Trenching for burying electrical cable

[rlee6]

Has anyone used a trencher before? I need to bury an electrical cable. I asked Home Depot Rental, where I am going to rent a trencher, but they said it would vary. I know it would vary with soil, depth, etc. Can anyone guestimate how long it would take to dig a trench that's 2.5' deep 100' long? I am in Florida and as far as I know soil is sandy to the depth. By the way, the are is cleared of all vegetation. Thanks.

 

[Gator6x4]

I would guess approximately 2 hours would cover it. Your soil is sandy and you can make good time. The most time consuming part is covering the ditch.

 

[jwstewar]

Like you said, depends on soil, depth, etc. But is also depends on the trencher itself. When I put a water line in for the house I used a Ditch Witch. Went about 200' in about 4 hours. Then when I did the water line to the garage we rented a Vermeer about the same size as the DW and it took me at least 6 or 7 hours to go 100 ft. That Vermeer just wouldn't dig, the stored said it had new teeth, but I don't know how it could have. BTW, also used the Vermeer at my F-I-L that same weekend and it wouldn't dig there either.

 

[JoeR]

20-30 minutes to trench 100'. If you are using a self propelled trencher. I had no problems in sandy soil and no roots. Most of the walk behind rental jobs max out at 3 feet, so 2.5 will not go too fast due to the depth. You will also notice the UF feeder cable will be kind of springy. At least 10-3 is. Have a couple of pieces of a small brick or block to hold it down so it stays at the bottom of the trench when you backfill. A job like that overall would take me about 2 hours total as the previous person stated. Nowadays, I hand trench for distances up to 100 feet, then I wish I had a trencher about half way through. I look across the pasture, and think 100 feet is not that far away. I stupidly start digging by hand! I have done this three times now! I keep forgetting how far 100' is to dig by hand! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Joe

 

[Farwell]

Joe,
I had a 180' trench dug with a walk behind self propelled trencher and it took about 20-30 minutes to trench about 2.5 feet deep. My soil is 1 foot of top soil over sand. The hardest part was getting the trencher off of the trailer with out getting killed.
In the type of soil we have I think that the dig time would be less than one hour for an inexperienced person.
I also dig trenches by hand but have never had to dig a 100 footer. I usually take a few days doing the digging, dig when I get in the mood. Do not know why but my old body does not mind hand digging at least in the soil on my property.
Farwell

 

[forgeblast]

Joe, i was laughing when i read about how far 100' feels. Living in PA we have dirt with rock, and then a bigger rock under that rock. i am almost done digging the trench, but i have gone through one landscapers pick, broke a handle on my shovel, and bent the long digging bar i have. Its been a nighmare, but there is nothing else short of a backhoe that will get through the rocks. I cant wait until i have that conduit in and get the sub panel put in.
later all and be glad your not diggin in pa.
forgeblast

 

[npaden]

forgeblast,

sounds like you need one of these!

Or if that isn't enough you could bring in a bigger one:

/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[bbabineau]

here's another suggestion for such a long trench mega trencher

 

[KubotainNH]

/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Yikes!!!

 

[dooleysm]

I saw another set of pictures of that monster. Those pictures showed where that thing had scooped up a Cat D8 and it got wedged in the conveyor belt that carts the dirt back away from the digging teeth.

Unbelievable.