220 cost

[Nitpicker]

Finally got a bit of money to run a 220 line from the main box in the house to the detached garage. (there is plenty of space in the box). Need it for welding and plasma cutting in a rural home setting. I need to run from the house outside under a 8' wide driveway, then travel 106 feet to the sub panel in the garage. I want to bury the cable. HOW MUCH? So far I'm thinking a rented trencher by me and then a pro to do connections. Or would it be simpler to just let a pro do it all? I'm 72 and my endurance for ground work is diminished. I'm not dead, just older. What are your opinions.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Some of those trenchers take a lot of muscle, but I sure would not want to do 100+' by hand.

It you have straight shot going under the drive, you can simply pound a 1" heavy conduit under it. Put some kind of a protection on the end you are driving.

 

[sberry]

You need larger than inch. 2 under it. You want a number 2 aluminum wire from the box store, I like the Home Depot. It can go direct burial. 20 space 100 main breaker panel in the garage and a 60A breaker that fits your house panel to get started along with a bit of pipe, and hubs/lb etc as needed.
You should put your location down, it helps but,,, trench on both sides of the slab, position pipe, put garden hose down it to about the end, turn water on, shove pipe.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

How old/What condition is the driveway in?
If it's old and worn out I'd just saw cut a 12" slot across it and dig a trench.
I prefer a mini excavator over a trencher myself,you can use it to dig a pot hole on each side of driveway and push rigid pipe with the end capped.
Then you can use it to pull the pipe back through with a bell on it to use a reamer to make room for your conduit.
It's a lot cheaper than a boring guy,and you can use it in place of trencher for rest of job.

 

[APEowner]

How old/What condition is the driveway in?
If it's old and worn out I'd just saw cut a 12" slot across it and dig a trench.
I prefer a mini excavator over a trencher myself,you can use it to dig a pot hole on each side of driveway and push rigid pipe with the end capped.
Then you can use it to pull the pipe back through with a bell on it to use a dreamer to make room for your conduit.
It's a lot cheaper than a boring guy,and you can use it in place of trencher for rest of job.

I agree with all of this. I'll also add that if you're going to pull a permit you should see what the local code requirements are.

 

[Nitpicker]

Good advise. The driveway is asphalt and fifteen years old. I prefer the holes on either side and drive capped conduit from hole to hole then maybe the excavate from break through to garage. No chance of me hand digging trench. Maybe a water line too while I have access to excavator. I'm entertaining guesses as to cost. Is the wire priced by foot? Do I need some extra percentage over direct distance for the electrician to make connection. How deep for in ground? Must the run be inspected by township? I do not want to mess with inspectors beyond what is required. Must the entrance to the garage sub panel be above ground? New to this--just want to know what I'm facing. Waiting until summer but planning now.

 

[sberry]

24 inches, wire is a buck and a half right now, a panel can be had for 100 and 100 for the misc. Plus the rest of the interior, that is just to get there. Not terribly expensive.

 

[ard]

Hire someone younger to do the trenching, do the wiring yourself!

More cost effective, guessing you have time to query here and get it right...

 

[rburke65]

YOU will have to find out what s required n what are the local codes, or....call an electrician and get a price. I'm sur thy will tell you what us required, options, and a cost. I would not run direct burial. Run 2" PVC pipe. Hard to tell about a depth on a water line as no one on this forum knows where ya live........

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

As far as depth goes id go atleast 18",id run it in 2" pvc so it will be easy to pull through.

 

[rburke65]

And, as an after thought, don't let the electrical purists on here catch you calling it "220"! That is a mortal sin. That's like saying "a hot water rank"! It's a water heater and its 240!!!

 

[like2wheel]

And, as an after thought, don't let the electrical purists on here catch you calling it "220"! That is a mortal sin. That's like saying "a hot water rank"! It's a water heater and its 240!!!

Yeah, he's already in trouble for not having his address in his profile.

 

[75gmck25]

I rented one of the trenchers to put 2" conduit underground, for about 50 feet running to my garage. It worked okay, but I burned a lot of energy running that trencher, especially for a short run up a minor grade. Its very heavy and all movement of the machine is from you pulling it backwards to make each cut. It took my full weight on the handlebars to get the cutter up out of the 18" trench each time I moved it backwards.

When I realized some of the dirt was falling back into the trench and it was too narrow and deep to use a shovel to get it out, I had to figure out how to clean it out so the conduit would go all the way to the bottom. I ended up using an old filter on my shop vac and sucking all the fine dirt out of the bottom of the trench. It worked a lot better than I expected.

For a 100 feet run I would get a price to have someone do it for you. They will use a self propelled trencher, and will get it done a lot faster than you could.

Bruce

 

[Lassen Forge]

But wouldn't 234 be cheaper than 240? I mean, less line voltage... you could even use those extra 6 volts on your old VW, right? Even better, you could have 3 phase installed, then sell the other 2 phases you don't need back to the power company... You'd double your money back!



After spending hours dealing with roots and rocks running a ditch witch (and having to follow it up with a shovel), I realized hiring someone else to do it made a LOT of sense!

 

[Lelandwelds]

You can rent a ride on rocksaw for $1000/ weekend. If no rock, how big do they make a Vibrablade?

I really expected somebody to say "bury it deep enough so it won't freeze".

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I had previously hired a young fellow who needed the money to hand dig the trench. He was doing pretty good until he got out of the shade and hit the hard pack. Towards the end he spent more time drinking water than digging. He then figured he had enough for the day. Said he would come back in the next couple of days. Guess what he never came back, when I seen him on the street he didn’t mention returning and I let him off the hook.

Went out and rented a trencher. The drive tires were pretty well spent and looked more like slicks than tractor tires. With the half dug trenches and piled up dirt previously dug. I was having a hell of a time man handling the trencher. Spinning out and getting stuck in multiple holes previously dug. One reason was I had it on the half day rate. Heard the young fellow next door and it kind of went like this.
“Kent is that you back there?
“Yes” he said, which I knew that was him because I heard him talking to his kids.
I said “You’ll have to give me a hand or Linda later”
Kent “What”
Me “Eiher help me with this trencher or help Linda load me in van after my coronary”
Needless to say he came over did the majority of the grunt work and I got us a couple of beers. Great young man, raising an exceptional family.