Trenching time/speed?

[bochnak]

How fast does trenching go? How many ft/min?

Trying to get an idea of how long it will take. I am going 18" deep. There will be roots in the way.

 

[logical]

Really depends entirely on the soil type and power of the trencher. An adequately sized machine, only moderate sized roots, no giant rocks and reasonably workable soil and you'll clip along pretty fast.

A typical 10 HP unit will run fast enough that you'll practically have to run after it but the conditions will determine how fast you can actually run it while working.

 

[bochnak]

Really depends entirely on the soil type and power of the trencher. An adequately sized machine, only moderate sized roots, no giant rocks and reasonably workable soil and you'll clip along pretty fast.

A typical 10 HP unit will run fast enough that you'll practically have to run after it but the conditions will determine how fast you can actually run it while working.

Sounds good. Here is the local rental shop and equipment:

http://www.sunbeltrentals.com/equipment/category.aspx?id=s185

 

[jayc]

Using a 10HP 30" trencher and doing about 30 feet in really dense clay. Was held up by two large rocks and a 2X4, the ground being wet and slick didn't help either. In actual trenching time it took about 40-45 minutes. With out the hold ups I would think 1ft/min wouldn't be out of the question. Our trench was 4" wide by 22" deep.

This trench was for my gas line, last year at this time I dug practically the same size trench while running my electrical ... by hand. The trencher was SO worth it!

 

[akdiesel]

As mentioned rocks will be the major obsticle. It took me a good full day to go down approx 20" x 170'. I was using the type that has the tracks and you stand on a platform. Not sure of the hp.

 

[jamm]

As everyone has stated, your soil conditions determine the time needed. I did a 6" x 48" trench 260' long in less than 4 hours with a walkbehind trencher. I had a lot of rocks and the soil condition was sand mixed with clay. I wouldn't think at the depth your digging that time would be an issue. Rent the machine for a full day and return in if you get it done within 1/2 a day. If it takes you more than a day, you should be looking at getting a bigger trancher.

 

[bochnak]

I'm assuming this thing comes on a trailer? It's 1000lbs.

Were you guys able to get all the dirt back in the trench?

 

[jcs_in_ky]

Also try to make sure you rent one with a good sharp chain. Earlier this year I rented an approx. 30 HP ride on Ditch Witch. I had around 1000' of 30" trench to dig. Our soil has some clay in it but no rocks so it's not too bad to do dig. I thought I'd easily be able to do the job in the weekend I had the trencher for. It was so slow that it took forever. Eight hours of running it only got me 250 feet. I called the rental company about the chain when I first started using it but they didn't want to do anything about it except give me a small discount when I returned it. The trencher was running so slow that parallel to the trench was a dead strip of grass where it was burned from the hot exhaust coming off of the unit.

 

[burger]

Everyone above had a better experience than me. It took me every bit of my 24 hour rental period to dig a 30" deep x 4" wide x 100' long trench. The first 24" of depth only took about two hours; the last 6" were a real fight. We ended up using the trencher to loosen the soil and then brought it out with a narrow shovel.

 

[jcs_in_ky]

Wow burger, I thought I had really bad luck. Sounds like your luck with it was worse than mine. What's your soil like where you live?

 

[jamm]

Everyone above had a better experience than me. It took me every bit of my 24 hour rental period to dig a 30" deep x 4" wide x 100' long trench. The first 24" of depth only took about two hours; the last 6" were a real fight. We ended up using the trencher to loosen the soil and then brought it out with a narrow shovel.

Just curious why you did it in two passes! Most rental trenchers auger the dirt right next to the trench. To make a second pass you would have to walk the trencher over the newly extracted soil from the first pass. Or did I miss something.

 

[bochnak]

Good Q on the # of passes. Is it best to make 1?

 

[Tscott]

Good Q on the # of passes. Is it best to make 1?

Yep, 1 pass with an appropriate sized machine will get you there. Trenchers leave the dirt they removed next to the trench, so any more than 1 pass and you are having to drive over the dirt you already removed.

The best advice I can give to the OP is to make sure your trencher has the depth capacity to do what you want. When we installed the electrical service to a pole barn I built, they told me the trencher could dig 4' deep. Well that was BS, we could barely get 3' and with the sandy soil conditions it kept getting stuck. I fought that thing for an entire day, and ended up renting a mini back hoe in order to get the job done right.

Tom

 

[bochnak]

My soil is very rich and black in color. I've tilled areas up to 8-10" with no signs of clay.

How does the machine handle roots?

My pass will be about 20ft from a ash tree whose trunk is ~30" in DIA. I hope I don't hurt the tree, it's a keeper.

 

[dipper]

What you may want to do is what I did. I rented/reserved the trencher for a 1/2 day and had to pick it up on saturday after 3pm. I didn't have to return it until 9am monday morning since they are closed on sundays.
I dug an 18" trench about 75' long in couple of hours. It wasn't bad since we don't really have any clay. That gives you a full day and a half for the price of a 1/2 day.

 

[burger]

Just curious why you did it in two passes! Most rental trenchers auger the dirt right next to the trench. To make a second pass you would have to walk the trencher over the newly extracted soil from the first pass. Or did I miss something.

I would have much rather done it in one pass! Unfortunately, even though the trencher was supposed to go 30" deep, it only dug out about 24" on the first pass, so we cleared all the loose dirt from the top of the trench and made a second pass. That just loosened up the dirt at the bottom. It didn't really bring much out of the trench, so we went back in with a narrow shovel and took the dirt out by hand. That was hard work!

Another thing that slowed us down was that we were working on an area where an asphalt driveway had been removed. We still hit asphalt chunks from time to time though.

For the guy who asked what my soil is like, it's not too bad except for the asphalt chunks and a lot of little rocks. It's actually really good soil for growing things... my grass and trees seem to do well despite my less-than-green thumb.


Ed

 

[burger]

[...] make sure your trencher has the depth capacity to do what you want. When we installed the electrical service to a pole barn I built, they told me the trencher could dig 4' deep. Well that was BS, we could barely get 3' [...]

Tom,

Sounds like I had the same problem -- the 30" trencher I rented would barely do 24".


Ed

 

[83trekker]

Not sure the size of my ditch witch but it was hand held not a ridem one, i did 50 ft in about 20-25 minuts and i have nothing but rocks, 4-6" wide 18" deep , it took longer to load it back up on the trailer to return it then it did to use it. I had boulders shooting out of the ground from that thing it was amazing it worked so awsome.

 

[Bib Overalls]

My pass will be about 20ft from a ash tree whose trunk is ~30" in DIA. I hope I don't hurt the tree, it's a keeper.

General rule of thumb is that tree roots extend out as far as the canopy.

If you have concerns contact your county extension agent. If they don't have an answer they can usually refer you to someone who does.

Our town is in the process of hiring and "urban forester" to do nexactly this sort of thing. Your town may have one as well. Try your Parks and Recreation department.

 

[RPH]

I have an old Vermeer M-430 trencher. 30 hp Wisconsin engine, will trench down to 60 inches. Rocks, tree roots, and even old buried tree stumps no match. Clay and rocky soil here but I can zip along pretty good. 170 feet long 2 feet deep = 20 minutes. One of my best buy's for $2800. Also came with dozer blade and 9 foot back hoe attached.

 

[bochnak]

General rule of thumb is that tree roots extend out as far as the canopy.

If you have concerns contact your county extension agent. If they don't have an answer they can usually refer you to someone who does.

Our town is in the process of hiring and "urban forester" to do nexactly this sort of thing. Your town may have one as well. Try your Parks and Recreation department.

I will also be passing an area where a tree was removed (including stump) a year ago. I'm sure I will hit roots. I spoke with a buddy who excavates/demo and said I won't hurt the tree.