Trenching on a hillside for laying sprinker pipe?

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gzillakom

Starting Member

Posts: 1

Sunday, March 7th 2010, 11:40am

Trenching on a hillside for laying sprinker pipe?

We have a hillside that has a 30-35 degree slope. We have 2 sections, each ~60 feet across by ~40 feet vertical. We have an 8 foot wide concrete drainage swale between the 2 sections. We want to lay pipe in the diagram shown below, but are unsure how to dig the trenches for the vertical runs, horizontal runs, and boring a hole beneath the swale without doing it manually. We've looked at renting a ditch witch, but the smallest one we found is 900lbs, so going vertically up the hill or horizontal across the hill at an angle might not work. For the boring beneath the swale, we think that water pressure and the pipe itself might do the trick. Any other suggestions?

______60'_____ <--horizontal run
|..................|
|..................|20'
|_____________| <--horizontal run
|..................|
|..................|20'
|_____________| <--horizontal run
====Swale 8'===
______________ <--horizontal run
|..................|
|..................|
|_____________| <--horizontal run
|..................|
|..................|
|_____________| <--horizontal run
^--Vertical runs--^

Just to explain:
Each section will have 2 sprinkler zones, 1 for bubbler sprinklers and 1 for trickle system. We have a 3rd section beyond the top section not shown that is flat that will have another 2 zones.

On the left vertical side run will be a 4" sewer pipe @ +18" deep and 6x 1" sprinkler feed pipe @ 6" deep (for zoning each section). On the right vertical side will be 1.5" electrical pipe @ 18" deep. The 3 horizontal runs (in each section) will be 2x 3/4" pipe feeding from 4 of the 6 pipes running off the left vertical pipes.

HELP!

This post has been edited 2 times, last edit by "gzillakom" (Mar 21st 2010, 8:02pm)

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HooKooDooKu

Supreme Member

Posts: 683

Wednesday, May 19th 2010, 11:36am

It's been almost two weeks and I see you haven't gotten any responses... basically I think because this sort of looks like a job for a professional.

It all really comes down to whether or not you think YOU can handle a ditch digger on a slope, and 30 degrees is a pretty steep slope (were talking steepness that compares with how some NASCAR tracks are banked). And as you say, those machines are heavy. Now they are self-propelled, and might be able to pull themselves up the hill. But my biggest concern would be toppling the trencher when going across the hillside. As such, it might be better to look into a pro doing the job with a pipe puller.

As for going under the wall, that's just going to depend upon the type of soil you have under the wall... that can be a simple job or a difficult job. But I would think the worst part would be having to dig into the ground on the uphill side of the wall.