Trenches

Guv'nor has been working really hard the last few weeks laying water lines out in the pastures. The main goal is to supply water for potential cows out in far pastures. The existing water line only supplied water to the house. This is the time we wish we had about a dozen stout young men working for us. He had help one day from Son and daughter's Boyfriend, and then another evening from Groom.

The first thing Guv'nor had to do was determine where any existing underground pipes and cables were. He contacted the local utility companies and they sent out surveyors who marked any areas with little flags.

He measured the pastures and calculated the necessary PVC pipe he would need, along with joins, bends, faucets, and glue. Home Depot delivered the pipe.

Next he rented the trenching equipment for 3 days. After a couple of hours on the first day (averaging 2'/minute), he quickly realized it wasn't going to be that easy. The ground was much harder under the surface than he had imagined, predicted, or expected. He ended up needing the equipment for a full week. >$$$

Once the trenching was completed, that was only half the job done. The PVC pipe had to be laid into the trenches and connected. At regular intervals, a section was added for a faucet. Finally, it was connected to the main water supply by the road and tested to make sure there were no leaks. Then the trencher was used to back fill the dirt back into the trenches.

He had to scale down the scope of the job. Originally, he had planned to lay 5000 feet of pipes which would reach to the farthest corner of the pasture. He adjusted that down to about 3600 feet after a couple of hard days. In addition to water for cows, we now have a water supply to the workshop, cow barn, and garden area.

Guv'nor admits that it turned out to be a much bigger and harder job than he had imagined. If he had known beforehand, he says he wouldn't have wanted to do it.

Guv'nor used a survey map to plan and calculate necessary supplies.

20 foot lengths of PVC pipe was delivered out near the road.

He started with 250 PVC pipes.

Some of the bends and faucets used.

Guv'nor trenching, hopefully, on the first day.

The equipment was very loud and he wore ear protection.

As the trench is made, the dirt is brought up on each side with teeth similar to a giant chain saw.

The trencher cut a 6" wide trench.

The first day he was only able to trench half as much as he had planned.

The lengths of PVC pipe were carried around on the mule.

The pipe were laid out next to the trenches.

PVC pipe in the trench

The depth of the trenches was very uneven.

At regular intervals a section was added for a faucet.

The trenching out to the cow barn was uneven.

Some of the dirt was so dry it fell back into the trench.

Some sections had to be trenched twice.

The trenches were about 18 inches deep.

The dirt clods that fell back into the trenches had to be removed by hand.

The cutting equipment made an interesting pattern.

The farthest section of the trenching stopped at the end of this pasture.

The trench down to the garden area

So many clods

Each length of PVC pipe was glued.

The glue was put on both ends.

Once it was put together the glue dried in a few seconds.

Faucets at regular intervals