Trenching on a Hill with Backhoe

[CurlyDave]

I have to dig trenches for water, power, phone and sewer about 600' long on a very rocky hillside. Average slope is 15% or ~ 8 or 9 degrees. All the trenches can be pretty much straight up, no real sidehill digging.

The John Deere sales guy came out to the property, looked at the earth and said he thought I would be much better off with the backhoe I have instead of buying a trencher attachment. Lots & lots of rocks.

Now the question becomes "what is the proper technique"?

Do I start at the bottom of the hill and trench up, or do I start at the top and trench down? I think I would have more stability with the backhoe on the uphill side of the tractor, so going up would be preferred, but I would like someone with real-life experience to help me out.

A second question would be: how many of these utilities can go in a common trench? I recognize that if I ever have to dig them up, I am going to break every line in the trench. Sewer is already going to a septic tank in a different area, but it would be really nice to get water on the bottom, electric and then phone nearer the surface in one trench.

How far apart do phone & electric have to be to avoid electrical interference?

 

[Richard]

I presume you mean you are trying to trench UP the hill as opposed to across it.

That said, I'd drive to the top of the hill (with a bucket of dirt in my loader bucket for extra "planting" weight) and I'd trench while going down the hill.

Perhaps it doesn't matter but I did mine that way. The dirt in the loader really helps plant me to the ground a lot more than an empty bucket.

I'll let others opine on your other points.

Good luck with it & be slow & safe!

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Richard]

To sort of clarify something, no matter WHICH way I dug my trench, I'd have the hoe on the UPHILL side.

You could back up & dig, or start on top & drive forward (down) and dig. To me, going downhill was the way, but either way, I'd keep the hoe on the high side. (sorry if I missed that point)

 

[JSUnlimited]

dfleary,

When building my home, all of the utilities came down to the house from the street. I had the same hill and distance that you probably have.....here is what I went through.

The electric company said I could dig my own trench but would have to pay for conduit for them to pull wire through. It was cheaper for me to have one of thier subs do it. Since one of thier subs did, no conduit was needed. They also put in the same trench with the electric, the phone and CATV wire at no additional cost. I have no interference with the phone or cable service.

The gas company wanted their line in a separate trench with a tracer wire. They did not care who put it in, I just had to have a licensed plumber fab-up the meter base at the house and put a tag there saying everything was good. The gas company came after that and hooked up at the street. 1" line was what they wanted.

Water company really could have cared less, but by process of elmination.....It has its own trench. 3/4" line was the only thing they wanted.

Luckily, all 3 of the trenches run parallel to each other all the way to the house so nothing crosses each other.

As far as running the BH, when possible I always try to start at the top of the hill with the BH topside and work my way down the hill verses trying to pull the dirt up hill and out of the hole.

 

[keeney]

If you decide to try the trencher, it will work better starting at the top of the hill. The weight of the machine will then keep it engaged against the end of the trench being cut.

Trying to run a trencher up hill, you may run into issues getting enough traction.

- Rick

 

[escavader]

just a thought,id dig down,so you can put the front of your bucket down,to help keep you from rolling accidently.It also will take a little of the strain off your down riggers
ALAN

 

[LarryRB]

escavator os correct. you start at the top and go dwon. You also use front bucket curled and run in the ground as a spade to hold you back. As far as utilities, I;ve doen thousands of feet of it... It depends on what your area utilities demand... Here, three separate schedule 40 pipes, 4 ft down or more, snad layer at bottom, usually 6" and another 6" of sand over the pipes, then fill. Electric wants 4" conduit, cable 1 3/4 and phone usually follows cable but not always.. Down turns from poles now must be steel. no more sch 40 down turns..

 

[QRTRHRS]

I have dug ditches on some pretty steep inclines by digging from the top down. To move forward, I keep the hoe in the ditch, lift the bucket and outriggers only an inch or so and use the hoe to let the machine drift forward however much I want it to. If you are not comfortable doing this and choose to sit in the drivers seat, you may still want to keep the hoe in the ditch to act as an anchor especially if you can reach the controls to release the pressure as needed. Regardless, be very careful.

I would check with the local codes and utility companies on all your utiility requirements. I would not want everything in one ditch nor would I want water below sewer. I think phone and electric need to be at least 12 inches if not 24 inches apart. PVC pipe is cheap once it is in the ground. You can easily upgrade cables in the future.

By the way, here is a trick to get your lines pulled through. Glue and lay in your pipe, backfill, etc. Then take a light string and tie it onto a plastic shopping bag. Feed the line in while someone sucks on the other end with a shop vac. The vac will pull that bag/line through slicker than whatever. Tie the lighter line onto heavier line or your cable. Your power company may desire a specific type of line. Mine wants the incremented flat tape made by companies such as Greenlee.

 

[Egon]

You also use front bucket curled and run in the ground as a spade to hold you back.

This should be standard procedure when doing any hoe work.

I'd also sugest the trench line surface area be leveled to an even grade prior to starting the hoe work. Make it a little easier to maintain grade and set up the hoe.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MarkV]

As a side note, after backfilling your trenches half way roll out some of that yellow caution tape you see at construction sites. In the future if someone is digging in that area they will pull up the tape before hitting your services. May never be used but could save a big repair bill and is cheap insurance.

MarkV