Cable plow

[Blumoon]

Hi all, new member here, dont have use of a computer very much, we live off grid in the mountains. But my question is I have to build a cable plow to plow in phone cable, 2500 feet. ground is sand and small gravel and flat any body have any plans or pics they would share. thanks blumoon

 

[Diamondpilot]

No pic but the easiest thing to do is spend $100 and get a potato plow. Attach to the back a piece of 2" conduit with 90 deg bend. Secure the phone cable on the spool from you ROPS and go at it.

Many hear have done similar with store bought plows or homemade units.

Chris

 

[MossRoad]

Welcome to TBN. :thumbsup:

I've seen several people take single rippers and put a piece of pipe bent with a 90 degree sweep in it behind the ripper. Mount some sort of cross bar to hold a spool above it and off you go.

I suggest you use the TBN search function and see if you can dig up some threads on the subject. I know there were several over the years.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Here is some pix's of a store bought unit. It belongs to a guy I know. Gives you a idea.

Chris

 

[kennyd]

Some pictures of one I made a few years ago: There are a few older threads here on TBN about them if you search.

 

[easygo]

Here is a thread discussing the topic
www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/135103-burying-wire-subsoiler-advice.html

 

[gizmo]

Here's mine. I ran it through 400 feet of root filled woods and across a gravel driveway. Not the greatest but it worked in a pinch. The log is a counter weight to keep the plow engaged in the ground.

 

[NewportNic]

Thanks gizmo, I love the idea of attaching to a boom lift! I'm just putting in an invisible fence for my dog and was thinking I had to do the whole 3pt thing.

PS Nice Counterweight!

 

[The Dougster]

Kenny, I enjoyed and appreciated your post and photos. I'm faced with laying about 300-feet of wire to our water well and have been dreading the job. Now, having said that, I confess that I was considering using conduit and I notice you were not using conduit. What wire do you suggest I buy to lay it like you have?

 

[kennyd]

Kenny, I enjoyed and appreciated your post and photos. I'm faced with laying about 300-feet of wire to our water well and have been dreading the job. Now, having said that, I confess that I was considering using conduit and I notice you were not using conduit. What wire do you suggest I buy to lay it like you have?

This was just a 12/2 UF line to a small shed I was going to build...That small shed has turned into a 24x36 building (see photos in link below) so now the line is unused because it is in the wrong place and severly undersized. I would only use this rig to install lighting or dog fence wire-it's perfect for that small stuff.

You mentioned a well so I assume it will be a 220v line?-I would do the conduit route if I where you. Renting a small trencher is cheap and fast if you already have the conduit line along the path and glued together. You can suck or blow a string in after it buried. At the 300' you mentioned it would be better/easier to use THHN wire rather than UF cable.

 

[lhfarm]

...You mentioned a well so I assume it will be a 220v line?-I would do the conduit route if I where you. Renting a small trencher is cheap and fast if you already have the conduit line along the path and glued together. You can suck or blow a string in after it buried. At the 300' you mentioned it would be better/easier to use THHN wire rather than UF cable.

I was running much heavier cable, but here is a discussion about running conduit a long distance - http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/139326-450-wiring-conduit-how-assemble.html

 

[The Dougster]

I really appreciate the advice.. I know I can always depend on you fellows... again, Thanks..

 

[kubob]

If anyone needs a good subsoiler (old one - made heavy) with pipe welded to back for running wire, pipe, etc. - I have this one I will sell for $140 if anyone interested or will trade for something I may need that you may have.

 

[kennyd]

If anyone needs a good subsoiler (old one - made heavy) with pipe welded to back for running wire, pipe, etc. - I have this one I will sell for $140 if anyone interested or will trade for something I may need that you may have.

Interesting, but I cannot see how it would work well since the end of the pipe is facing forward? How would the pipe/wire not get mangled/chaffed exiting the pipe to lay in the trench?

 

[kubob]

I think it has slight bend on back lip of the pipe at the bottom but not sure - I'll have to look at it again. Was told by the person I got it from it worked fine but I have never used it myself. It does have a large enough opening for wire with heavier casing which may be what they used - not sure. But for that price, it's worth it as just a subsoiler - especially due to the quality and stout frame. Also, an extension on the end of the pipe could also help protect wire covering.

 

[kubob]

You could also cut the pipe off at the midway point and it would be angled backward at that point - just wouldn't bury as deep, but would work for most applications where you only need a shallow buried line ( like invisible dog fence ).

 

[Renze]

Interesting, but I cannot see how it would work well since the end of the pipe is facing forward? How would the pipe/wire not get mangled/chaffed exiting the pipe to lay in the trench?

i used subsoilers to plough cables, and i used some links of chain attached to the bolt holding the chisel, and it needed an extra person feeding the cable into the loop, because if you didnt, it would rip off the cable. As shown in the picture sure isnt going to work. If you want to do it all alone, you're going to need to have a guide pulley in the ground and a reel on top of the machine.

You could use this for manure injection though...

 

[jmarotz]

I also use a subsoiler with a 90 degree elbow but with one exception. I cut the sod first with a colter so the subsoiler will not tear the sod. After going over it with the colter and then plowing in the pipe or wire you can not even see where you were.

 

[bigdad]

THATS.......... a great idea!