Trencher vs Excavator for a French Drain
Why dig a large trench instead of using a trencher that will open a six-inch slot to put a tube of four inches and a stone? The larger trench can accommodate more aggregate. More aggregate means moving more water and the more effective your system will be.
When you use a trencher, you end up with a broad channel that’s about six inches wide. Well, the pipe is four inches. The channel you are watching is 16 inches wide and 18 inches deep. It will move a lot of water, this will be a system that lasts.
Less than two years ago, the owner paid someone to put in a french drain system. They didn’t do a very good job. It was about six inches wide, they put some pea stone in the trench and put some dirt back on top of it. It worked for a while, then less and less until it finally stopped.
We took out forty yards of dirt for this project. We are lining the trench with a good filter fabric to keep the stone from migrating into the subsoil. And keeping the subsoil from migrating into the stone, causing the system to clog. This system is going to move a lot of water, the pipe will move about 240 gallons per minute; the stone will probably move about the same amount.
Water will be evacuated immediately. It’s not going to hang around and saturate the soil.
The best part is it will not be a system that is going to fail in two years. This will be a system that will stand the test of time. It will continue to work for decades.
When you use a trencher, you end up with a broad channel that’s about six inches wide. Well, the pipe is four inches. The channel you are watching is 16 inches wide and 18 inches deep. It will move a lot of water, this will be a system that lasts.
Less than two years ago, the owner paid someone to put in a french drain system. They didn’t do a very good job. It was about six inches wide, they put some pea stone in the trench and put some dirt back on top of it. It worked for a while, then less and less until it finally stopped.
We took out forty yards of dirt for this project. We are lining the trench with a good filter fabric to keep the stone from migrating into the subsoil. And keeping the subsoil from migrating into the stone, causing the system to clog. This system is going to move a lot of water, the pipe will move about 240 gallons per minute; the stone will probably move about the same amount.
Water will be evacuated immediately. It’s not going to hang around and saturate the soil.
The best part is it will not be a system that is going to fail in two years. This will be a system that will stand the test of time. It will continue to work for decades.