subsoiler

[prjones]

Anyone have any pictures or info on a subsoiler? I am looking for one to install underground elec. lines. Was looking for middle buster but was told this would be better. nothing on ebay. thanks Phil

[Bigdog]

King Kutter makes one - sold at TSC and other farm stores. The one in the link has a subsoiler tip and a middlebuster tip.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&productId=200311195&R=200311195&cm_ven=TL&cm_pla=DF&cm_ite=Ag

[beaconlight]

When we first got our place the local Telco used a D4 with hollow subsoiler that had a curved L shape. The cable ran from a reel through the hollow tube and was placed in the ground as they went. The 1200 foot run cost about $600.00 at the time. If your subsoiler isn't hollow you could weld iron pipe to it. Guess you would have to use AG tires with chains and weights for enough traction.Delaware county is improperly named. It should have been Rockland county, but New York already had one. The guys in the crew said they had laid miles of cable like that and very seldom had a problem.
Lots of luck with your project.

Bill

[prjones]

Thanks for the responses as always, its great to find help.

[Larry in IN]

Phil,
Check some of the antique ag sites - classified, wanted, etc.
There aren't as many subsoilers in this country as in 'days of old' - with the big tractors around here now they are pulling the equivalent of 7, 9, or more on one tool bar.
They were common in both pull-type [on wheels] and three-point versions.
Good luck!

[Virginia Mike]

I've laid a lot of wire with a subsoiler. Plow your route once, and lay the wire on the second pass with a helper pushing the wire down with a broomstick.
Check your local codes. electrical wire has to be deep here. Multiple passes may be nessessary to get to depth.
Best,
Mike

[prjones]

Thanks Mike, I plan on doing this in VA. I want to run wire to old tobaco barn about 350 feet. Was hoping to go about 18 inches running 10-3 wire. My place is in Pittsylvania Cty. Phil

[beaconlight]

350 feet will give quite a transmission loss. No problem for lights but if you plan a big air compresser or some other juice gobbler I would go #6 or #8. Also drive a good ground at the barn. I put a #10 in the Catskills in NY one time and we could light a 100 watt bulb from the ground at the barn and the bare ground wire from the house. Not bright but it glowed. There were only lights on that one. The ground at the house had been bad and lightning would flash across the living room to the fuse box from the plumbing in the bath room.
The house had been origionally on piles a couple of feet above ground. Through the years it was filled in around the house. Water would accummulate under the house so a 250 foot long trench was dug down the hill to daylight and back filled with crushed stone. This ran all the water away from the house. In the winter (nov deer season) the toilet would rise above the bathroom floor. The owner cut a section out of the cast iron waste line and bridged the two sections with rubber inner tube held with big hose clamps. The following summer the lightning started. Mike was a good machinest but electricity was not his bag. At first I thought we had success for the old ground was piece of galvinized pipe rotted off at about 10 inches below ground and near the house in the now dry area. We ran it with #6 to a 10 foot ground rod. If any thing the lightning in the house got worse. Electric had a good ground and the metal plumbing stack was a lightning rod. I had to dig to get under the house to run the new cable from the garage. That is when I found the cut off 4 inch cast iron. I cleaned and ran 2 bonds around the gap and no more lightning.
Again use a larger wir than you will need and ground the hell out of everything. You will live longer and not burn out eq because of low voltage. The formula for transmission lines is I R squared. that is the amperage times ( the resistance times the resistance) That is why the high line is the high voltage rascle that it is.

Bill

[prjones]

thanks for the advice on wiring I will look at heavier guage. I have heard a lot of stories about rigging in upstate NY. Somebody told me they were looking at property and found out the septic system was piped to an old car buried in yard. Phil

[beaconlight]

Strange enough that would work if you block off the windows. I certainly would not reccommend it but it would last till the body rotted out. Years ago there were steel tank systems too. They eventually rot out and collapse just like the car would. Todays concrete tanks are better. When Bev and I built our place we put in a 1000 gal septic with 5 times the leach field called for and a 1000 dry well for the grey water. Over kill no doubt but 20 years later no problems.

Bill

[JBall8019]

Yes, do heed beaconlights advice about heavier guage wire and grounding. I will be wiring my barn as well soon and i will be going about the same distance. i bought No 4 awg copper wire, i want to be able to use a good welder. A no 6 awg copper wire will be fine for most power tool applications. If you need any help PM me, I design power systems for highways when its need.
John