Do it yourself?

[BigD23]

Hey hey hey hey now ACE3!

You're new here so I'll cut you some slack. We're supposed to talk him into BUYING MORE EQUIPMENT. It's not about getting the job done quickly, cheaply and with no messing up the yard. If we want that type of advice, we'll ask our wives!

jb

LOL John!

 

[Ace3]

Point well taken. Now I understand! I'll try to not make a rookie mistake again.

 

[NuBota]

Hey hey hey hey now ACE3!

You're new here so I'll cut you some slack. We're supposed to talk him into BUYING MORE EQUIPMENT. It's not about getting the job done quickly, cheaply and with no messing up the yard. If we want that type of advice, we'll ask our wives!

jb

Whew - thanks John! I thought something was happening on this board. Keith kept putting subliminal "Get the back hoe" in while he was giving sound advice that slightly contradicted, but no one else mentioned the new toy or potential for seat time

And Ace - not sure we can say "...just want to play with your equipment" on here......

Sorry had to... Little giddy from working on the basement and the fumes from the nail gun

 

[irwin]

Point well taken. Now I understand! I'll try to not make a rookie mistake again.

Buying new tools/toys aside, I am interested in this drilling sideways for 350', and then pulling the waterlines back through the drilled hole....very neat, great idea if going under driveways, roadways, or landscaped areas. You're post was appreciated by at least one here.

As far as getting a backhoe..it's a no-brainer...you'll either use one for some job(s), or you don't need it. Nothing worse than a building full of tools that don't get used.....Like all my carpentery tools that fill my workshop..so much so there's no room to do any work in it.

Two acres of land could easily be enough to warrant getting a backhoe, but two flat mostly treeless and rock free acres, with all the landscaping done..not so much.

 

[638]

John, your still kinda hard on the man.

 

[FullBucket]

Cable companies up here contract out their drilling work to a sub that refers to it as "directional drilling". Interesting to watch them. They use a hoe (still could use that hoe) to dig a small pit at each end and angle the pipe into the side of the hole. Then they use a magnetic metal detector to track the bit as it passes through the ground and gives operator hand signals up/down/left/right to control path. They seem to be able to hit the exit hole pretty accurately. Once they get to the end they replace the bit with a collar that pulls the final tubing back through the hole they drilled as they remove the pipe.

 

[KeithInSpace]

You don't need to be 4.5' deep in the yard or untraveled areas.

Our laterals are 3' deep here...frost line is 18" at the deepest. A BX could pull off 3' without a problem, probably as quickly as a mini-ex could.

Unless I'm missing something, a mini-ex would only be of benefit over a BX backhoe if you're trying to do something beyond a 5' radius of the back of the tractor (full range of 6' being more time-consuming for a BX BH to accomplish). Most "homeowner" jobs are within that 5' to 6' range. Many contractor jobs are beyond that range. And, of course, the mini-ex could reposition quicker and not as often (with the 360 turret), but that wouldn't be of much benefit on an in-line installation.

As for pipe, personally I wouldn't use PVC pipe. PEX is the best...

I'd use polyethelene...the black stuff on the spool. Silly pipe, they call it. Perfectly appropriate for an outdoor installation and very limited fittings.

I don't think PEX is an outdoor type of pipe. Don't see any benefit to spending the extra money on it. Where PEX really shines is when cutting/fitting inside, not out.

"directional drilling".

Very expensive. Works best if there are other obstacles that make open cut a more expensive option. Not really for the homeowner, though.

Most cable guys around here use the vibrating slicer thingy...what Ditch Witch calls a "plow". You can pull a conduit 2' underground with nothing more than a 1" wide disturbance at the surface. It just 'pulls' the pipe underground. But you need an exponentially larger machine to do 3'+ deep pulls.

I own a TSC Sub Soil Plow that could do 24" with a couple of passes and very minimal disturbance. I bury low voltage line with it all day long. VERY efficient. Of course, that's just over 1' deep.

 

[ray66v]

I'd use polyethelene...the black stuff on the spool. Silly pipe, they call it. Perfectly appropriate for an outdoor installation and very limited fittings.

Agreed, I am amazed by the number of people here who want to glue together pvc pipe for service lines, when often, it can be done with 1 solid coil, and no joints.

Perhaps its a regional thing. Around here, I never see anything other than poly used.

 

[john_bud]

John, your still kinda hard on the man.

I was just teasing! You did see the smile with the tongue sticking out?



jb