# Do you dig trenches and ditches?



## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Everybody's first job is shovel operator.


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## Moonshot180 (Apr 1, 2012)

at one point during my apprecnticeship, i lived in ditches..once the job was out of the ground..i was off to the next job..and back in more ditches..duct banks...manholes..setting manholes..


was fun on some jobs, we would have remote controlled dirt packers...but more often than not, it would be the tamps..and man, that job was one of my least favorite it i think haha


then..as i progressed along in my apprenticeship..i moved up and out of the ditches haha


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## LuckyLuke (Jun 1, 2015)

"Any digging and trenching is to be done by others" 

If they want us to hire someone we have a good company that handles it for us plus our markup of course.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

I'm allergic to shovels. It makes me break out in a sweat.


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

Vp came outside and seen 2 electrians digging a ditch.

Started screaming that he didnt pay us to dig ditches. A hour later we get 2 labour finders. Then we get told to supervise them while they dug the ditch.

Somewhere that made sense


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

gpop said:


> Vp came outside and seen 2 electrians digging a ditch.
> 
> Started screaming that he didnt pay us to dig ditches. A hour later we get 2 labour finders. Then we get told to supervise them while they dug the ditch.
> 
> Somewhere that made sense


That was roughly the line I used with customers. "I'm an expensive ditch digger", giving them the option to dig it themselves, hire it done themselves, or have my guy do it plus markup. People who do ditches as their business do it more cheaply than I could even think about doing it. If I left pipe and sweeps for simple runs, my regular guy would glue it together and kick it in the ditch and recover it. I didn't even have to be there.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

We do all of our own digging, it's part of our work.
Might be my Union mentality but, that's part of what we do.
If it's directional boring, I consider that someone else's work and we pay someone to supervise.
I tried to have the owner do the work or sub it out but, they usually don't understand how electricians run pipe and do a half azz job.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

we ran anything a normal hoe or termite could dig, but if it was bigger or needed an extendahoe or just involved too much digging where it was better to get an excavation contractor in, then of course we would do that. Digging by hand (other than "straightening up") is really never a money making proposition in my opinion, except when absolutely necessary. I think it goes without saying that helpers and lower pays get the most of the shovel work. Personally, I enjoy being out in fresh air digging in the mud and dirt more than cooped up in a building with a bunch of sweaty aholes.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Not since I was first starting out!

That is why God made youngsters and laborers...


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

I used to spend time in the dirt, either as an operator or digging by hand. Not so much anymore, a lot of people have figured out than a journeyman is quite a bit more $$$ than a laborer.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

The strong union presence here has stratified our work to a great extent, to the point where electricians almost never dig since that work "belongs" to the excavator.


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## JoeSparky (Mar 25, 2010)

Rent a "trencher"  from in front of Home Depot


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

JoeSparky said:


> Rent a "trencher"  from in front of Home Depot


:biggrin::vs_laugh:


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## telsa (May 22, 2015)

My ditching days are OVER.

Around here it's usually termed 'quarrying.'


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## SISYPHUS (Aug 13, 2018)

I had a machine up until the reality of being _insured_ for a dig became an issue

Now i sub it out, or refer to the many diggers i know

I'll stick to what i do best, thx


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## canbug (Dec 31, 2015)

I think it may depend on the kind of work you do. My good friend has so much digging equipment because he is either doing street lighting or airport lighting. Both require miles of trenching. When he started out he would watch the operator work and then the operator would watch him work. Now he gets paid for all the work and I will say, he does very well.
Myself, I clean up with a shovel but I don't hand dig anything now.


Tim.


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

canbug said:


> I think it may depend on the kind of work you do. My good friend has so much digging equipment because he is either doing street lighting or airport lighting. Both require miles of trenching. When he started out he would watch the operator work and then the operator would watch him work. Now he gets paid for all the work and I will say, he does very well.
> Myself, I clean up with a shovel but I don't hand dig anything now.
> 
> 
> Tim.


And when the man doing the trenching is the same man whose work is going in the trench, you get a better trench! I've seen some pretty hack trenching done by those who only trench and don't do the work going in the trench.


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## lighterup (Jun 14, 2013)

No more digging for me...but , if they insist on me
subbing it out , I will do what Lucky Luke does...
but I prefer to stay out of it.

Ditch witch through Septic drain tiles...big bucks 
Ditch witch through regular drain tiles...small bucks but PITA to fix
Ditch witch through rock...profit killer
Ditch witch through anything but dirt...very rare


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## Cow (Jan 16, 2008)

We bought a mini and several different buckets a couple years ago. It paid for itself a year ago.


We got tired of waiting on digging subs to get around to us, combined with the fact that I could do the work more often than not, better than they could no matter how much instruction I gave them.


I still try to get diggers to do the work, even though I know I'm going to beat my head against a wall before it's over, but's it's nice knowing I have a backup plan sitting in our yard if I need it.


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## SISYPHUS (Aug 13, 2018)

Lighter....burn the witch! :vs_cool:


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## lighterup (Jun 14, 2013)

SISYPHUS said:


> Lighter....burn the witch! :vs_cool:


:vs_wave:Hey everyone's back now...Hi Steve!


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

MDShunk said:


> That was roughly the line I used with customers. "I'm an expensive ditch digger", giving them the option to dig it themselves, hire it done themselves, or have my guy do it plus markup. People who do ditches as their business do it more cheaply than I could even think about doing it. If I left pipe and sweeps for simple runs, my regular guy would glue it together and kick it in the ditch and recover it. I didn't even have to be there.


Have you ever had a homeowner dig a proper ditch?


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

sbrn33 said:


> Have you ever had a homeowner dig a proper ditch?


Seldom, but close enough is close enough for me.


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

That's what marking paint is for. If someone else is trenching for me I spray yellow marking paint in the ground for them to follow.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Going_Commando said:


> That's what marking paint is for. If someone else is trenching for me I spray yellow marking paint in the ground for them to follow.


You should use white. Yellow is for gas.


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