IslandTractor]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

Here is just one more option. Something new in cutting trenches.

Pretty cool. Something tells me it will cost more than a subsoiler/middlebuster though. And, the implement doesn't seem to have a mechanism to put the dirt back in the trench once you are done.

As I recall PowerTrac has a nice set of implements to dig a trench and then fill it back up efficiently.

 

[daBear]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

daBear,

I've used a trencher and can tell you that you can't match it if what you need is a trench. When I put in my lawn irrigation I was sure that it would take me 2 days to trench. It took me just over 5 hours. And, that is in very, very rocky ground.

That said, my next irrigation project I'm going to pull my pipe with the tractor and a sub-soler. There's just so much less disruption of the ground.

Yep, I have pulled pipe with my setup also and I still want to rent a trencher. I hit an underground spring several times, sunk up, made tire tracks 5' wide with my tractor in my grass, and in general made a heck of a mess pulling pipe and making a trench with a middle buster and a shank. I really like the idea of a neat little 4" trench about 12" deep that I can drop the pipe in and use my box blade to backfill everything. I laid a total of 9 zones on 2 acres in my back yard and it took about 2 months for the grass and dirt to recover in each zone.

 

[jeffinsgf]

You're going to find with the trencher that your damage is more isolated (just the trench lines) but also more severe. I put ten zones in an acre (you must have really good pressure to do 2 acres with 9 zones!) and as I said earlier, the trenching went beautifully. It was also nice to work in the trenches with a little give and take that I don't think I'll have with pulled pipe. But I have a couple of spots in the yard where you can still see the trench lines 3 years later. I've topdressed and filled and pampered these areas 2 or 3 times a year and they just keep settling. Now no one else can see them, but I still can. Maybe next year.

That spring must be a pain.

 

[kthompson]

You're going to find with the trencher that your damage is more isolated (just the trench lines) but also more severe. I put ten zones in an acre (you must have really good pressure to do 2 acres with 9 zones!) and as I said earlier, the trenching went beautifully. It was also nice to work in the trenches with a little give and take that I don't think I'll have with pulled pipe. But I have a couple of spots in the yard where you can still see the trench lines 3 years later. I've topdressed and filled and pampered these areas 2 or 3 times a year and they just keep settling. Now no one else can see them, but I still can. Maybe next year.

That spring must be a pain.

I put in an electric line with trencher almost 8 years ago and last summer could still see the difference in the grass in that line. For me it was greener, I think due to breaking up hard pan. At my in laws less than half mile away subsoiler and a year later can not tell where it is. Wish I could. Would have save a water line last year.

 

[Charlton John]

Re: Shallow trenching with a CUT?

I have a Quick Spade. It is essentially a large shovel and attaches to a set of forks. It can easily dig a spade width trench but I don't think it would be as fast for this task as the subsoiler/middle buster technique and certainly not as fast as a Ditch Witch. The reason is that while it digs very efficiently and you can get quite a lot of dirt in a single shovel full (about 4-5 time what a human powered shovel would get), the issue is that you then need to back the tractor up and turn it to dump that load before you can take another bite.

Thanks Island Tractor. I dont have forks but seen onthe web site you can get one that attaches right to the FEL, would you recomend this product for digging tree holes and moving rocks etc... I need a poor mans BH Thanks