I wanted to share some thoughts and experiences about my trench dig.
I am putting in 200 amps of service to my building. Oncor has installed a transformer on my existing power pole for free and also provided a 400 amp transocket (340 amp) to power the house and the shop, also for free.
A second meter directly from the pole was possible but Oncor said the second meter would be charged at the corporate rate along with another base meter charge for the second meter per month. The upside is they would wire it all the way.
I decided on the one meter route. I also decided to do it myself.
I contacted about four electricians. The first guy showed up and took measurements, never called back. I called him 3 times and talked to him or his secretary every time. Second guy never even came out. Talked twice. Third guy came out, bid the job, gave me a time table, then backed out of the job. Fourth gentleman, by fall the most professional came after being called once. Measured and bid the job of installing panel, transocket, and trenching 195 feet, installing and reconnecting meter with Oncor line for $5600.00!
It wasn't that is was too outrageous, which it was. It's that I didn't have that kind of money. I was thinking more like $3000.00 if I was unlucky.
I calculated trencher is $180 a day at Home Depot a day, 3" PVC $12 a stick (20), PVC 90 degree elbows $10 (4), one PVC 3" Junction $30 200 ft of AL 4/0-4/0-2/0 $475.00, 2-1/2" weather head for overhead service with, roof flashing, one stick of 10' ridged $100.00 and a 200 AMP 40 Panel $120.00.
So $1185.00 in materials. $100.00 per hour for trenching (8 hours) and $50.00 an hour for wiring (16 hours) for wiring labor you only get $2785.00. Double both of those again and we are finally at $5570.00. So, that's how he got there! $4415 in labor based on his bid. 44 hours @ $100.00 bucks an hour or $200.00 an hour if he finishes in 14 hours. I was at a loss of what to do. So, I did nothing.
So, after a few months my next door neighbor had finished building his shop. He hired an electrician to come and dig his line for him. The electrician had the trench done in less than 8 hours easily! I thought "that didn't look too hard" so I decided I would do mine myself. I went to Home Depot and rented a trencher, brought it home and got it done.
I just finished the 195' feet trench this week. It took a couple of days with my screwups. We have about 12-15 inches of soil with a clay/rock combination after that in Fort Worth where I live. You other folks may have tougher conditions and I feel for everyone of you. But this thing nearly killed me. Rocks oh, how I hate you. The trenching is over and the conduit has been laid and UG inspection passed. Time to pull wire and get the panel and transocket up.
Here are a few of my observations that may help some of you out:
In Fort Worth, Texas all permits are free to the home owner.
Clay will slow the machine down surprisingly more than I would have expected. Still better that rock.
Trenching when the ground is wet is not wise. Rocks stick harder in the dirt when the ground it wet. It sticks more to the trencher chain as well. Also harder to pry out with shovel or rock bar. Pray for a week without rain.
Make sure and have at least 5 gallons of gas in a can waiting for you or you will be going to the gas station.
Toro trenchers ****. Horsepower rating means nothing on a trencher with a undersized hydraulic drive. Get the trencher with the largest hydraulic combined with the largest horsepower rating available to you. 2 HP between models with the exact same hydraulic make a big difference. Less than 20HP in rocky soil and you will hate your life.
I bought a San Angelo Bar (rock bar) and a trenching shovel beforehand. When rocks show up that the trencher can't chew or spit up you will need a rock bar for sure. I broke two rock bars from home depot. The very last rock I had to dig up was the worst. I would guess about 60 pounds!
Measure, Measure, Measure. You will get a visual sense of how deep you are digging by looking at the boom of the trencher going down in the ground. But you will also be tricked by this method based on the angle of the ground as it pitches the trencher fore and aft. Your measurements must be consistent for the PVC to lay flat if you are using it. Remember that it comes in ten foot sections. So this is the distance of consistency that should be checked. Even after measuring 18 inches along multiple sections, I had uneven PVC. It only takes one bump to throw off a whole section of pipe. If you have easy soil then dig 3 inches deeper than required to avoid this. I was never off more than 3 inches anywhere.
Remember whatever depth that is required to be dug is from the finished grade to the top of the conduit. This was my mistake. I read 18" depth and dug an 18" deep trench. So I had to rent the trencher for a second day.
This was the worst day of my life. I felt stupid and defeated. I hope to save you guys from this. My trencher malfunctioned and I had to exchang it for a underpowered Toro. Pure junk to me with the conditions I was in. Jammed on fist size rocks. I developed bronchitis the second day too. This was from allergies and dust I assume. So do wear a mask, even a disposable dust mask.
Still worth it for the money I saved. $4400.00 will buy every fixture, switch, plug and wire to do the whole building. Still have money after that to frame walls. Good luck to all of you
I am putting in 200 amps of service to my building. Oncor has installed a transformer on my existing power pole for free and also provided a 400 amp transocket (340 amp) to power the house and the shop, also for free.
A second meter directly from the pole was possible but Oncor said the second meter would be charged at the corporate rate along with another base meter charge for the second meter per month. The upside is they would wire it all the way.
I decided on the one meter route. I also decided to do it myself.
I contacted about four electricians. The first guy showed up and took measurements, never called back. I called him 3 times and talked to him or his secretary every time. Second guy never even came out. Talked twice. Third guy came out, bid the job, gave me a time table, then backed out of the job. Fourth gentleman, by fall the most professional came after being called once. Measured and bid the job of installing panel, transocket, and trenching 195 feet, installing and reconnecting meter with Oncor line for $5600.00!
It wasn't that is was too outrageous, which it was. It's that I didn't have that kind of money. I was thinking more like $3000.00 if I was unlucky.
I calculated trencher is $180 a day at Home Depot a day, 3" PVC $12 a stick (20), PVC 90 degree elbows $10 (4), one PVC 3" Junction $30 200 ft of AL 4/0-4/0-2/0 $475.00, 2-1/2" weather head for overhead service with, roof flashing, one stick of 10' ridged $100.00 and a 200 AMP 40 Panel $120.00.
So $1185.00 in materials. $100.00 per hour for trenching (8 hours) and $50.00 an hour for wiring (16 hours) for wiring labor you only get $2785.00. Double both of those again and we are finally at $5570.00. So, that's how he got there! $4415 in labor based on his bid. 44 hours @ $100.00 bucks an hour or $200.00 an hour if he finishes in 14 hours. I was at a loss of what to do. So, I did nothing.
So, after a few months my next door neighbor had finished building his shop. He hired an electrician to come and dig his line for him. The electrician had the trench done in less than 8 hours easily! I thought "that didn't look too hard" so I decided I would do mine myself. I went to Home Depot and rented a trencher, brought it home and got it done.
I just finished the 195' feet trench this week. It took a couple of days with my screwups. We have about 12-15 inches of soil with a clay/rock combination after that in Fort Worth where I live. You other folks may have tougher conditions and I feel for everyone of you. But this thing nearly killed me. Rocks oh, how I hate you. The trenching is over and the conduit has been laid and UG inspection passed. Time to pull wire and get the panel and transocket up.
Here are a few of my observations that may help some of you out:
In Fort Worth, Texas all permits are free to the home owner.
Clay will slow the machine down surprisingly more than I would have expected. Still better that rock.
Trenching when the ground is wet is not wise. Rocks stick harder in the dirt when the ground it wet. It sticks more to the trencher chain as well. Also harder to pry out with shovel or rock bar. Pray for a week without rain.
Make sure and have at least 5 gallons of gas in a can waiting for you or you will be going to the gas station.
Toro trenchers ****. Horsepower rating means nothing on a trencher with a undersized hydraulic drive. Get the trencher with the largest hydraulic combined with the largest horsepower rating available to you. 2 HP between models with the exact same hydraulic make a big difference. Less than 20HP in rocky soil and you will hate your life.
I bought a San Angelo Bar (rock bar) and a trenching shovel beforehand. When rocks show up that the trencher can't chew or spit up you will need a rock bar for sure. I broke two rock bars from home depot. The very last rock I had to dig up was the worst. I would guess about 60 pounds!
Measure, Measure, Measure. You will get a visual sense of how deep you are digging by looking at the boom of the trencher going down in the ground. But you will also be tricked by this method based on the angle of the ground as it pitches the trencher fore and aft. Your measurements must be consistent for the PVC to lay flat if you are using it. Remember that it comes in ten foot sections. So this is the distance of consistency that should be checked. Even after measuring 18 inches along multiple sections, I had uneven PVC. It only takes one bump to throw off a whole section of pipe. If you have easy soil then dig 3 inches deeper than required to avoid this. I was never off more than 3 inches anywhere.
Remember whatever depth that is required to be dug is from the finished grade to the top of the conduit. This was my mistake. I read 18" depth and dug an 18" deep trench. So I had to rent the trencher for a second day.
This was the worst day of my life. I felt stupid and defeated. I hope to save you guys from this. My trencher malfunctioned and I had to exchang it for a underpowered Toro. Pure junk to me with the conditions I was in. Jammed on fist size rocks. I developed bronchitis the second day too. This was from allergies and dust I assume. So do wear a mask, even a disposable dust mask.
Still worth it for the money I saved. $4400.00 will buy every fixture, switch, plug and wire to do the whole building. Still have money after that to frame walls. Good luck to all of you
, the power company helped run around 200' by sliding the conduit over the wire some years ago.
