# Trencher Time



## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

Barring extremely hard ground or a lot of rocks, approximately how long would it take to trench 24"-30" deep at 175' with a walk-behind trencher?


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## janagyjr (Feb 7, 2011)

A buddy of mine did some trenching for a water line, he did a similar distance in a few hours (5, iirc) but when he rented, the trencher and the rental place both had that info.


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## thoenew (Jan 17, 2012)

Walk behind?


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## mdfriday (May 14, 2007)

Did (excavation sub) 140ish feet a week ago in 5 hours.

If you are doing it yourself, get something bigger. If you get a decent one, you should be able to do 1 - 1.75 feet a minute.


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## WIElectric (Feb 21, 2012)

Good conditions and a straight line 2-3 hours with our ditch witch.


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## thoenew (Jan 17, 2012)

Never seen our walk behind run. We use our trencher often. Either one of our wheel machines can go 60-80ft a minute (20" wide, 5' deep)


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

thoenew said:


> Never seen our walk behind run. We use our trencher often. Either one of our wheel machines can go 60-80ft a minute (20" wide, 5' deep)


80' per minute? That's not a trencher, that's a rocket ship!:laughing:


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## NWsparky (Jun 27, 2011)

thoenew said:


> Never seen our walk behind run. We use our trencher often. Either one of our wheel machines can go 60-80ft a minute (20" wide, 5' deep)


What's the model number of that piece of equipment?!?! 80' in a minute @ 20" W x 5' D!


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

NWsparky said:


> What's the model number of that piece of equipment?!?! 80' in a minute @ 20" W x 5' D!


That is serious arse trencher. 80 feet a min that is really moving for that amount of dirt for 20 inch wide and 5 feet deep sound like it is a large trencher rider unit.

The last 20 inch 5 feet trencher I dealt we can go 15-20 feet per minuite the most due the hard clay it kinda slow us down a little.

Merci,
Marc


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## Dawizman (Mar 10, 2012)

We sub our trenches out since they are usually 1000+ ft. Our sub has a case 860 trencher that will do 12" wide, 5ft deep, and very fast. Costs $3/meter plus his hourly rate, and travel to site.


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## mbednarik (Oct 10, 2011)

I would not attempt a rocky dig with those turd walk-behind. Get a ride on with a hoe on the front, so when you hit something big you can get it out of the way.


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

mbednarik said:


> I would not attempt a rocky dig with those turd walk-behind. Get a ride on with a hoe on the front, so when you hit something big you can get it out of the way.



I don't know if it's rocky or not. I said in my OP "barring in hard ground or a lot of rocks".
I just wanted to know how much time to expect for a 175' trench.
Also, a ride on here would be about $650.00 a day delivered/picked up.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Little-Lectric said:


> I don't know if it's rocky or not. I said in my OP "barring in hard ground or a lot of rocks".
> I just wanted to know how much time to expect for a 175' trench.
> Also, a ride on here would be about $650.00 a day delivered/picked up.


That should take you about 2 hours max. The worst thing about a walk behind is the back fill and tamping. It's back breaking work. Plus it takes longer than the trenching.


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## Hippie (May 12, 2011)

sbrn33 said:


> That should take you about 2 hours max. The worst thing about a walk behind is the back fill and tamping. It's back breaking work. Plus it takes longer than the trenching.


I found this out the hard way a while back. Never used a walk behind before and was trying to save some cash. Its not at all worth it, especially if you're by yourself, backfilling is a nightmare. Depending on the soil and how deep you're going, the crappy little wheels will start spinning, and getting it back on the trailer solo sucks too. 

If they can't afford the price with a ride on I wouldn't do the job, it is really not worth it, you will be cursing yourself when you're exhausted and still shoveling dirt at 7 pm.

Never again!!!


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## 220/221 (Sep 25, 2007)

Little-Lectric said:


> Barring extremely hard ground or a lot of rocks, approximately how long would it take to trench 24"-30" deep at 175' with a walk-behind trencher?


Best case, 2 or 3 hours. (edit.....30" deep= 3-5 hours. Depth is a huge issue with a walk behind) 

Worst case, 2 days. 

I subbed out a trenching job a couple years ago and the 3 man crew with a walk behind spent *two full days* digging about 400'. Eyeballing it, the soil looked easy but for some reason it was packed hard like concrete.









And, I won't use a walk behind if there is room for a rider.


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## sstlouis03 (Jun 23, 2011)

Dont waste your time with a walk behind. Im guessing between 6-9 hours digging and back fill.

Ride on your looking at 3-4 hours. 

Think of it this way, you'll only have to rent the ride on for one day, if you have problems with the walk behind you will have it for two days, the price will be almost the same and your back will be hurting after having to shovel all the dirt back in.


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

And if you have to a few 90 turns your shovel man won't be happy.


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## Landmark (Mar 7, 2010)

Little-Lectric said:


> Barring extremely hard ground or a lot of rocks, approximately how long would it take to trench 24"-30" deep at 175' with a walk-behind trencher?


I've rented one, driven 30 min to job, trenched 100 feet and had it back to rental place in 3 hrs. I wouldn't hesitate to use one for 175 feet. I do agree with the comments about backfilling, tho.
Smaller machine fits in tighter places. The ones I've used seem to trench as fast or faster than the small ride ons. Don't know if its the narrower trench or what. The small ride ons seem underpowered to me.
Just my 2 cents worth.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Hard rocky soil? No way in hell would I use a walk behind for that. It'll buck like a bronco. A ride-on machine is called for in rocky soil. Better yet, get a sub! I pay a dollar a foot for trenching and backfill, as long as I get my pipe in the trench PDQ. 75 dollar an hour demurrage fee. 

We've got soil around here so rocky I need to call a sub that has a wheel excavator. That's substantially more expensive, but it's cool as hell to see a slot cut right in a boulder or big piece of ledge.


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## RHWilks (Jul 14, 2012)

I agree a walk behind is a waste of metal. We have one at our shop we use in areas too small to use a ride on. If you do not take the advice here.. I suggest buying a couple of rakes and a flat shovel.


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

MDShunk said:


> Hard rocky soil? No way in hell would I use a walk behind for that. It'll buck like a bronco. A ride-on machine is called for in rocky soil. Better yet, get a sub! I pay a dollar a foot for trenching and backfill, as long as I get my pipe in the trench PDQ. 75 dollar an hour demurrage fee.
> 
> We've got soil around here so rocky I need to call a sub that has a wheel excavator. That's substantially more expensive, but it's cool as hell to see a slot cut right in a boulder or big piece of ledge.


Actually the original plan was for the customer to do or have his trenching done. He surprised me with this when I was there for a walk thru for his estimate. I have never used a walk behind and didn't know how long it would take so I came here for advice. I needed something to put on the estimate.
I have since found someone to sub it to for not much more than the rental price for the trencher.
I'll just have to see if the guy even accepts my estimate, but wanted to get my "ducks in a row" before submitting it.


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## jefft110 (Jul 7, 2010)

If they're no large rocks or large roots, and the soil isn't too sandy, you should have it trenched in less than an hour.

Just don't get too comfortable while running the trencher as they will buck when you hit something large.


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## thoenew (Jan 17, 2012)

Little-Lectric said:


> 80' per minute? That's not a trencher, that's a rocket ship!:laughing:





NWsparky said:


> What's the model number of that piece of equipment?!?! 80' in a minute @ 20" W x 5' D!


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

On a job this year where they did directional drilling up to 500 ft. and pulled in 4" fiber optics conduit.Neat as heck.


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## jefft110 (Jul 7, 2010)

bobelectric said:


> On a job this year where they did directional drilling up to 500 ft. and pulled in 4" fiber optics conduit.Neat as heck.


Same here.

I was watching them as they drilled under a parking lot, and their bullseye was a 4'x4'x2' hole they hand dug.

I was thinking no freaking way. Sure enough they hit it dead on.


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## thoenew (Jan 17, 2012)

We have people bore across roads for us fairly often. It's pretty good when it's a 6 or 8 inch pipe and they get it across with the correct slope.


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## Magnettica (Jan 23, 2007)

MDShunk said:


> Hard rocky soil? No way in hell would I use a walk behind for that. It'll buck like a bronco. A ride-on machine is called for in rocky soil. Better yet, get a sub! I pay a dollar a foot for trenching and backfill, as long as I get my pipe in the trench PDQ. 75 dollar an hour demurrage fee.
> 
> We've got soil around here so rocky I need to call a sub that has a wheel excavator. That's substantially more expensive, but it's cool as hell to see a slot cut right in a boulder or big piece of ledge.




I agree with this right here. I have an old lady who needs this done for an old post lamps that's since shorted and the line needs to be replaced. The thing is it's 200' away from the power source! 

No thanks! Trenching, is for trenchers, not electricians. Who do you know who'll pay $90/ hour for an electrician to play landscaper? :no:

i'll do it, but only for my price, and it isn't going to be cheap because I don;t want to do it.


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

We hire a sub with a horizontal boring machine. They can come up within 6 inches of where their target is and at any depth you want.


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## Magnettica (Jan 23, 2007)

LARMGUY said:


> We hire a sub with a horizontal boring machine. They can come up within 6 inches of where their target is and at any depth you want.


That'll
be
more 
than 
most 
homeowners
could
afford
for 
a
simple
repair 
but 
looks 
like 
an
awesome
toy.


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## mbednarik (Oct 10, 2011)

How many of you own your own equipment? Around here you have to drive about an hour for a rental. I own my own ride on trencher, bucket truck ect. The only thing I rent are scissor lifts because I really don't use them that much.


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## user8640521 (Jan 17, 2009)

Magnettica said:


> That'll
> be
> more
> than
> ...


last data center i did had one to jack under a 4 lane road and a
parking lot. they were doing great until they hit an 6" firemain,
and broke it.

the water was squirting up all around the parking lot between the
asphalt and the curb.. like a couple or three inches everywhere.

they removed the parking lot and repaved it after they got the
adobe dried out underneath. asphalt over 6" of riverbottom mud
tends to break up when driven on.


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

Hat's why we used utilty locators,and any chance of hitting anything,they had a cute litte excavator.


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