Cost for trenching water pipe.

[Giles]

Revisting this I’ve got two jobs to do for the trust in ag farm land new supplies for fields and 1 for farm yard. 250m each

Thinking of buying a trencher as time is tight this year

Anyone know going rate per m and other than checking for services and drains the downside to thrmmm

 

[Diggerdave]

Revisting this I’ve got two jobs to do for the trust in ag farm land new supplies for fields and 1 for farm yard. 250m each

Thinking of buying a trencher as time is tight this year

Anyone know going rate per m and other than checking for services and drains the downside to thrmmm

I have borrowed this one a few times. Will do 100m an hour quite comfortably on clay ground. Around 1m deep and just over 100mm wide. They are no good on stoney ground as trencher will bounce off big stones.. handy to have digger on site to deepen any rocky sections.
6 way blade makes backfilling quick.
I've only ever charged normal day rate as usually helping friends out, but sure my friend on the utilities charges we'll over £15 a meter.

 

[Giles]

I have borrowed this one a few times. Will do 100m an hour quite comfortably on clay ground. Around 1m deep and just over 100mm wide. They are no good on stoney ground as trencher will bounce off big stones.. handy to have digger on site to deepen any rocky sections.
6 way blade makes backfilling quick.
I've only ever charged normal day rate as usually helping friends out, but sure my friend on the utilities charges we'll over £15 a meter.

That’s a big one!! lol the one in auction weight plate says 1830kg so attractive as towable, has carbide planer points on chain as well

It’s the fear of drains etc in the ground I’m unsure about

 

[V8Druid]

Revisting this I’ve got two jobs to do for the trust in ag farm land new supplies for fields and 1 for farm yard. 250m each

Thinking of buying a trencher as time is tight this year

Anyone know going rate per m and other than checking for services and drains the downside to thrmmm

no cab for starters

 

[Stroppymonkey]

That’s a big one!! lol the one in auction weight plate says 1830kg so attractive as towable, has carbide planer points on chain as well

It’s the fear of drains etc in the ground I’m unsure about

I generally end up digging through the drains with a bucket anyway so might as well let the trencher do the job for you anyway. Easy enough to go and unfuck your fuckups . Presumably it’s the landowners/customer job to make you aware of services and drains and any thing you hit that is not marked will be extra cost to customer ?

 

[Diggerdave]

That's the other reason why handy to have a digger on the job as well as trencher for repairs to drains and pipes.
Just have to do your homework on services in field and plan your route to try and avoid them.

That small trencher should be useful at that weight with the carbide tips. Vermeer very good kit.

 

[Storrsy]

Surely the key here is to underline to customer that you'll be using a trencher and unless made aware of any drains or services, the cost to repair will be an addition. Contractor can't be expected to take responsibility for everything underground IMO

 

[Giles]

Surely the key here is to underline to customer that you'll be using a trencher and unless made aware of any drains or services, the cost to repair will be an addition. Contractor can't be expected to take responsibility for everything underground IMO

Maybe in an ideal world but customers expect a certain level of service and holding hands up and being unaccountable isn’t the service we provide. We’ve built a good reputation up that keeps us in demand for 12months plus by going that bit extra.

If we break it we fix it

Problem we have is large organisation, different estate managers different tenants, historic properties and accuracy of any records plus on this one it’s newly purchased but lands been kept farms been sold after death so can’t even ask the old farmer etc

You’re very lucky unless a modern farm to have accurate drainage plans of fields especially if that’s fields 500 years of use say etc plus it’s best guess of installer and lie of land to find them. Summer drought drone surveys work well etc or signs like greener grass on drain runs etc

Utilities and foul etc no problem it’s the clay tile and old stone sough/suff drains that don’t like to be disturbed can really mess up a field by slicing through a few drains.

 

[Storrsy]

Maybe in an ideal world but customers expect a certain level of service and holding hands up and being unaccountable isn’t the service we provide. We’ve built a good reputation up that keeps us in demand for 12months plus by going that bit extra.

If we break it we fix it

Problem we have is large organisation, different estate managers different tenants, historic properties and accuracy of any records plus on this one it’s newly purchased but lands been kept farms been sold after death so can’t even ask the old farmer etc

You’re very lucky unless a modern farm to have accurate drainage plans of fields especially if that’s fields 500 years of use say etc plus it’s best guess of installer and lie of land to find them. Summer drought drone surveys work well etc or signs like greener grass on drain runs etc

Utilities and foul etc no problem it’s the clay tile and old stone sough/suff drains that don’t like to be disturbed can really mess up a field by slicing through a few drains.

Just have to charge accordingly and go steady with the digger then. No way id be taking a punt with a trencher if no idea what's there and have to put it all right at my expense. Anything I do now of that sort I'm afraid I say on quote I'll scan the area but other than that I'm not a diviner and anything hit is an unforeseeable consequence. Same with augering holes. Hit a gas line once with auger and cost to repair was more than cost of whole bloody job.

 

[Smiffy]

Maybe in an ideal world but customers expect a certain level of service and holding hands up and being unaccountable isn’t the service we provide. We’ve built a good reputation up that keeps us in demand for 12months plus by going that bit extra.

If we break it we fix it

Problem we have is large organisation, different estate managers different tenants, historic properties and accuracy of any records plus on this one it’s newly purchased but lands been kept farms been sold after death so can’t even ask the old farmer etc

You’re very lucky unless a modern farm to have accurate drainage plans of fields especially if that’s fields 500 years of use say etc plus it’s best guess of installer and lie of land to find them. Summer drought drone surveys work well etc or signs like greener grass on drain runs etc

Utilities and foul etc no problem it’s the clay tile and old stone sough/suff drains that don’t like to be disturbed can really mess up a field by slicing through a few drains.

You could have the area pad surveyed.
We often charge for a survey which becomes the property of the land owner to offer out to contractors for tender. It can often lead to more efficient working and a cheaper job overall. But obviously you need a certain type of client to understand this.

 

[Stroppymonkey]

My favourite machine operator (now deceased) used to be great at finding stuff. When we were looking for services or drains he used to use grading bucket on 14t machine and slice the turf and top soil off cleanly, you could usually spot previous trenching then .

 

[Giles]

My favourite machine operator (now deceased) used to be great at finding stuff. When we were looking for services or drains he used to use grading bucket on 14t machine and slice the turf and top soil off cleanly, you could usually spot previous trenching then .

I’m pretty good and very rarely hit anything digging, we also go slow and stead with smooth bucket unless we completely know it’s clear. Was a ground
penetrating radar in auction but made £1.5k without knowing if it worked

I go slow and steady and I often spot where previous trenches where etc or you can read the ground from signs etc

But with a trencher your going at it blind but quick lol

This one we are on at moment found an old cast water feed and 2 electrics, cat showed 1 incoming main but other wasn’t showing but the genny on it

Also traced fibre with genny and clamp ring

Avoiding stuff while digging is 25% the job lol

 

[Storrsy]

Thing is some services are easy to spot, detect signs or feel you way if your going steady and suspect something's there but the worse for me has always been BT lines. Going across fields you'd never expect and usually barely underground.

 

[Smiffy]

I’m pretty good and very rarely hit anything digging, we also go slow and stead with smooth bucket unless we completely know it’s clear. Was a ground
penetrating radar in auction but made £1.5k without knowing if it worked

I go slow and steady and I often spot where previous trenches where etc or you can read the ground from signs etc

But with a trencher your going at it blind but quick lol

This one we are on at moment found an old cast water feed and 2 electrics, cat showed 1 incoming main but other wasn’t showing but the genny on it

Also traced fibre with genny and clamp ring

Avoiding stuff while digging is 25% the job lol

I wouldn't bother buying a gpr. Our guy reckons 3-4 years of daily use to be reliable reading it.
Paying someone to do it, it all gets marked out properly, and you get a dwg and pdf to keep on site or dwg can go into GPS, save getting them out again if markings fade

 

[Giles]

Thing is some services are easy to spot, detect signs or feel you way if your going steady and suspect something's there but the worse for me has always been BT lines. Going across fields you'd never expect and usually barely underground.

Like cable etc when they rolled that out nynex virgin etc shovel in lawn push cable down lucky it’s only coax so can twist together and tape but always only just burried

 

[doobin]

I just leave them now when I go through them. Nobody uses cable anymore, it’s all fibre broadband and Netflix.

 

[V8Druid]

I just leave them now when I go through them. Nobody uses cable anymore, it’s all fibre broadband and Netflix.

except open reach and theirs are only 6" down too ... found a few

 

[Stroppymonkey]

except open reach and theirs are only 6" down too ... found a few

I may or may have not pulled out an open reach cable. Last place on the exchange and both the places served by the line that I dug through don’t have a landline. (Mum and dad at the farm - and the original house they sold off)
I was then only giving the pole a test wiggle and the cable pinged off across the road so I threw it up in the opposite hedge. Still there I think.
Pole ‘fell’ down in the wind shortly after

 

[V8Druid]

I may or may have not pulled out an open reach cable. Last place on the exchange and both the places served by the line that I dug through don’t have a landline. (Mum and dad at the farm - and the original house they sold off)
I was then only giving the pole a test wiggle and the cable pinged off across the road so I threw it up in the opposite hedge. Still there I think.
Pole ‘fell’ down in the wind shortly after

oh I knew I'd killed ours ..... and the two neighbours'. both approaching 9 months and due to drop ...
open reach were here in an hour after I told them that and the fact that their engineer had detailed exactly where their cables ran, the week before when he came specifically to tell me ....
'cept he was a good 30 ft out and the wrong side of the drive

was the third I'd found in 2-3 hrs ... this un was deffo 'live' though .. god knows what the other two were

 

[V8Druid]

I may or may have not pulled out an open reach cable. Last place on the exchange and both the places served by the line that I dug through don’t have a landline. (Mum and dad at the farm - and the original house they sold off)
I was then only giving the pole a test wiggle and the cable pinged off across the road so I threw it up in the opposite hedge. Still there I think.
Pole ‘fell’ down in the wind shortly after

now I've gone cellular for 'net, the pole on the side of my drive may succumb to a similar fate
just need to check if our 'nice' neighbours are still running a land line or not?
I know they're on cellular for their BB