BH Question: Digging trenches

[MFortie]

Is there a 'correct' way to dig trenches with a backhoe? Forward or backwards? In other words, if I'm sitting in the BH seat, do I want to be digging and moving towards my end point or away from it?

Or is merely preference?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Storm56]

I cannot say I have ever seen someone digging towards the end, unless it was a really unique circumstance. Under normal conditions the front of my tractor is always pointed to the end. Two reasons, first off what do you do with your dirt? I simply pile it beside the ditch I am digging, be kind of tough to get the machine over it unless you put it way off to the side, too much lost time and motion, plus you just make more of a mess. Secondly I certainly do not want the ditch under my machine where I might run into it or cave the ditch in.

 

[MFortie]

:duh:

I cannot say I have ever seen someone digging towards the end, unless it was a really unique circumstance. Under normal conditions the front of my tractor is always pointed to the end. Two reasons, first off what do you do with your dirt? I simply pile it beside the ditch I am digging, be kind of tough to get the machine over it unless you put it way off to the side, too much lost time and motion, plus you just make more of a mess. Secondly I certainly do not want the ditch under my machine where I might run into it or cave the ditch in.

:duh: Guess that was a dumb question - if I had given just a little thought to it...

 

[wrooster]

Is there a 'correct' way to dig trenches with a backhoe? Forward or backwards? In other words, if I'm sitting in the BH seat, do I want to be digging and moving towards my end point or away from it? Or is merely preference? Thanks, Mark

Mark,

Your next question should be "how do i make a nice, professional-looking flat-bottomed trench with a backhoe?" -- which ultimately leads to a related but very important question "how do i make a nice professional-looking flat-bottomed trench without disturbing the ground at the bottom of the trench, so thereafter i can build a foundation on the undisturbed soil?"

This is what separates the BH hacks from the BH pros.

Wrooster <-- not a BH pro.

 

[Storm56]

Practice....

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have been using my B26 now for about 20 hours of digging and have gotten fairly good with it and keeping the bottom of the ditch the same depth from top of ground when digging for a sprinkler system. Where the good operators come in is with keeping the ditch bottom level when going up or down a hill without someone constantly checking it with a transit level. Same with dozer operator when leveling out hills for flat foundations, etc. One needs a good practiced eye for that or calibrated level in their head. I can get close by eyeball on ditching, levees etc but one sure needs a transit level to verify final grade on anything.

On original question, only way to keep your spoils out of the ditch is to dig toward your machine. So you need to extend you hoe to far out as it will reach minus about a foot, set the stabilizers and FEL to hold everything level then dig as close as you can before raising everything up and moving back to start the process over again. I did have to straddle a ditch that was about 18" deep that I had dug several days ago prior to a rain that washed in a bunch of dirt and mud. Clean out was easy digging, but had to watch the tires to stay centered not only for not getting into the ditch but also to keep the ditch centered under the backhoe otherwise you have to swing as you move the dipper stick to stay centered. That puts a little different touch to the controls

 

[MFortie]

Mark,

Your next question should be "how do i make a nice, professional-looking flat-bottomed trench with a backhoe?" -- which ultimately leads to a related but very important question "how do i make a nice professional-looking flat-bottomed trench without disturbing the ground at the bottom of the trench, so thereafter i can build a foundation on the undisturbed soil?"

This is what separates the BH hacks from the BH pros.

Wrooster <-- not a BH pro.

Thanks all for the replies!

Fortunately, I have a couple thousand feet of water lines and conduit to practice with before I have to do any foundation work!

I've also heard I should practice dragging the bucket teeth along the ground without digging in to practice making a flat bottom trench...

So, do I want the outriggers lifting the back tires off the ground or just down enough to stabilize the machine?

 

[Car Doc]

Thanks all for the replies!

Fortunately, I have a couple thousand feet of water lines and conduit to practice with before I have to do any foundation work!

I've also heard I should practice dragging the bucket teeth along the ground without digging in to practice making a flat bottom trench...

So, do I want the outriggers lifting the back tires off the ground or just down enough to stabilize the machine?

I am more of a hack at BH operation simply because its awhile between jobs. I am back to pretty darn good at the end and pretty slow at the start.

I usually as far as the outriggers go leave the tires on the ground dont know whats right. I can move the tractor around either way seems maybe less with the tires on the ground and the bucket curled down and on the dirt just have to try and see what works best for you!

 

[Egon]

The outriggers should lift the back tires off the ground and also level the backhoe. Bucket cutting edge should be down with front tIres off the ground. For the smaller equipment things may be done a little different.

 

[LD1]

I always leave the back tires on or as close to the ground as possible. By as close as possible, I mean that there are times when you have to raise one side more than the other just to get the hoe level. That is okay. And my FEL I leave flat on the ground. Infact, my ford 5500 manual from 1967 actually has two pics in it. One with the outriggers lifting the tires with a big X through it saying WRONG, and the other with the bads and tires BOTH on the ground and a big CORRECT by it. Just remember, due to the arc that the pads travel in, the more you lower them, the narrower your footprint becomes and it becomes less stable when dumping at max reach to the side. It also raises the center of gravity the more you raise the tractor.

As to the digging a nice smooth trench, it does take a lot of practice. Doing it on flat ground without actually digging is a good idea. But the general gist of trenching:

Start as far as you can reach (as others mentioned.) dont try to dig to depth all at once at the very end of the reach. Instead, take a few inches off the top in as close as you can get. And then a few more, and a few more, until you get the depth. To do this, you need to start with the bucket rolled in a good bit so the teeth arent pointing straight down, rather back towards you. Not quite parallel with the ground, but maybe down 10-20 degrees so they bite. Crowd in with the dipper while raising the boom at the same time to keep it level. You will also have to keep rolling out (dumping) the bucket to maintain the angle of attack. When the bucket is full, curl, raise, swing, and dump and start over.

If you try to get to depth all at once, basically just plunging into the ground, curling, and breaking out repeatidly, you will end up with a very choppy and un-even trench bottom. Cutting the whole lenght that you can reach in a "horizontal" direction a bit at a time leaves a more even and smoother trench. Once you have done as far as you can reach, move the tractor forward and start again. Pretty soon you will be good at judging how far forward to move. You want to move so that where you just left off is about a foot or so less than your max reach.

It does take a lot of practice but you will be good in no-time.