"Roy Lewallen" wrote in message
treetonline...
Jim Lux wrote:
. . .
You also have to really contemplate "shovel and back" vs trencher. I had
a 100 ft or so gas line installed a year ago, and the plumber just got
the shovel out and trenched it by hand in a couple of hours. That's
comparable to the time I spent going down to the rental yard, getting the
trencher, bringing it home, unloading it off the trailer, spending 30
minutes trenching for the irrigation lines, then returning it.

And I'm not sure my back was any better off than the plumber's at the end
of the day.
. . .

I have a hand tool that's considerably better than a shovel for cutting a
narrow slot. I think it's intended to be a manual edger. It's on a handle
like a shovel but the blade is flat, semi-circular, and sharpened. You can
push it into the ground by stepping on it, then you can rock it to widen
the slit it cuts. I wouldn't try using it here in the summer when the
ground is basically adobe, but it's reasonable in the winter when the
ground is wet and soft. I don't think it would make a slot deep and wide
enough for conduit, but you could probably use one to get bare coax under
the sod and mower.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

I am the original poster. I just got done using my gas powered lawn edger
and it worked fine. I had to cut 2 slits for my Direct TV cables. 1 was for
High Dev cables and the other for the digital cables. I couldn't get them in
one slit. My 2 cuts were about 35 feet long.and about 2 inches or so deep.
We had a full day of rain here in Illinois so it may the cutting easy. After
I got them in the slits I took a 3/4" board and gently tapped the cables
down in the ground. I hope that freeze this winter doesn't heave them up.
Thanks for your comments.