Getting too old for ditch digging...

When I first got goats, I was hauling water out to the pens to fill the tanks. Then I wised up and installed an outside hydrant on the back of the well house (closest place to the goats I had water) so I could just drag a hose out there. Well that's 150 feet and honestly I was getting darn tired of dragging that much hose once a week. So I decided it was time to dig a ditch and run a water line a bit closer.
Not having a trencher, nor the money to rent one I decided to utilize what I have. I have a root cutter and a middle buster for my Ford, so I had at it. As you know, when trying to dig a ditch in this manner, the dirt tends to fall back in the ditch. At least I do own a drain spade (bill dookie) so I was able to clean the ditch out, but dang with this heat index of 107 it makes it some mighty tough work for an old guy.

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As you can see I borrowed the wifes pop up canopy to make myself some shade of the area of the ditch I was having the clean out. You have to appreciate any shade you can get when it get's this darn hot

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I also had to set a post to mount the water hydrant to, so out came the post hole digger.

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There we go, 3 feet deep. That should do it. BTW, our frost line might be 2 inches during a bad winter, so not much to worry with. The ditch is 18 inches deep which will keep the water line from breaking under the worst of circumstances here.

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And I got the post set and braced and began running the PVC. Didn't finish up until after dark so I never got any more pics but once completed I turned the water on and no leaks. Makes for a good end to the weekend. Of course, now I still have to cover the ditch, UHG!

seeing the work you have done it makes me appreciate me backhoe. you did a good job

"Then I wised up and installed an outside hydrant on the back of the well house (closest place to the goats I had water)"

When you wise up even more, the goats will go to the happy little goat place in the sky!

(SORRY for that comment, but being the lazy --- that I am, that's what would happen around here, LONG before any dirt was moved for their benefit!)

you guys can do one for me!LOL Good job!

That's on the honeydo for this year (next couple months).... Have togo 3ft deem tho. Guess a little hoe for a hundred bucks will be my savior.....

Looks good.

Here in Minnesota you have to go more than 4 feet deep to beat the frost, so hard to comprehend such little trenches.

Would typically use the black roll of pipe for water as well, but your glue together is more popular in other areas of the country.

--->Paul

Hey Bob, that's probably not going to happen. These guys and gals make me money so they stay. Some are sold for show, some are sold for meat but they are all a profit and are pretty easy to deal with. Not a lot of time goes into their care (at least until this weekend) and the wife enjoys them too soooo..........
I reckon you understand!

dave it wouldnt kill ya to use a shovel, Its only 3 feet deep. All that relaxed muscle will go back to where it was

(quoted from post at 05:39:07 07/18/11) Looks good.

Here in Minnesota you have to go more than 4 feet deep to beat the frost, so hard to comprehend such little trenches.

Would typically use the black roll of pipe for water as well, but your glue together is more popular in other areas of the country.

--->Paul

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in 8 feet deep here

(quoted from post at 21:41:27 07/17/11) dave it wouldnt kill ya to use a shovel, Its only 3 feet deep. All that relaxed muscle will go back to where it was

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Time was..i wouldn't have gave it a second thought. May give it a shot cause i'm a tightwad. Only need to go about 50 ft..........

Changed my mind......... I'll rent something......

On the subject, I can rent a ditcher that goes 2ft deep, recommended in our area is 2.5-3 ft. Think 2ft with a couple inches of insulation would do OK as far as freezing?

(quoted from post at 05:46:51 07/18/11)

(quoted from post at 21:41:27 07/17/11) dave it wouldnt kill ya to use a shovel, Its only 3 feet deep. All that relaxed muscle will go back to where it was

Click to expand...

Time was..i wouldn't have gave it a second thought. May give it a shot cause i'm a tightwad. Only need to go about 50 ft..........

Changed my mind......... I'll rent something......

On the subject, I can rent a ditcher that goes 2ft deep, recommended in our area is 2.5-3 ft. Think 2ft with a couple inches of insulation would do OK as far as freezing?

Click to expand...

know you are in a different climate, but it sure seems shallow to me . but if that is whats being done there it must be ok. We get minus 40 minus 50 degree weather up here

Lyle,
We are in far South Texas, just a stone throw away from Mexico. Last winter was one of the coldest in some time, got down to about 28 for one night. We rarely have a freeze, and are considered zone 8......almost 9. I do have a heat lamp in the well house just in case, but that is probably overkill. During our low earlier this year, we actually had ice which killed our power. Not expecting a problem I had not gotten the generator running (it's for hurricanes, not ice storms) so we were out of luck for about 16 hours. The water actually froze too, but didn't break any pipes.
I did put a stop and drain in a box undreground on this run just to be safe. Most folks down here would think I had lost my mind doing that much!

You are better off than I am, then, as the 3 housecats and 2 dogs my wife insists on keeping make me NO $$$!

doing a little extra doesnt hurt. It makes for peace of mind. I think you did the right thing. The way the weather is changing you never know what could happen.

Did you consider using a ripper and burying poly pipe in one pass,

I've buried lots of pipe with just the shank of a subsoiler. I glue together the length I need (I have pulled over 300 feet of one inch pvc), cap the forward end, and wire it to the subsoiler. Sometimes I make a dry run to make sure there are no big roots or anything else in the way and to loosen up the soil a bit and then away I go. The only real shovel work is at each end. A lazy man finds the easy way. TDF

After tring to get a backhoe to dig up a culvert I had to replace, waited 3 months, I started digging. A little before work and some after, had it half done when backhoe came and finished the job.

We go 4' deep here. I woulda gotten rid of the goats.

Gene

Good looking job! When I was about 16, I worked for a dairyman neighbor. One day he told me to dig this ditch (by hand) across his driveway to install a water line. He left for the day, leaving me there to dig across all that gravel. I thought.....aha...I'll hook on to the post hole digger and make "easy" work of this. I'd dig a hole and then move over about 6 inches....worked slick as a whistle. Digging out that little wall between holes was easy compared to having had to do all of it by hand. He came back about mid-afternoon and I was done! He asked me how I got that done so fast. I told him my method. He said I "was lazy, but smart".

i guess all the naysayers never had cabrito...mmmmmmmmmmmmm good!
i use a subsoiler to bury pvc too...gophers eat the black poly...i dug in about 2000' years ago on the ranch and within a week them paddle footed ground rats had turned all of it into drip irrigation...pump ran constantly.

Looks like somebody broke into your place when you were away and dug up all your rocks and carted 'em off! Around my place you can't dig a trench by hand without a pick. I blame the Canadians. Thousands of years ago a bunch of Canadians (they were called "glaciers" in those days) brought all their rocks down here and buried 'em.

I did that back in 1994 to get water to my garden. I used a 100 foot coil of 3/4 pipe that was rated at 180 psi working pressure. I bought it at a local plumbing warehouse. I can't remember who made the pipe. We had used the same item at work when back in the early 80's when we had an underground leak of distilled water used for cooling the electronics on a shaker made by Unholtz Dickie in CT. They had used copper pipe and the soldered joints leaked. No more leaks with that new pipe. Here's a pic of the left over pipe. Hal

Mine is 4-6 feet down, approx 150ft of 1.5" black plastic pipe. Dug with the backhoe I eventually bought. I fixed so many things on it just to dig my water line I would have gone backwards if I didn't buy it!
The worst part of the whole operation was fixing the yard afterward. Took me almost a year to get it so it wasn't a slip'n'slide when it rained.

Bob, Would you please come live next to me ,and Edecate my Wife ,she insists on running about 25 goats , by now they are a mixed mixed breed and laze around in the sun enjoying them little selves ,fed and petted ,but no dollars just pooping and messing up the barn

Back in the late 70's, the electric co-op I worked for used this Davis Roadrunner trencher. Same tractor as a Case 580C but with a trencher and a front mount backhoe. Used a hydraulic creeper motor. Later, we got a Vermeer M-470 trencher. Most of the digging we did was going to center pivot irrigation systems.
In fairly sandy soil, we could average up to 2000 ft per hour at 36" in. mimimum depth on the secondary cable. For high voltage primary cable, we was required to go 50" in. minimum, so that would slow it down some.

Is that the backhoe seat sitting right beside the exhaust? That must have been a joy to run!