HELP - Utility lines next to Stumps & the driveway!

[rmk700]

The way I understand the OP. The phone line is running 6" along driveway and the stumps are running along drive as well but out about a foot from drive. Im guessing all the stumps has a prob with phone line nearby.

Todd's right, you don't necessarily need to dig 4 ft wide. Your goal is find the phone line with minimum shoveling. So first dig right at the paint mark (may have to dig down 2 1/2 feet or so) and you may get lucky and find it right where the paint mark was. If not then you'll have to start digging either side of your hole you started.

Curious as to what the phone line is for. Just a small service to your house only? If so it really won't cost much to repair it if you hit it. Well... unless you hit it at every stump you grind. :laughing:

good luck man! :thumbsup:

 

[jenkinsph]

Why dig so deep to find the line? If you are going to grind the stumps 4 " below the surface then dig a trench 8" deep from the marked line to the stumps. That will give you an extra 4 inches of safety margin. How big a job can this be?

 

[rmk700]

I'm just stating the simplest hand digging method. Hopefully you won't have to dig that deep. You need to find the line. If you only dig 8 inches below and not find the line it's very posssible the line could be shallow just right or left of your dig and the grinder will find it.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Why dig so deep to find the line? If you are going to grind the stumps 4 " below the surface then dig a trench 8" deep from the marked line to the stumps. That will give you an extra 4 inches of safety margin. How big a job can this be?

I'm just stating the simplest hand digging method. Hopefully you won't have to dig that deep. You need to find the line. If you only dig 8 inches below and not find the line it's very posssible the line could be shallow just right or left of your dig and the grinder will find it.

You are BOTH mostly right.

The stumps are maybe 2 feet or so off the driveway. The phone line menaders sometimes UNDER the driveway, and sometimes a couple feet off.. In the specific location where the stumps are, the line is easily less than a foot from the stumps, they have aggressive surface root systems also.

I intend to dig by hand at the beginning and the end of the stump line, I will start at the line and dig towards the stumps. I will dig down maybe a foot, and maybe as far as 2 feet toward the stumps.

If I do not find the wire, I'm grinding down 6" and I'm done.

If I find the wire, well it all depends on where I find it.... I'll burn that bridge when I come to it...

The phone line is just for my house. no phone box that I am aware of on the property. There is only a single phone here prior to my buying, and there is no availability of DSL, FIOS, or anything. Should be simple POTS copper wire.

My problem at the moment is my carpal tunnel has gotten worse and I have a hard time with hand tools. Surgery is now 10/10, and for 2 to 6 weeks my right hand is limited to 5lbs...

That is my reason for @#$%ing about hand digging...

I appreciate all of the advice and support.
David

 

[ctgoldwing]

I would call the utilities out and see if they have a solution, they may offer to help, or tell you your on your own.

Either way you'll know exactly where you stand

+1 you may be very happily surprised!

At our old house the electric co had a guy wire from a pole anchored in a tree on my property about 70' off the road. I was putting up my radio tower & realized that an 'adjacent' big oak was in the way of the beam turning in the clear. I wasn't sure I could cut it down & not have it take out that guy wire. One call to the electric company & the next day I had that oak on the ground in 2' pieces. The only thing they dudn't do was split it & stack it :thumbsup: They even chipped all the branches.

 

[boggen]

hand dig, a couple spots to double check it is your own phone line. double check with phone company, it is only a generic 4 wire copper running to your house and not a main line of theres that goto other houses. but just yours. and have them disconnect the cable at there box.

if it is. dig away, cut away, grind away, and forget about it. serisouly. even with hand digging. it is very doubtfull you will even fill a 4 wire copper telephone line. when you slice through it with a shovel.

eletrical is a different story, that wire can be extremely danagerous due to line voltage. and if you say it crosses driveway a couple times ask for a re-check to make sure.

as far as depth. well..... that is a problem. besides initially putting it in and putting it to depth to code. or perhaps it was to code when initally put in. but when initally done, say no ditches were in at the time. or there were ditches, but since then the ditches have washed out some. perhaps some major re-grading of the lane / area was done. that caused lines to be closer to surface of the ground. perhaps air pocket formed in just correct spot in a pipe. and as a result the pipe acted like a partial ballon. and has worked it way up closer to the surface of the ground. ever put in a trench, and put your pipe in, put any sand or clean fill back in, and tampered it all back in nice and good. and slowlly added your 6" of dirt back in compacted, and repeated back to surface. only to come back next day after it rained. to see your pipe sticking up out of the ground? i have.

there are multi things that can happen. just because it is at this given depth here, doesn't mean it will be 10 feet away at the same depth. been there done that.

each house regardless of city / county / state. might have a different contract sign. when initially putting in the lines. if you damage the lines, they might of been put in by the owner of property at that time. and if that is case, if you damage = you pay for they are your lines. if lines put in by utility. then if damage lines you may or may not be responsible. pending on location / depth / how line got damaged. there could of been another deal. of original owner wanting phone or electrical. and utility paid for say 1/2 of the cost. so long as utility bill each month over next say 5 years was X amount of dollars. and if not paid a given min amount.

all you can do is check with utility company. see if they are yours or not. and who is responsible if they are not to depth and get damaged. a calm person asking vs mean old fart. can make a difference, many times, not always though.

 

[Jeepnford]

I dealt with this stuff for over 20 years in telephone repair/locating. First off,regarding what might be right or wrong the laws usually state you have to hand dig within 2 ft. When I located I rarely gave an estimated depth,not to be a jerk,but there were contractors I didn't trust. If I said "the line is about 2 feet" they would have been digging with a backhoe at exactly 2 feet. And if there was a splice or a pop up over a big rock they would have tried to blame me. Also,as was stated earlier,it might be 2 feet where you check and 6 inches 20 feet away,the depth locating is not an exact science. As far as the meandering drops,usually the contractors are like electricity,they take the path of least resistance. When they were buried there might have been obstacals in the path of the machine. Finally,I don't recall me or any of my crew mates ever billing a homeowner for a cut drop. Your phone company may be different but to us it wasn't worth the hassle.