Trenching water line - Try to miss underground sprinkler lines or just repair later?

[myyaz33]

So wasn't sure where to post this, but here goes.

I am going to put in some new water line to add a couple new water hydrants around the property. I know where all the electrical and septic are as well as have a map of my underground sprinkler lines. There is no way of going around the sprinkler lines but I am beginning to wonder if it will be easier just to repair the lines after trenching than it would be to hand dig the lines until found then dig under them with the backhoe (trench the rest). I had planned to use a trencher instead of backhoe because of the time I will need to have the well shut off. I think the backhoe would just take too long.

Any thoughts on this one?

 

[boggen]

if you snag a line, you will more likely pull and drag the hose right up out of the ground. resulting in damage at sprinkler heads, and to any other fittings the given hose connects to. along with possibly stretching the pipe and or putting it under enough strain that later down the road a small pebble will punch the pipe.

other words... your better off hand digging around each sprinkler line. or plan on putting all of them in new if ya just go charging through the lines ripping and pulling them up.

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if you are renting a trencher, might as well just get some extra hose. and run new piping to all sprinklers. and put the pipe for sprinklers deeper into the ground.

it cost a little more, but run a hose from each sprinkler all the way back to give spot on house, and then put your manifold in (tees/valves) for each sprinkler. allows for a bit more freedom, and if a pipe gets snagged for what ever reason, you can close it off, and let all the other sprinklers do there thing.

if you have a backhoe, you can get a wider trench, and run multi water hoses in one trench, ya really don't need a wide bucket, say 8 to 12 inches. getting any wider, and you end up digging more than what you need.

a tracked mini ex (mini excavator) might be something worth considering, letting you to crawl over a trench if you really had to. granted sides my give away. but if have multi trenches going on... *shrugs*

ditch witch = backhoe with a little blade on bottom to push dirt back into a trench, on one end, and then a trencher (large saw blade but for dirt) on other end.

 

[C4Ranch]

Why does the well have to be shut off for so long?

I dug my trenches laid pipe THEN shut well off to make connection.

Then pressure tested then back filled.

 

[C4Ranch]

Why does the well have to be shut off for so long?

I dug my trenches laid pipe THEN shut well off to make connection.

Then pressure tested then back filled.

 

[Coldtrailer]

Not knowing what your setup is and how many sprinkler lines you have to cross, but back in the day when we installed electric urd services, and had to cross existing customer utilities, we would trench then later, plow (direct buried) up to within a couple feet of the lines etc. Then backhoe (dig) a bell hole on either side of the line, as deep as your water line or a little deeper, and big enough for a man to work a shovel in....And basically make a small tunnel under the 4 foot piece of ground that the existing line is in....work from both sides and if the ground doesn't have a lot of rocks etc, you can punch a hole through in a few minutes....when you have the hole or tunnel, run your new line through it, and drop the trencher or plow on the other side and away you go...
As long as your confident in where the existing lines, utilities etc are...and mark them with paint....then your essentially just tunneling under them and not having to expose or dig them up....saves a lot of time not having to expose it.... and a cut down spade shovel blade to about 4" width, works good as a tunneling tool....

Hope my explanation makes sense and helps with your project...whether you try it or not.

 

[BeezFun]

...because of the time I will need to have the well shut off.
Any thoughts on this one?

I added a valve to isolate the barn and pasture from the house, so I don't have to turn off well to work on hydrants. Might want to add that to your list since this is a major project.
If you're not crossing too many lines, I think I'd locate them by hand and cut them on each side of trench before you dig. Then just trench right through that short section of separated sprinkler line. Come back afterwards and splice in repair of sprinkler line that crosses trench.
I agree trencher is much faster and cleaner than backhoe. You'll get a nice clean trench that won't collapse unless you have a lot of rain.

 

[nc redneck]

Does anyone use or even believe in the water witch method of locating water lines. Sounds like BS to me but after digging a large hole very slowly and still cutting water line I am looking advice. A friend of mine who does this full time swears he can feel the bucket hitting a water line. I have not had much luck with that system.

 

[mjcountrybumpkin]

About the water witching. I had never done it til the other day at work when looking for a 2" water line. Water company showed up after I found it with a 42" excavator bucket. After they repaired the line they pulled out a water witching rod. I actually laughed at him. Then he proceeded to walk back and forth marking when the stick turned. We then hand dug with shovels were he marked , and he was dead on.
Apparently it only works for some people though.
Good luck , and for what it's worth I vote hand expose the lines and carry on from there. I've personally dug thru 100 s of lines and 99% pull out at one end or the other before they break.

 

[myyaz33]

Why does the well have to be shut off for so long?

I dug my trenches laid pipe THEN shut well off to make connection.

Then pressure tested then back filled.

Wasn't sure how long it will take me to dig 300+ feet. Could be an hour or could be many hours.


Lots of great input from those with some solid experience on the subject. Thank you all for the replies. As it stands now my plan will be to uncover the 3 lines by hand then use the backhoe to dig on both sides and under then trench the remaining. I have a backhoe on the tractor and the Bobcat but I just think the trencher is the right tool for making sure this job gets done in a timely manner.

 

[C4Ranch]

I just finished laying 700'. I used a 45hp ride on trencher. I had some challenging areas and put 6.5hrs on the meter. Ride on was nice for that much but I don't have a backhoe.
Like I said earlier, don't shut your well off. Get it all laid, take your time then connect it to well.

I also put in a few hydrants in my fields. Got 4 ball valves routed to well manifold so I can shut each off.