DIY Digging trenches for Geothermal

[aczlan]

Is this just to put in a single pipe? If so, go down to your local rental yard and rent a walk behind mini skid steer such as a Toro Dingo with a trencher attachment. That will let you dig down 4 feet and will be much faster at digging then any excavator will be ( with the possible exception of a large excavator run by somebody who does that all day).

Aaron Z

 

[Gofast]

Is this just to put in a single pipe? If so, go down to your local rental yard and rent a walk behind mini skid steer such as a Toro Dingo with a trencher attachment. That will let you dig down 4 feet and will be much faster at digging then any excavator will be ( with the possible exception of a large excavator run by somebody who does that all day).

Aaron Z

I looked at that but I need 6’ deep trenches. none of the rentals dig that deep

 

[Diggin It]

Soil types vary soooo much. Here a 12" bucket is worthless unless we are in serious drought. Normal soil moisture conditions and it will be 75% packed with dirt after half a dozen dips. Then productivity really sails..... Away......

And I'm nearly the opposite. When certain parts of my ground is dry, it's like concrete. I can't even get a shovel in it. A full sized track hoe had trouble digging it. We've had considerable rain in recent weeks and I dug in the same ground the other day with almost no trouble at all getting down about 2 feet.

 

[edgarrian]

You could check with Cat to see if they will rent you something to the size of a 312. Sunbelt rentals should have an excavator big enough. They probably even have actual backhoes you could rent. If you do rent an excavator that size its gonna cost you probably 1000 dollars for the weekend. If you have other projects for it that would be a good time to get them done. Digging a trench like ur talking with a 312 should only take a half day. Assuming you can operate one. I just looked up the max digging depth for the your setup and it claims 77.5 inches which again depends on soil type. Goodluck

 

[Code54]

I did a test dig and this is not going to happen with my 1710.
I can use it to dig close to the house and to the fence that is about 25’.

It will do great to fill the trench back in and level it out but there is no way it is going to do the whole dig.

It is 600’ per ton but I am going to put in 4 600’ loops. That is 600 foot more loop than is required.

Now I will either have to talk to my neighbor about renting his mini excavator.
or maybe have a track hoe with a 3’ bucket dig the two trenches instead of 4.
I will cover it all back up with my 1710.

Renting is a good idea. I have a BX25 (similar in size to yours) and I use it to dig in areas where my tracks will tear things up to much or in super tight spaces. Works good for tight yards or manicured yards. The track hoe will out dig it 20x over and with 1/10th the effort. The tractor will be fine for back filling but if the rental has a blade with angle adjustment you may find it is faster to just use that.

Either way good luck with your project and be safe!

 

[WranglerX]

Think scale of dig is larger than you think, and your BH is just a bit small...

Dale

 

[Gofast]

Yes, after the test dig, I agree. My tractor is like a small dog that thinks it is really a big dog.
I still think my tractor can fill the trench after the dig that will still save some money.

 

[Jchonline]

My local Kubota Dealer rents mini excavators in the 4 ton range. KX040 would dig the trenches no problem. $250 for the weekend. Maybe call some of your local dealers. JD makes great mini excavators. Perhaps they rent in your area? I was going to say your CB65 dig depth is 77 inches, so you would have about 5 inches at max depth. That means you are going to be moving the tractor at least every foot. No bueno.

 

[Gofast]

Thanks for the tip $250 for a weekend that is an amazing deal. I will call around.

 

[Code54]

Check all the local rental places, a lot of variance in price around us. Our one local places gives you Friday evening pickup, return Monday with 10hrs on the clock for 1 day rental. Mostly out the door at $250

 

[WranglerX]

Would just contract someone with trencher (not BH), 1/2 days work..... BOOM done.... Some time the obvious is over looked....

Dale

 

[Gofast]

Yes, I will look at this option. About how much does someone charge for that work?
I really never had a track hoe do any work so I do not even know a ballpark figure.
That is what the geothermal installers do.

 

[Code54]

Finding a trencher that does 6' deep is going to be a bit tricky in most places. That is a BIG trencher (think ½ million$ plus machine)- and not something most people/rental yards have. Plus that is going to be big bucks to rent and a tractor trailer will be needed to move it!

 

[Code54]

Track hoe work with a mini varies in price a lot depending on the area and "who" you are getting. A normal business man with insurance and such - figure $100 an Hr for something like that. We have some people around here that do it for $50 - basically a farm kid that runs his dad's old mini to make some money on the side.
Rental here is $250 for the weekend if you want to do it (they are easy to run and learn) - if you have a normal dig (not on a big slope, etc) rental is the way to go.

 

[Gofast]

No slope for this dig it will be in a open pasture that is mowed low right now. The dig is basically a L shape dig. The short part 25' then the rest is straight.
I will check around but $250 for a weekend would be perfect.

 

[Code54]

Good luck! Don't know of any rental places with a Black Friday sale unfortunately... LOL

 

[Hickorypond]

I put a Geo unit in with mine ,but only 125' to my pond, it took a while. One slinky loop per ton 3'wide 60'ish long and 6' deep if I had used dirt for heat exchange. If you haven't bought your unit look at Miami Heat Pump.

 

[japody]

A few of the comments said that you should fill the trenches as you go. When they dug my trenches, they ran a 24 hour pressure test on the loops first to make sure there were no leaks. I would recommend the same.

 

[Gofast]

Very cool did you dig it with your 1720? how deep did you go?

 

[Gofast]

A few of the comments said that you should fill the trenches as you go. When they dug my trenches, they ran a 24 hour pressure test on the loops first to make sure there were no leaks. I would recommend the same.

I was wondering if others did this. If a loop did not hold pressure and you had it covered up it would be a huge deal.
I don’t have great luck I think I will do this as well.