Buried Cable Trench From Hell, Meter Base & Breaker Panel

[Modifieddriver]

Yeah, I'm the guy that had sticker shock about the price of wiring my shop.

Meter base and breaker panel is installed in Shop #1. Power company came and ran conduit from the meter base to their underground cable. We now have power to Shop #1.

So, the next step is to dig the cable trench to Shop #2.

The previously mentioned electrical installation price didn't include the burial trench, which I said I'd do myself.

Well, I borrowed my buddies CASE trencher. This is heavy duty, works great, but is a bear to maneuver.

I started trenching Aug 16th. Got about 2/3 done and then the rains hit. Stopped me dead in my trench for over a week.

Trench is 24" deep and filled with water. The water runoff used this as a reservoir. The ground here is saturated with rain water, hence the unusual amount of runoff. The clay soil isn't absorbing the water.

Finally Aug 25th it dried up enough to resume. There was still some water left in part of what was done. I started at the other dry end. Things went great until a connected with the water. Trencher works great, but doesn't like mud.

So now I have one helluva' muddy mess in a 20+' section of the trench.

I dug another trench to help re-route the water and that was partially successful. I left it last night after I got tired of shoveling mud. Weather is supposed to stay dry for several days. Hopefully some of this water will leach into the ground.

My wife calls this our MOAT . Thinking about a draw bridge .

 

[bczygan]

Dewatering is a major, and very important part of the excavation trade. Certain kinds of pumps with proper filters and screens are useful in this.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I had a similar project and the same problem.

I bought a HF electric "dirty" water pump (not a "trash" pump). Around $20-$30. A couple of hours and the trench was more or less empty. Another day or so and I could go back to digging. Yes, by hand !

 

[Milton Shaw]

One of my wife's uncle died up in Ohio last summer and the grave was full of water after running a pump for previous 24 hours. I don't know when they were finally able to get him in the ground. Lots of rain and lots of ground water make for a mess in trying to do things in ditches such as laying conduit. I would be sure that all the joints are glued good to keep that water out as much as possible.

 

[Highbeam]

Let's see this trencher! I have only used rental trenchers and nothing from case or heavy duty. I plan to pick up the rental trencher tonight to trench 300 feet of water line.

 

[Modifieddriver]

Let's see this trencher! I have only used rental trenchers and nothing from case or heavy duty. I plan to pick up the rental trencher tonight to trench 300 feet of water line.

Here's the pics of the machine. CASE TL 100.

To me it looks like a huge chain saw.

It has three speeds in trenching direction and one speed to move.

You'd think you'd walk forward behind it with handles in hand to trench. Not so. To maneuver it goes forward. To trench it actually goes in reverse. With hands on the grips, you walk backward. Once it's trenching and the bar is in the ground, it does everything on it's own. It'll go deeper than the 24" that I set it at.

In works great. Just hard to maneuver and doesn't like mud.

I hand shoveled more mud outa' the trench today with a 4" wide shovel. Not easy work for an old man.

Called my electrician and told him to get here before it rains again .

 

[bglad]

I'm going to need something like that. Have to trench lines to run gas lines to my garage.

 

[CNGsaves]

Cool trencher . . . sure made it easier than hand shovel !!

In our neck of woods, brands like Ditch Witch or Vermeer would be more common.

That little Case is perfect size for small jobs that require the machine to maneuver through fenced-in yards that have narrow gates.

 

[Modifieddriver]

Cool trencher . . . sure made it easier than hand shovel !!
In our neck of woods, brands like Ditch Witch or Vermeer would be more common.

That little Case is perfect size for small jobs that require the machine to maneuver through fenced-in yards that have narrow gates.

That wasn't even thought of as an option. Although I'm still shoveling residual mud outa' the trench. Ouch!!!! Pass the Advil .

Fence? What's a fence?

 

[RickP]

That wasn't even thought of as an option. Although I'm still shoveling residual mud outa' the trench. Ouch!!!! Pass the Advil

Trenchers are terrible in the mud. For me, it never fails, on the day I'm planning to rent a trencher, it starts to rain. My rented trencher wouldn't even go forward up a small clay hill in the rain. I usually end up leaving the d@#n thing sitting in the yard while I dig by hand. Okay, rant over. Good luck with it -- I hope you're able to keep the trench dry and close it up fast.

 

[Modifieddriver]

Electrician came today.

Underground cable is installed. I have electric in Shop #2

Time for a refrigerator in Shop #2 for cold beer . .

I'll post pics tomorrow.

Used unistrut to mount the breaker panel and conduit.