Homemade trencher idea

[ebinmaine 62,935]

@AHS

There are towns and/or communities in Maine that require 4' trench depth coming off the pole for new construction.

I can't name one but I've seen it here in southern Maine more than once.

 

Private land building to building is certainly less. 

I had one on my land from house to shed that was at 12" or so when the PO buried it in 2003.

By 2017 it was  --- 1/2"  --- deep.

 

Freeze/thaw cycles and ground vibration likely brought it out. (Just like our famous rocks/stones).

 

If I ever bury a line I'm going as far down as possible because of seeing that.

 

[CCW 1,201]

17 hours ago, AHS said:

Looks good! From an axle reese hitch, ( the ones of eBay?)

Homemade version I made to accept my 2" Reese hitch.

[CCW 1,201]

13 hours ago, AHS said:

In Maine, 2’ for UF, 18” for PVC. Code books come out every three years (2017) but they never change burying conductors! I dunno about CT, you will wanna check the NEC for that area. @CCW

 

Same here in CT.

[CCW 1,201]

4 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

@AHS

There are towns and/or communities in Maine that require 4' trench depth coming off the pole for new construction.

I can't name one but I've seen it here in southern Maine more than once.

 

Private land building to building is certainly less. 

I had one on my land from house to shed that was at 12" or so when the PO buried it in 2003.

By 2017 it was  --- 1/2"  --- deep.

 

Freeze/thaw cycles and ground vibration likely brought it out. (Just like our famous rocks/stones).

 

If I ever bury a line I'm going as far down as possible because of seeing that.

 

 

 

Have a UF wire in the front yard to outside lamp put there by a PO that is only about six inches down, if that.  Am having the front walk redone this spring and will bury it properly.

 

[wallfish 15,905]

2 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

There are towns and/or communities in Maine that require 4' trench depth coming off the pole for new construction.

My power lines went UG because a big ice storm ripped the aerial lines right off the house. The aerial span was about 100 ft and the wires had to hang low over the driveway too, so going UG was the preferred way to go. After getting some quotes to do it, this was the main reason to build my own little back hoe and dig it in myself. Code required a 4.5 ft deep trench and fill the bottom with 6 inches of sand to cuddle the conduit. Can't remember if it was a requirement to cover the top of the conduit with sand but it got covered with the remaining sand before filling it back up. The biggest pita was the inspector. Turns out he is also the owner of a private electrical contractor in the area, he bid on it and didn't get the job. This is a huge conflict of interest! 

[squonk 38,842]

21 hours ago, AHS said:

You would use 12/3 UF for a 240v 20A circuit. @CCW 

I think he mean't 12/2 with ground. If it were me, I'd run #10 or even #8 in PVC with a 100 ft run. Don't know what the OP is planning on in his shed, but if any electric motors are involved.

Edited January 19, 2020 by squonk

[ZXT 2,394]

 

5 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

There are towns and/or communities in Maine that require 4' trench depth coming off the pole for new construction.

That's because the feeder before the meter is fused much higher than after the meter on a house. I don't think its a frost line thing as much as they're just trying to get it below everything else where you are very unlikely to hit it. Our local POCO requires 3' deep. 

 

37 minutes ago, squonk said:

I think he mean't 12/2 with ground. If it were me, I'd run #10 or even #8 in BOX with a 100ft run. Don't know what the OP is planning on in his shed, but if any electric motors are involved.

 CCW, If you're going to the trouble of trenching and laying pipe, I don't see why you'd only pull one #12 circuit. I'd pull at least a #8, and set a sub panel in the shed so that you can add whatever.  

 

@AHS He never mentioned a 240v circuit that I saw, so 12/2 would technically be sufficient. 

Edited January 19, 2020 by ZXT

[AHS 1,411]

10 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

@AHS

There are towns and/or communities in Maine that require 4' trench depth coming off the pole for new construction.

I can't name one but I've seen it here in southern Maine more than once.

 

Private land building to building is certainly less. 

I had one on my land from house to shed that was at 12" or so when the PO buried it in 2003.

By 2017 it was  --- 1/2"  --- deep.

 

Freeze/thaw cycles and ground vibration likely brought it out. (Just like our famous rocks/stones).

 

If I ever bury a line I'm going as far down as possible because of seeing that.

 

Yes, local jurisdiction will conquer Maine rules.

[seven 202]

On 1/15/2020 at 5:49 PM, Lee1977 said:

 wtter

 

It works good . I think i could get it to go deeper if the angle beam was longer. It's weighted to swing up when not  in the ground

That's cool it's even got a loop for tieing on a wire

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 10,478]

On 1/15/2020 at 10:51 AM, WVHillbilly520H said:

Yes and you could just use a "box scraper" shank... Look at my post above.

The bottom of the ripper needs to be beveled the other way. It will just keep coming up the way it is.

I used a straight tapered helper spring off the front axle of a GM 4x4. It is about 3/4" thick in the center and 3/16" thick on the ends. Beveled the bottom so the point was forward and sharpened about 8" of the leading edge. Used it to cut invading tree roots headed for the garden. Could go down about 24" total in 2" increments because the roots are tough to cut but it worked.

 

Garry

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

56 minutes ago, gwest_ca said:

The bottom of the ripper needs to be beveled the other way. It will just keep coming up the way it is.

I used a straight tapered helper spring off the front axle of a GM 4x4. It is about 3/4" thick in the center and 3/16" thick on the ends. Beveled the bottom so the point was forward and sharpened about 8" of the leading edge. Used it to cut invading tree roots headed for the garden. Could go down about 24" total in 2" increments because the roots are tough to cut but it worked.

 

Garry

https://www.agrisupply.com/18-inch-box-blade-shank/p/105646/...   This is what I have and it worked decently for what the original poster was wanting to do ... Trench for cable/water line ect.

[wallfish 15,905]

7 hours ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

This is what I have

That's how I built the teeth on the hoe bucket, replaceable when they get worn. Welded the front edge to get a hardened edge but bet that whole thing is hardened, hmm.

[oilwell1415 563]

I'll second a couple of things that have been posted already.  By the time you get it built and working well you could have just dug it by hand.  I had to do a 40' run to my shed a few years ago and it only took me about 2 hours with a sharp shooter in our Oklahoma clay.

 

I'd run 10 gauge wire.  I ran 10 gauge and my lights flicker when I turn on my dust collector, table saw, or other high current tools.  That's a long way for the juice to travel.  If I was doing it again I would run 220 to a subpanel in the shed.  I may upgrade it some day, but I really don't want to mess with it right now.