The wonderful life of digging for water. I tried it once and were on a lot of clay. It was either hitting rocks and having to make the trench 3 times the size or having the sides of the trench collapse before you could run the lines. I ended up giving up, and putting a dug well near the coop. Our water table is high. Thanks for you hard work!

I feel the pain Ross. I was not expecting snow this early either and now it's bitter cold with no snap in sight. Oh well, just move forward. Thanks for sharing!

That look when you walked out into the snow says it all lol! It was a valiant effort and you will get it done! Have a great week!

What a great project, Ross! Creative edit as usual!

Just came across your project today. I did a similar project for a water line and completed it in November. It was 150' and 3 1/2' deep. I used a 12" shovel on an RS1000 mini-bulldozer and an electric 2300W demolition chisel. Lots of clay, and lots of layered limestone rock. In a 12' continuous section of rock I used the jackhammer to break through the 12" thick rock, essentially carving a channel in the middle of the stone. The jackhammer helped me immensely in the removal of the three and a half tons of rock I had to take out of the trench, fortunately, the rock piled high was perfect for the goats to climb on. Providence was with me, I finished the schedule 80 and the faucet hook-up, ran the water and filled the trench the day before -8 degree weather hit.

I feel your pain. I dug a 100’ trench with my BX. Second trench I had to do, I rented a trencher and was done in 1 1/2 hrs. Lesson learned.

Y’all got a lot done! That’s a huge job! I busted my sewer line digging to run sewer to my garage. It was a pretty easy repair, but it hurts your pride a little. Lol. Best of luck figuring out a way to get it finished!

Oh man I feel you on this one! Winter hit way to early! Sorry buddy. I'm still holding out hope that winter hasn't shut me down yet. We have light snow and it is only a high of 26*F / -3*C today. I'm going to head out anyway and see what happens. I'm looking forward to see the completion of your water line in spring!

Hello Ross, I feel your pain my friend. Until recently we have been having t-shirt weather here , but today , because of lumber supply delays, we were using a heat gun to instal ice and water shield on the roof of Mr. Kubota's new home. All the best, Ben from Nova Scotia

Good morning Ross. I would not call it a fail.. I is just a set back for a short period of time. I know you where trying to not have to lug water all winter but it will be the last winter you have to. So that is something to look forward to.. Always think positive. That is one big bolder you have growing there. Hahahah One thing I have learned is you can’t fight Mother Nature.. hahaha She always Wins.. So now you know what your first project will be in the spring. Have a great weekend.. I have been looking forward to snow I have a very big brush pile to burn and need snow to do it.😁 Stay safe and always be kind. Cheers

Yikes! 4' trench. Rocks. "nicked it a bit". Snow. What a hassle to put in a water line, Ross. We're cold in Florida this week too....had a light frost this morning. We're shook! 🥶

Hey Ross I know your pain I'm putting up a fence and didn't it start the snow on me and it's gonna have to be finished in the spring how frustrating is that ah You got to love our Canadian weather as well our shield

I am in Canada and I think you hit bedrock not a stone. This happens on my property all the time. Good luck and hang in there. You will win at some point in time.

After running light to heavy equipment for a couple of decades, you tend to learn quickly to choose the most efficient equipment for the job. First, a 6” bucket has proven to me to be worthless. My minimum on backhoes, escalators is 12”. Small buckets load up and you can’t dump them. As for this video, for water lines 3/4 to 1 1/2”, I use a trencher. Faster, less soil displaced. You have to figure wear and tear on your equipment. The same rationale as to why I don’t use my 80,000 pound escalator to dig post holes. The cost to rent a trencher is minimal when compared to your time, your effort and overall wear and tear on your backhoe. Just my two cents for DIYers.

Omg that was a big project Ross, I guess you can really say you hit rock bottom 😳. If I may make a suggestion, you could put some 2” foam insulation where you don’t have 4’ just to be safe. It’s all white here also and it doesn’t look like it’s going to melt anytime soon. Good luck my friend 🙂🙋🏼‍♂️👍🏻

I've worked construction and mining most of my life. We'd call that dust control and keep going. But if you don't have the experience and don't feel comfortable. I agree stopping is better before something happens that's going to cost life and money. Great topsoil BTW.

That must be very frustrating. We spend all winter hoping we may get one day of snow and you get months of it. That was a long way to dig and that rock must be huge

Well, this made me rethink wanting a tractor with a backhoe. All that kneeling on the seat. I only have 40 hours on my BX and I'm already thinking my first upgrade needs to be an air suspension seat. Also, seeing that Shield Rock is super cool, I got more of the glacial run off below you here in Minnesota.

Big job bud. But yeah like you said earlier some foam and hay should do it for the shallower spots. maybe rent a propane flamethrower to melt that snow in the trench and get that pipe in lol But you never know we could get another warm spell in December. But remember, you gotta hit rock bottom in the trenches to get better lol.

Well I understand why things up at the Cay were going so easy, Murphy was busy at your place! Man I don't know what to say.😮 I agree with Luc though, insulation should do the trick. Fingers crossed 🤞 for you. On the bright side it is the weekend! 👍🍻🚜🥂🍹🍸🍷🍻A couple of these might make it go away temporarily. Cheers buddy!

dont worry about the rock 3 1/2 ft is more than enough , by insulating the water line with pipe insulation will protect the pipe more than enough even in below 0 temps...I hit rock with my water line and in places it was only 20 inches deep and insulated it and have never had an issue and I live in the Northeast where temps dip below 0 at times in the winter...

Good evening Sir, you can isolate over your water line ( styrofoam or even hay ) and use your leafblower to blow the snow away and then fill up your trench Maaan !!! You can do it with that amount of the snow do not so dramatic Sir 🤣👌👍 You CAN DO IT ROSS, Let's GO DO IT Cheers 🍻🍻

Well that sucks Ross. Hopefully maybe you’ll get a break for some days and get it finished 🤞

Thinking the trenching bucket is just not the greatest fit if there’s any moisture in the ground. Might work better as a root grubbing bucket. Great job. We’re into 36” of snow outside Buffalo. And I’m layer up with a knee replaced yesterday. Hope to rehab quick and get to it….

Water lines here are about 12" deep. I usually just hand dig from the meter to a rental house and cuss when I hit a 3" round rock. Western WA state.

Been digging with kubota for years if you weld a short piece of chain in that trench bucket it will help with dirt packing into it

Summer job. I feel for you.

This felt bad right from the start. You had a mine field of things to tear up.

wow 48" frost line. Gotta be Canada! In Missouri we're 32-36 inch

I just saw a Homestead Rescue where they put insulation panels on top of the water line which they said would be equivalent to 2 extra feet on top of the line. Then they put a layer of plastic over it.

Renting a Ditch witch would be so much faster than struggling with a loader/backhoe If the trench is more than 20' its ditch witch territory

We just dug up the yard to run heat trace on our grey water field line as we couldn't get it deep enough in spots.

Google "putting a chain in bucket" to keep it from clogging"

Looks like you need a quick attach plate for your backhoe.

How much pressure are you running through it? I had to modify mine to two thousand psi because it would not do anything with the twelve hundred psi it came from factory

I was sad and disappointed you did not finish it, there is lights on the tractor, the snow will slow you down but not enough to stop you. East Central Minnesota old guy here with no rocks in his yard

What about an running a line from your air compressor and then a couple of ball valves so you can just blow the lines out?

You've got snow and I'm still mowing grass in Louisiana! Stay warm and finish it when you can maybe rent a jackhammer for the hydrant!

Are you sure that’s not a old bomb shelter from the fifties and not a rock.

Oh man! 😂😂

So you mean to tell me you have a tractor, a nice house and property, and you only have (1) shovel and you cant find it. Organization is the name of the game.

When I feel deflated I go for the vitamin G, .... yup a pint of Guinness. It always cheers me up Ross. LOL. I see you are into Star Trek like me, with the purchase of your new VULCAN brand shovel ! Well, with spring comes new hope, and many months to get that job done, and with your Kubota at least you'll have some fun. That thing is awesome. I don't need the back hoe but I still want your model over mine haha !

I was thinking if you are worried about freezing the waterline use heat tape around the pipe where it is too shallow and/or dig a wider trench in shallow areas and install styrofoam insulation above the waterline by a few inches. Im betting 3 ft below the surface a few feet wide and several inches thick would help protect the line from freezing. Combining both would really protect the line. But like all things it'd cost money.

Do these guys ever have a plan?

Seems like an old ancient structure

Push rod down with bucket. Fill bucket ir you need more power.

The skinny thing isn't a bucket. I assume you only use it to break up super rock ground. I'll watch more to see if you get on track. GAH! That is a nasty dig. I wonder if there is something that would insulate the pipe well enough to make it safe at 2.5 or 3 ft? Heat tape? Anyway, good luck.

Drill and blast?

Ross: next week is supposed to be better. No snow. Maybe you can finish the trench then. Maybe run a heat wire in the trench with the pipe. Take care and stay safe.

Why not rent a jack hammer and see if that would break up the big stone?

Why are you kneeling on the seat instead of using the backhoe to move forward as you dig? Leave the machine in neutral, lift the front off the ground with bucket. Level the back with stabilizers and then lower it and push forward as needed. You can even use steering to point it in the direction you need. Much easier

Bummer Ross.

Wouldn't hurt to bury the snow would it ? , it would compact easy ? as long as ground doesn't freeze hard continue ??? get er done.

4ft where do you live Antartica.

Well that’s to bad guys. Frustrating for sure. I wonder how thick that big rock is. Hard to believe it’s that big around. You didn’t happen to try breaking thru the rock with a bar and hammer. Or hitting it with a maul. Hope things work out for ya.

Зоведу сваева я железнова коня прокапаю я троншею от зогона веть до дома штоб была всегда вода у Кабанчиков сытых паросяток 😊😊😊😊😊

Or plan to drain in winter

Why are you sitting on the tractor like that?

That stinks Ross. Well, go get the snow gear on the tractor.

O

Don't you know how to push your tractor with the backhoe???

Bad planning!

This was uploaded before in 2021