linus6948 Posted September 29, 2015 Report Posted September 29, 2015 My friend wanted to stop leasing his propane tank so I put him in touch with my propane guy who sold him a new 1000gal torpedo tank. Yesterday I cut a 100ft trench for him with a rented Ditch-Witch to run the new propane supply line from the tank to the house. I must say this is one amazing machine, 1600lbs and articulated so it can do arcs. Took less than an hour and it leaves a really nice trench in it`s wake cutting thru some really dicey ground, digging around here is a usually a miserable undertaking. Quote
Ulu Posted September 29, 2015 Report Posted September 29, 2015 Neat little machine. When I was a Teamster, I used to demonstrate those & rent various trenchers to the public: from a little 12hp walk behind, up to a 65 hp 4WD model. Everybody used to get tripped up by the hydraulic creeper gear. People would start one up, and they'd be pushing the clutch and stirring the shifter to no avail, and panic when the machine just kept moving relentlessly. The brakes were useless against the creeper gear too. It would simply not stop until you unlocked the creep speed knob. I watched one poor guy slice the boom of a 40 HP Ditch Witch right through the wall of a steel Butler building, in slow motion as he fumbled about the controls. He finally had the presence of mind to shut off the key, but about a foot too late. Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 29, 2015 Report Posted September 29, 2015 right through the wall ...today that would be a law suit for renting to a person with no training background....hey lawyers will tell ya the smarter of two parties is responsible.. besides, what ever happened with the shovel, mattock and pick....builds character.... not bragging but I have hand dug and installed moisture barrier about the entire perimeter of my barn...312 linear feet..not to mention service lines and hydronic heat system..mainly because rental is so far away from me that running back and forth is just not worth it...puts you on their timetable not yours.. now get out there and so some real work... Quote
Ulu Posted September 29, 2015 Report Posted September 29, 2015 right through the wall ...today that would be a law suit for renting to a person with no training background....hey lawyers will tell ya the smarter of two parties is responsible.. besides, what ever happened with the shovel, mattock and pick....builds character.... not bragging but I have hand dug and installed moisture barrier about the entire perimeter of my barn...312 linear feet..not to mention service lines and hydronic heat system..mainly because rental is so far away from me that running back and forth is just not worth it...puts you on their timetable not yours.. now get out there and so some real work... LOL...it was the manager's son that did it, and while he was trying to demo to a customer. We all just stood by in the shop, pretending not to watch & trying not to laugh. Our ground is often too hard for regular trenchers here. Our neighborhood was excavated with dynamite in the 1800's, hole-by-hole, so they could plant figs in the sandy soil under a thick layer of hardpan. There's still lots of fractured hardpan in the ground. We're at the margin of an ancient sea bed. Once dug through my 6" of expensive imported topsoil, you have to wet the rock-hard silty clay hardpan and scrape it off 1/8" at a time to make a trench through it. You can wack it with a pick, but it's like chipping granite. Wet it and it slowly dissolves. Quote
P15-D24 Posted September 29, 2015 Report Posted September 29, 2015 And you guys did call the check before you dig 800 number? Seriously you should have them come out and check every time. We did a solar project last year that required some trenching and discovered the natural gas line wasn't anywhere near where it was suppose to be, literally on the other side of the yard. Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 29, 2015 Report Posted September 29, 2015 I knew where both the lines were that was in my trenching project...it was not like I was on an easement anywhere... Quote
plyroadking Posted September 30, 2015 Report Posted September 30, 2015 And you guys did call the check before you dig 800 number? Seriously you should have them come out and check every time. We did a solar project last year that required some trenching and discovered the natural gas line wasn't anywhere near where it was suppose to be, literally on the other side of the yard. I called before I dug, turns out they have pretty much no idea where the stuff is either. There best guess is 18" in either direction of their paint marks. I sunk 8 4ft deep post holes very tentatively right on their paint marks, didn't hit the power line till I was 4ft away from their nearest mark..... Quote
deathbound Posted September 30, 2015 Report Posted September 30, 2015 Work smarter, not harder. Quote
Ulu Posted September 30, 2015 Report Posted September 30, 2015 I dug that little 10' trench for my post lamp by hand, but it was rough, having about a 4"~6" layer of hardpan, 8" down. I used lots of water, and time to soak, then scrape, rinse, & repeat. I didn't call anybody, since the gas line is elsewhere, the water & gas meters being on opposite sides of the house. Power is underground & is next to the gas Plus, I was digging by hand and knew dang well what I would hit if I went deep enough: my water line and sewer line. I uncovered both, plus one active sprinkler line and one abandoned too. Easy does it when digging around plastic sprinkler lines, and sewer lines. Quote
Bobacuda Posted September 30, 2015 Report Posted September 30, 2015 To dig that length of ditch where I live you would have to have a heavy backhoe or a rock saw. Quote
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