trench size?

[line guy]

Will be digging a trench for sub feed out to barn around 150ft.. from 200amp main panel in house. wire size 2-2-2-4 copper in 2 inch or 1 1/2 sch 40 conduit pvc. Also a 3/4 plastic water line, 1inch plastic gas line,and 2 more 3/4 sch 40 conduit for future. I would like to rent a trencher and do it myself, but dont know if it will be wide enough? I know it will be deep enough. A trencher does a nice clean job, but to excavate a wider trench I would have to hire this out.Any thoughts or better ideas?

 

[rjacobs]

Rent a mini-ex and still DIY...

 

[wyliesdiesels]

#2 cu?

What amperage breaker are you using?

What will your loads be?

#3 cu is good for 100a... but i doubt you even need that much.

 

[line guy]

60 amp breaker in main panel to a 100 amp sub panel in barn. Will have 50 amp rv circuit, welder,air comp, lighting, fans, boiler for radiant floor heat. Barn is 30x48x14 and #2 cu xlp is free! So a trencher will not be big enough?

 

[RustFarmer]

Rent Trencher for day.

Make multiple trenches (not sure how far apart they will need to be, you'll be able to determine that).

Return trencher.

 

[Terry D]

It all depends, is everything coming out of your house at the same location, and is everything entering your barn at the same location. As said above, maybe a couple of trenches. Don't know what's available there, walk behind trenchers here go up to 6 inch. Maybe a trench for your power and spare conduits and a trench for your gas and water

 

[Jim greengo]

I'd put them in seperate trenches myself anyway.
Do you have any frost in your area?

 

[dcg9381]

I had to rent a rock saw due to soil. 24" depth.

Electrician said that most municipalities now require 3" electrical conduit regardless of capacity, so I went with that. I threw an additional 3/4" line in - largely for low-voltage/telco.

I have a 2" water line - rather than deal with electrical and water in the same trench, I simply trenched parallel and installed the water line.

My water line length is about 300' - which is why my line is so big. You may want to check with 150' - I suspect that 3/4" water line isn't big enough for frictional loss.. Depending on your total water flow, you may be losing 10-20 psi with that size line.

 

[ShutterBugg]

I rented a big trencher from a rental place (NOT Home Depot).

Forget putting the feed in conduit, just get direct burial. I used 2-2-2-4 aluminum MHF and buried it. Was able to use it panel to panel and it meets code. Was plenty deep (36") and wide enough for it, plus an extra 1.5" conduit for a gas line (separated vertically) and an extra 1" conduit for LAN cable.

 

[pattenp]

I rented a big trencher from a rental place (NOT Home Depot).

Forget putting the feed in conduit, just get direct burial. I used 2-2-2-4 aluminum MHF and buried it. Was able to use it panel to panel and it meets code. Was plenty deep (36") and wide enough for it, plus an extra 1.5" conduit for a gas line (separated vertically) and an extra 1" conduit for LAN cable.

The OP said he was getting the wire for free.

I assume you put the MHF in conduit where above ground and inside the structures?

 

[line guy]

I will go bigger on water line as it is uphill also. We do get a frost here in ny, but rarely gets past 12inches. The gas and water will be different at house from the electric and spare conduits. Same area at the barn though.Called around for trench width size and, walk behinds are only good for 4 inch widths. Thanks for all your suggestions and ideas. I will try and post pics of my backyard excavation project. This is a great forum and appreciate all the positve feedback.

 

[ard]

Rent a 4x4 articulated ride on trencher w a 6" x 48" bar.

Dont need to go down 48, but it will make short work of the job.

Long time ago I came to the conclusion that you rent the largest machine that you can (1) tow or, (2) fit on the job site.

Id rather get the trencher back to the rental yard an hour 'early' on a 4 hr rental that kill myself bouncing around a POS walk behind for a full day

 

[Sureshot]

I'd also throw in an air line. You can use the line intended for semi's in bulk. The size of the line isn't all that important as you can easily use a portable tank as a reservoir on that end. I loved having air at my prior house and would put it in every trench I did from now on.

 

[ShutterBugg]

The OP said he was getting the wire for free.

I assume you put the MHF in conduit where above ground and inside the structures?

Didn't see it was free - he didn't mention that until a later post from the original - which is what I was replying to. And of course it's in conduit, But I'm surprised you don't seem to know it also has to be 18" below ground as well.

 

[ard]

Forget putting the feed in conduit, just get direct burial.

My neighbor had a cheap as **** builder. Between 22-25 years after initial install his main service to the home failed....and his line to a buried well plump failed. Totally separate trenches, within a year or two of each other.

Conduit FTW. Just because you CAN direct bury doesn’t mean you should...

 

[line guy]

progress pics over the last few months.

 

[pr3dict]

Wrong post. You can delete my bad.

Nice pics btw!

 

[pattenp]

Didn't see it was free - he didn't mention that until a later post from the original - which is what I was replying to. And of course it's in conduit, But I'm surprised you don't seem to know it also has to be 18" below ground as well.

What makes you say this? Was I suppose to make a comment about the depth? So you know I'm very well aware of required cover depths for buried line voltage wire. Direct bury needs to have 24" of cover, in conduit is 18".

 

[Bert_]

My neighbor had a cheap as **** builder. Between 22-25 years after initial install his main service to the home failed....and his line to a buried well plump failed. Totally separate trenches, within a year or two of each other.

Conduit FTW. Just because you CAN direct bury doesn’t mean you should...

Just fixed some direct bury the other day. Sewer guy hit it while repairing a sewer line. Took about 30 minutes and 3' of new wire to fix.

Had it been in conduit I would have had to fix the pipe then re pull a couple hundred feet of wire. Somebody would have had to drive an hour away just to get new wire or wait a day or two to get it delivered. The whole thing would have taken most of the day vs a 30 minute fix...

 

[tarmy]

That is the neatest trench I ever saw!...

The gas riser, in our area, needs to be out from the foundation/building...and rise to a regulator prior to penetration. Not sure what your code is...

Nice build OP...looks well done.