How to dig the narrowest 3' deep trench or minimize sand fill for a wide trench?

[BackRoad]

Rented trencher, over 1000 feet in clay soil. Took less than 2 hours.

Digging 2 trenches would be a day's rental. You may have mention depth required. This got down 3'...

 

[future_vision]

Would it be possible to simply use a 6" ditch witch trencher? It should be a lot faster than an excavator. SAND? What a pain, but you should be able to handle it. Perhaps you could make a tool to lay the sand into the ditch.

If it was me, I'd do two separate narrow trenches with the ditch digger and keep your power and telecom completely separate.

I mentioned this as a consideration in my OP. It'll be $309/day plus finding a way to transport it. Then there is New England ground filled with granite. Just when you think you are in the clear you hit a big rock(s). If the trenching was the only thing I was doing then maybe I give this a go and use the backhoe on my tractor when rocks are encountered but sometimes they are really big and 60hp tractor even struggles. Now, before anyone says anything, I've considered doing the trenching with my tractor. I thing I would be fine with it 3/4 of the way but I just can't maneuver it in the woods and on the hill to effectively, or safely, dig a trench. The CAT 36 is a bit wider than the tractor and will also struggle a bit to fit the path but with the reach it has and the blade I can probably get where I need to go. I'll find out tomorrow when it is delivered. Should be interesting. I don't have a good track record with excavators+trees.

 

[future_vision]

Rented trencher, over 1000 feet in clay soil. Took less than 2 hours.

Digging 2 trenches would be a day's rental. You may have mention depth required. This got down 3'...View attachment 4316533View attachment 4316534

That would be perfect other than what I described in the original post and the one before this. I am coming up a hill from the pole and then shooting over diagonally and up a the rest of a hill in a wooded area. I think I would probably be ok considering the tracks but I would be looking at additional dollars and if I hit those big rocks, which is almost inevitable, I'm in there with the excavator. Who knows. Maybe I will find a local place that has one that will be cheaper to rent and closer than Home Depot and try and come up with the extra $$ to get it.

 

[dodge man]

I feel like I’m missing something. I just roughly figured you would need a couple tandem loads of sand. I’m a hack on a mini ex and I think I could dig 300 feet of trench in half a day. I don’t see where this is that expensive.

 

[paulsharvey]

I feel like I’m missing something. I just roughly figured you would need a couple tandem loads of sand. I’m a hack on a mini ex and I think I could dig 300 feet of trench in half a day. I don’t see where this is that expensive.

The way I see it, the sand is a light bedding, not the back fill; so a 24" trench, with 6" of clean fill; thats about 12 CY, or 2/3rds of a truck if you can't just dig the sand from a hole in the woods. Maybe 24 CY if you truly lay 6" of sand on the entire bottom, play the pipe and lay another 6" on top.

Does the power company's want to see the conduit prior to pulling wire? Telecom very likely doesn't care at all

 

[Happy in NC]

The fiber company put in my fiber at about 6" free as part of the install. Why not drop the electric in then let them trench fiber parallel or just above the electric line? Just a thought