Width of trench

[fiaraziqbal]

Good morning all, 

 

I am digging a trench for a 110mm soil pipe. I have a choice of using a small bucket to cut two trenches side by side to create a 420mm trench (110 plus 300) however I have a 600mm bucket. Will that be too wide?

 

Thanks in advance 

[tonyshouse]

Easiest to dig 600 , should be able to get a 450 bucket, 300 for a foundation seems awfully narrow to me 

[MikeSharp01]

600 is too wide for one soil pipe and a small bucket can do wider trenches quite easily. You will find you first bite is wider at the surface than it is at the bottom and by the time you have cleaned it up to the required width it will be fine. You don't need 420mm for a 110mm soil pipe you just need to remember to go a bit deeper so you can put a pea shingle base in to get it flat then back fill with pea shingle around and above the pipe a little way before restoring the soil. a 450 trench will use more pea shingle than a 350 mm one.

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by MikeSharp01
sense

[MikeSharp01]

2 minutes ago, tonyshouse said:

Easiest to dig 600 , should be able to get a 450 bucket, 300 for a foundation seems awfully narrow to me 

Its for a soil pipe by the looks of it not the foundations.

[ProDave]

Just remember the narrower the trench, the straighter it must be.

[cwr]

If your digger's as knackered as mine and ground hard or rocky then you may find that the second of two cuts runs into the first and it's difficult to get the width at the bottom.

[saveasteading]

Depending on how long the trench is, the extra cost of gravel in a wide trench can be shocking. It isn't usually the digger driver that is paying for it. 

On top of that there is the spoil replaced by gravel that has to go somewhere.

A 450 trench is my choice for a single drain, but 300 works if you can get it straight. If you don't have the right  bucket then perhaps hire one, cheaper than the materials saved..

 

Putting 2 pipes in one trench is great if the levels are compatible, but they seldom are.

 

Re driver skills, it takes a good operator to excavate to the right depth, especially it the bucket is toothed. Extra dig and it costs you gravel, or it gets refilled with loose earth and the pipe will settle locally. Supervision.

[fiaraziqbal]

On 20/06/2021 at 07:37, tonyshouse said:

Easiest to dig 600 , should be able to get a 450 bucket, 300 for a foundation seems awfully narrow to me 

sorry for a soil pipe

[tonyshouse]

300 is ok for a drain , just