pulsar69
New member
- Location
- United States
how much to charge to hand dig a trench 80feet by 18 inches in standard grass/dirt
trenching cost
- Thread starter pulsar69
- Start date
- Status
How many hours will it take you plus the cost of the tools.
Welcome to the forum..:thumbsup:
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
I would do it for $125/hour. It would probably take me at least a week. I am pretty lazy.
- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Engineer
I did this very same job once. It was to allow additional wires for telephone and cable service to be brought to the home I was renting. It took me about 4 hours. I did not charge myself for the work. 
(Sorry. Couldn't resist. :happyno: )
(Sorry. Couldn't resist. :happyno: )
junkhound
Senior Member
- Location
- Renton, WA
- Occupation
- EE, power electronics specialty
took me about 4 hours
You must be in one of the rare areas here without big rocks, eh?
Dug a 170 foot long 2ft deep 18" wide trench last year on Kent east hill for a PSE service, took 4 hours with a bobcat backhoe!
You must be in one of the rare areas here without big rocks, eh?
Dug a 170 foot long 2ft deep 18" wide trench last year on Kent east hill for a PSE service, took 4 hours with a bobcat backhoe!
mjf
Senior Member
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
I am standing right there next to you, watching the guy we're paying $10.00/hr dig the trench.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
Standard grass/dirt is not descriptive enough to determine how difficult this task may be, even with certain power equipment doing the digging.
If I didn't have the equipment though I would consider either subcontracting that or going to a rental place to get the equipment to do it. If soil is easy digging I may consider hand digging but 80 feet is about the longest distance I would hand dig. At some point your labor will be more then renting equipment.
electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
That is what they make diesel for. Does it have to be dug by hand?
Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
"standard" dirt around here is something called caleche,
it's a cross between adobe, and stainless steel, but harder
and stickier. the kind where the teeth from a backhoe
bucket leave blue black shiny marks in it.
you "dig" it with a clay spade on a jackhammer.
or a backhoe.
if i had to do that with a little hilti demo hammer with
a clay spade on it, about $500.
$100 for the home depot parking lot technician,
and $400 for me providing the jackhammer, and lunch.
ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
Standard dirt here ranges from rock hard clay that chips out at the end of summer, to sand that will sift back into a trench and float a conduit that hasn't been covered.
100` is to far for us to hand dig. I hear of min wage or less employees, but not local.
100` is to far for us to hand dig. I hear of min wage or less employees, but not local.
jrannis
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Lauderdale/ Miami
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
That is a valid consideration if hand digging.I think I would dig down 6" and use IMC.
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
a few years back I had a gas line run out to the garage to replace the one that sprung a leak.
the plumbers hired a temp to do the trench digging. they said they had to pay a minimum of 4 hours for him even if he were able to dig the trench faster than four hours.
i installed some UF and a telephone cable in pvc conduit in the same trench. probably not deep enough for code and I never actually hooked the telephone wires up to anything.
filling the trench back in was not all that hard.
the plumbers hired a temp to do the trench digging. they said they had to pay a minimum of 4 hours for him even if he were able to dig the trench faster than four hours.
i installed some UF and a telephone cable in pvc conduit in the same trench. probably not deep enough for code and I never actually hooked the telephone wires up to anything.
filling the trench back in was not all that hard.
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
One time out at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center they needed a 14' diameter 30' deep hole dug vertically in a dirt embankment, and lined with steel sections.
The 14 dimension in the request for bids was based on the largest boring machine available locally.
Winning bid was six hippies with hand tools:
Two guys at the bottom, one with pick and one with shovel.
One guy at the top with rope and bucket, one guy to keep people from falling in the hole.
The sixth guy was the boss.
Tapatalk!
The 14 dimension in the request for bids was based on the largest boring machine available locally.
Winning bid was six hippies with hand tools:
Two guys at the bottom, one with pick and one with shovel.
One guy at the top with rope and bucket, one guy to keep people from falling in the hole.
The sixth guy was the boss.
Tapatalk!
Cow
Senior Member
- Location
- Eastern Oregon
- Occupation
- Electrician
We come across that out here quite often when we're running power to irrigation pivots for crop circles. One job we were on the farmer was running a good sized trackhoe and hit a shelf of that stuff underground. Just one spot about 100' long in one of his ditches. He couldn't punch through it with the teeth on the bucket, so he had to rent a jackhammer attachment.
I cringe anytime I know I have to drive rods in an area with that stuff!:rant:
junkhound
Senior Member
- Location
- Renton, WA
- Occupation
- EE, power electronics specialty
Winning bid was six hippies with hand tools: Tapatalk![/QUOTE said:
- Status