Digging in water pipe with a ripper tooth.

[Storrsy]

Customer has asked if I want to dig in 1km of water pipe. The ground is hellish, very rocky in places. A mole plough wouldnt be suitable. So thinking a ripper tooth might be a quick way of doing in- but not sure if it will leave a decent enough channel to get the pipe into. Anyone done it this way?

 

[Grahams]

I tried using a ripper tooth across a field to lay a water pipe for a friend. Ground was a combination of chalk, clay and hard gravel. It was a complete waste of time. Couldn’t keep a trench open in any of it. Ended up just using the narrowest bucket I had in the end.

 

[GazCro]

Even if you can get it to stay open long enough to get a pipe in there's no way you can avoid stones rubbing on the pipe when its closed up so unless you're customer wants to spend the rest of his life fixing leaks forget it.

 

[Gecko]

This is what we use down under:

You rip and lay in a single pass (at least that's the theory), and the trench is not expected to stay open.

From experience, it's performance is highly variable and may need several passes (without pipe) to get adequate depth.

I was using an MF135 which has no down force on the 3pl - if I'd had more weight and down force, it'd have been a very clean operation.

 

[AusDave]

This is what we use down under:
View attachment 34978
You rip and lay in a single pass, and the trench is not expected to stay open (at least that's the theory).

From experience, it's performance is highly variable and may need several passes (without pipe) to get adequate depth.

I was using an MF135 which has no down force on the 3pl - if I'd had more weight and down force, it's have been a very clean operation.

Ditto here also from down under.
If you only had a mini excavator with a ripper tooth you could rip up the line where you planned to lay the pipe to loosen the soil/clay/chalk/gravel/rock to the point you could drag to ripper tooth through at the right depth while tracking. Just make the simple curved pipe attachment you see on the back of the 3pl ripper above, attach it to the back of your ripper tooth and then just lay your pipe as you track.

I assume you're using poly pipe which is very durable and won't be affected by stones and gravel in my experience. Obviously put to the side any large rocks you dig up. I've used this method for years on everything from a tractor to a bulldozer mainly with 25mm and 50mm poly pipe. Very quick and efficient with minimal surface disturbance and no backfilling required.

 

[Steve]

Water pipe wants to be in 750 mm deep & it would take a Big tractor & well built mole plough to do that.

 

[Monkeybusiness]

Water pipe wants to be in 750 mm deep & it would take a Big tractor & well built mole plough to do that.

The Ozzy’s don’t need to worry about frost in the same way we do, don’t need the depth (unless it’s going under somewhere being ploughed).

 

[Smiffy]

The Ozzy’s don’t need to worry about frost in the same way we do, don’t need the depth (unless it’s going under somewhere being ploughed).

But our frost line is nothing really. Some of the blokes I work with are used to 1.2m for water pipe

 

[Gecko]

Water pipe wants to be in 750 mm deep & it would take a Big tractor & well built mole plough to do that.

Also available in "Large"

 

[Smiffy]

Also available in "Large"

Or extra large

 

[V8Druid]

Also available in "Large"

could do with a couple of feet on for flattening it back down after it's passed

 

[Storrsy]

Water pipe wants to be in 750 mm deep & it would take a Big tractor & well built mole plough to do that.

Cheers all.Yeah I think dragging though this ground is probably going to be a non starter. If you can get it through the good bits it won't be long before you hook a 10 ton lump of rock. South West water have said 600mm will be adequate but I reckon you'll be lucky to even get that in some places. I'm thinking 6-9 " bucket on an 8 toner will probably be the best option I have available
1200 meters in total.

 

[Smiffy]

Cheers all.Yeah I think dragging though this ground is probably going to be a non starter. If you can get it through the good bits it won't be long before you hook a 10 ton lump of rock. South West water have said 600mm will be adequate but I reckon you'll be lucky to even get that in some places. I'm thinking 6-9 " bucket on an 8 toner will probably be the best option I have available
1200 meters in total.

If you have access to a bigger machine get a skinney bucket you will fly through

 

[Canal Navvy]

Tried it once with a Muir Hill 171 on the mole plough, even with two or three pre-runs at increasing depths it wasn't really going in deep enough. At anything over twenty inches another tractor had to help pull

 

[Furniss]

wizz wheel

 

[Storrsy]

wizz wheel

Yeah. I've never used one. But I imagine they're good in good ground or compacted smaller gravelly/shillet type ground. But guessing they come to an abrupt stop if they meet anything bigger than a ft? Perhaps there a reason I've never seen one working on Dartmoor

 

[pettsy]

This should sort it

 

[JD450A]

Yeah. I've never used one. But I imagine they're good in good ground or compacted smaller gravelly/shillet type ground. But guessing they come to an abrupt stop if they meet anything bigger than a ft? Perhaps there a reason I've never seen one working on Dartmoor

D8 and Mole Plough...... Give me a Ring.... But if it's actual stones rather than pebbles don't...... Not sure people get what you mean by stones

 

[Hg2702]

We’re not starting my stones bigger than your stone again are we

 

[Bucket on wheels]

Stones or pebbles do not mean that much little blue (31 tons 375 hp) pulls them up anyway
Bucket on top of the pebble is 1.05 meter = 3ft 5.338583in Wide