Great idea for laying pipe or cable...

[hobbyfarm]

Look at the gadget on the back of the subsoiler shank. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Looks like it'd be easy to build one to add to your own subsoiler.

<font color="green">James-Engineering Co. </font>

 

[gabby]

All you need to do is weld a ring to the back of the subsoiler foot and you can pull wire or PVC pipe underground like a rope. I've installed thousands of feet of it that way, as much as 900 feet in one stretch.
gabby

 

[Scrounger]

The pulling is much harder on the wire/rope/wire than the sub soiler that feeds the material being laid. I used to lay lawn irrigation by pulling it, but I'd never lay electical that way.

 

[gabby]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The pulling is much harder on the wire/rope/wire than the sub soiler that feeds the material being laid. I used to lay lawn irrigation by pulling it, but I'd never lay electical that way. )</font>

I've pulled several runs of electrical wire and cable and have never had a problem. It creates its own underground tunnel as it's being pulled.
gabby

 

[gabby]

Here's a picture of my puller. It's a lifesaver.
gabby


http://www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/503449-Cropped%20Plow.jpg

 

[Henro]

Gabby,

Could you post a picture that shows a little more?

I mean like an over view shot of the complete subsoiler?

I get the idea but would like to see the whole thing if possible.

Thanks for posting the pic... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Scrounger]

Maybe I was just unlucky doing it then but we always had to use a cable layer like a sub soiler to put wire in. It was lighter than the underground wire I saw at lowes so maybe it wouldn't be an issue. I need to lay wire to a shed and your idea looks nice and after seeing the heavy wire at lowes I think it might be fine for me.

 

[gabby]

Hey Henro,

Sorry about the grainy pic. I had to butcher it to get the file size down low enough to post. I don't have a better one.

It's a pretty ordinary subsoiler but I added a sharp vertical slicing edge to the front of it consisting of 1/2" steel plate with the edge sharpened to slice neatly through the sod. Before, the blunt front face of the subsoiler ripped out big chunks of sod and made a mess.

One time a few years ago I decided I needed to extend a 1" water line another 900 feet to wet some fill that was being hauled in. In three hours, I went to town and got the pvc pipe and fittings, ran the 900 feet in one pull, and had a sprinkler running, with no trenches to fill. I had a couple of helpers to hook up the plow, glue up the pipe, etc.

The first time I ever used the plow, I used roll pipe. Never again. PVC goes in quicker and the fittings are better plus it's better pipe.
gabby

 

[surfran]

Gabby,

Here is a link to a progarm called Pixresizer that many of the TBN'ers use to reduce picture file size while keeping the pictures a decent size.

Pixresizer

Typically you can keep the pictures size around 640x480 and still have the file size under 100k.

As an example the picture posted here started out at 2048x1536 and 618kb size and I resized to 600x450 and 35kb.

The size reduction is great for emailing friends and family as well.

It is free and has some nice features such as you can do a single file at a time or a whole folder if you like.

Give it a try and you will probably love it! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I too would like to see the rest of your set up even though I think I know what it looks like as well.

 

[CFHartman]

Did I miss something here. I do that sometimes. The picture link posted by Hobbyform shows a attachment added to the subsoiler where you would feed the wire or pipe throu as you go not haveing to pull it. Maybe I am not viewing it right or understanding it.
/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[DocHeb]

The debate is between:

1. Leaving the spool of wire at the stating point and feeding the wire into the ground entry hole while pulling the entire wire (by its end) through the whole trench made by the subsoiler

2. Leave the end of the wire at the starting point and feed the wire/pipe off the tractor through an attached curved pipe on the subsoiler into the trench as you move.

Method 1 is theoretically limited by the friction of the ground on the wire vs. the tensile strength of the wire.

Method 2. is theoretically limited by the amoung of wire you can carry on the tractor and the friction on the wire as it goes through the curved subsoiler pipe.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Chris,

#3, you can actually lay the wire or flexible pipe out in front of the tractor in the path you want to bury it, and loop it up over the tractor's hood & over the ROPS and then down into the pipe connected to the back of the sub-soiler. By doing that, if you have very long runs, you don't have to worry about trying to mount a spool on the tractor large enough to hold the wire, and you don't have to try to figure out how to carry the flexible pipe.

 

[RonR]

Agree with #3. I saw a post here where a gent did that. He put some C-clamp vise grips on his ROPS top to guide the hose.

Looked slick to me.

ron

 

[gabby]

Hey Surfran,

Thanks for the link to the pic resizer. I downloaded it and resized the pipe plow picture. The picture was taken at the end of a run of 3/4" pipe. Another picture follows that shows another perspective.

The subsoiler is a converted tool bar scarifier from an old Allis Chalmers dozer. It has slots for removable plow feet. The feet consist of 1" x 4" steel bar with a notch at the top to wedge them into the slots. You can see a couple of unused wedges dangling on chains. The front edge of the plow is 1/2" steel plate sharpened to slice neatly through the sod.

The plow is hooked to my Ford 7600, and you can see 4 pieces of RR iron hanging on it for extra weight. Since the plow foot is not parabolic, it does not draw itself down into the ground. It puts the pipe about 12 inches deep which is way below frost in these parts.

The plow foot is mounted in the center position in the picture. If I need to place the pipe close to a fence or building I insert the foot into a slot at one end of the toolbar and it runs in the tire track.

You guys need to get away from the idea of laying roll pipe and adding curved guides on the back of the subsoiler - just rig up one of these and lay real pipe instead!! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

gabby

 

[gabby]

Here's another picture of my pipe plow setup.
gabby

 

[hobbyfarm]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The debate is between:

1. Leaving the spool of wire at the stating point and feeding the wire into the ground entry hole while pulling the entire wire (by its end) through the whole trench made by the subsoiler

2. Leave the end of the wire at the starting point and feed the wire/pipe off the tractor through an attached curved pipe on the subsoiler into the trench as you move.

Method 1 is theoretically limited by the friction of the ground on the wire vs. the tensile strength of the wire.

Method 2. is theoretically limited by the amoung of wire you can carry on the tractor and the friction on the wire as it goes through the curved subsoiler pipe. )</font>


Doc,
Your statement "is theoretically limited by the amoung of wire you can carry on the tractor..."

made a ligthbulb go on in my mind. If you ran a lot of product like this, you could make a <font color="green">loader attachment to carry cable reels</font>. Then you could feed the cable/hose etc. over the ROPS and into the subsoiler.
That would make it fairly tidy to install, and it would be self-contained.

 

[bebster]

Here's a link to that prior post.
Laying Pipe by WVBill

 

[bdog]

I have been follwoing these threads and am anxious to install a sprinkler system in my lawn but am somewhat confused. I can see how this would work with wire or cable and or flexible pipe but I dont see how it would work with PVC as some have stated they are using. Are you gluing all the joints together and laying them down behind where they need to be buried and then pulling them in?

If I am going to do this for a sprinkler system the only way I can see to do it would be to plow under the whole pipe and then come back and dig it up where I need sprinklers and cut the pipe and install it that way?

I really like the idea of doing this with my tractor and not having to rent a trencher but I guess I am used to having an open trench to work with and with this method that is not the case.

 

[RonR]

I plan to use something similar to lay in a sprinkler system this summer. My plan was to dig some holes where the heads/junctions will go, as well as one for the valve boxes. Then I would pull in poly pipe in a connect the dots type deal.

Anyone see any flaws in my logic???????????

Thanks.

ron

 

[bdog]

That should work. I would get some marking paint or something and connect the dots with paint before trenching because I could easily see getting off a few inches with the tractor and missing the holes.