# Opinions Please - Trencher or Excavator?



## jjp2222 (Jul 19, 2018)

Hello,
I'm going to undertake a pretty massive drainage project in my swamp of a backyard that will require installing about 300ft of french drains. After pricing it all out vs. the quotes I've gotten, it looks like I'll save something on the order of $5-6k minus my time by doing it myself.

My question is - do I use a trencher or small excavator to dig the trenches?

I've never used either and am looking for the pros/cons, ease of use for each. The rental/delivery costs are roughly the same near me. My only concern with the trencher is that I'll need a minimum 8 inch wide trench and none are that wide. On the excavator, since I've never used one - I'm not sure how hard it will be to control. Also, is getting 300ft of trench dug in a day realistic?

Any expert views, past experience or even opinions would be appreciated!


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## TheTurfTamer (Aug 8, 2018)

An excavator or a small backhoe. I sell Home Depot the Kubota BX TLB . It is small and compact and easy to use. The problem with a trencher is it is hard to handle, gets muddy quick and doesn't have the ability to do your backfilling and final grade. A small backhoe can accomplish all of these things. The size of your project should be a couple days. Hard to do that in 1 day as a new operator.


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## viva_oldtrafford (Apr 4, 2018)

Why does the trench need to be 8"? That seems excessive. Anytime I do trenching, I rent a trencher (we own a backhoe). Trenchers are a workout (unless you get the ride-on kind), no doubt, but it digs the trench in the most effective way - you get a 3" trench for 2" pipe, not a 12" trench for 2" pipe. I've done both irrigation installs and drainage installs, and I always use a trencher. Additionally, I would also say that, even with a smaller hoe, you're going to take some time getting the controls down, whereas the trencher is straight forward - a trenching shovel will help with the fallback.


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## jjp2222 (Jul 19, 2018)

viva_oldtrafford said:


> Why does the trench need to be 8"? That seems excessive.


I'm just following how NDS says you should construct a french drain


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## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

The ******* in me would be tempted to hire a few high school kids and have them dig it with shovels.
Tear up your yard less too.


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## HomerGuy (Jun 5, 2017)

I would go with the mini-excavator or a mini-TLB over the trencher. The mini-excavator will dig circles around the TLB and I find the controls to be smoother on the excavator. The advantage to the mini-TLB is the loader to move the spoils and then bring in stone.

I think the perfect pairing would be a mini-excavator along with a tracked mini-skid steer, but not sure you want to pay the rental on two machines.


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