Do it yourself?

[dodge man]

We currently live in a area that is suppose to get a new rural watermain in the next couple of years. Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to put a Woods backhoe on my BX2350. If they put the watermain in, I would have to lay about 650 feet of water service to my house. I work as a land surveyor for a civil engineering company, so I know that in this area the normal bury depth is 4 1/2 feet. Is this to much of a job for a backhoe on a BX2350? How long would it take roughly for me to dig a trench that long? I know I have a couple of utilities that would be in the way to work around, mainly phone and electric. I would probably hire a plumber to hook everything up after I got the pipe in the ground.

 

[F.L. Jennings]

My WL is over 1/4 mile in length and I put in the whole thing. Used 1"PVC solvent weld type pipe + fittings. Neighbor had others put his in to the tune of several bucks a lineal foot. L4200 + 9ft. Bradco backhoe.

I first plowed the whole length to mark the path and break up a few surface roots. About half of the length was through the woods. Up where you are it would probably cost a bundle for others to do it. Just check prices and compare that against backhoe cost. Even with a smaller tractor you can do some big jobs if you have the time. If you are ever going to lay additional phone lines, etc. put them in the same ditch.


Pressure test the completed line before backfilling! Preferably for a few days if temperature allows.

FJ

 

[kthompson]

I would rather use a trencher than a hoe dug ditch. It should be faster, (for me at least) more likely to be level, and less area disturbed to level back off. It can be a neat idea to place a capped off extra line in case you ever want to run another line in the same trench.

 

[F.L. Jennings]

With an expensive tractor sitting there why pay the man? Do it yourself, save money and learn.

 

[KeithInSpace]

I'd seriously consider investing in a narrower bucket. If BroTek makes a ripper, they could probably fab up a 4" or 6" wide bucket for a few bucks...

650'? That'd take a couple of long days digging, then you bed, lay, backfill, and compact...probably a solid 4 day project.

Pipe would probably run you $600 to $800, then some #57 stone, the bucket, seed, hay, and fuel.

I pay myself $80 or $100 an hour for my projects to see if I'm in the hunt on cost. On that project, say 40 hours of labor.

If someone said they'd lay that line for $2,000, I'd take them up on it. If they say $3,500, I'd think about it over a glass of wine. Over $4,000 and I'd probably do it myself. Over $5,000 and beg, borrow, or steal, I'd do it myself.

Just so I knew the answer, I'd probably check into renting a trencher capable of a 4' laying depth. It may seem like a few bucks (probably $400 to rent/deliver), but if it cuts your project time by 1/2 or 2/3, you'll be thanking yourself later. Just use your tractor around the existing utilities.

To answer your question, NOTHING (within the 6' reach) is too big for the BX with a backhoe. But there are some qualifiers that make it less sensible...

 

[dodge man]

Keith someone shot me a price of $3000 kind of off the top of their head. I also thought about renting a trencher. They make these little ones that you walk behind. The problem is that by the time I get done screwing around the existing utilities and up by the house, I'm gonna wish I had a backhoe.

 

[FullBucket]

Just to add a thought to the discussion, if you know you have rocks under the soil, you might end up needing a hoe anyway. I don't think a trencher is going to handle any rocks wider than the trench. I have glacial till under my property. Just a fancy way of saying that there's lots of rocks of every size down there. I've dug a number of shallow drainage trenches with the FEL with toothbar. A hoe would have definitely made things easier and I wasn't going as long or as deep. Food for thought. Best of luck with your project. Hope it helps justify the hoe you want

 

[KeithInSpace]

Didn't say a word about not getting the backhoe...

 

[638]

They may lay the main at 4 1/2 ft. but you don't need to lay your service that deep in central Illinois. It just doesn't get that cold there.

 

[KeithInSpace]

...doesn't get that cold there.

I'm a Civil Engineer and was wondering. We normally lay our main 3.5 feet deep here in eastern Virginia, but our services are similar...3 feet min. I was assuming that if the mains were 4.5 feet deep, that the services would be 4 feet deep.

If you're able to lay the service 3 feet deep, that would make a huge difference both in the amount of dirt you need to move with a BH (less) and the viability of a trencher being very helpful (higher).

To be clear: Still get the BH.

If the $3,000 price stuck to the wall, it's worth a thought. In my terms, I'd be a solid $1,000 or $1,200 in materials and leaving $1,800 to $2,000 available to labor, I'd need to do the job in 20 or 25 hours for it to work out. OF COURSE, if you want to save the money, God bless it. But if the hours I'd spend on the job is skewed from the hours I'd pay for, I consider just paying for it.

Case in point: I framed in one 300 sf room in my basement. It took me and my Stepdad two solid days...about 20 man-hours...to do the work. Sad, I know. I had someone come in to finish it off (drywall, electrical, etc.) and he said it would have been some $800 more to frame. That worked out to $20 per hour...I'd have been MUCH better off having him frame and me get my weekend back.

I had the same guy finish the other 1,400 sf in my basement...multiple rooms, custom windows, etc...and it took him and 3 guys exactly 2 days to frame. Would have taken me 4 freakin' months!

If you look at all my other given examples, I ended up money-good on all of them with my time spent. That is my measure of a successful project.

Totally your call on this one. Looks like you're in the hunt either way.