cknapper Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Hi all, Just wondering if there is a nice tool to dig in cables on really hard ground. Carn't get in deep enought with a spade :huh: Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seano Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Ditch Witch!Or, more generically, a pedestrian trencher - hireable from all sorts of plant hire places. Relatively expensive, but well worth it for all but the shortest runs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 More old-fashioned, but much cheaper and with the added benefit of a good upper body workout, is a Mattock :( One with a horizontal and vertical chisel head combo is good for cable trenches. Expect to pay about £20-30. Handy Hint: Polythene tubing isn't very expensive, either and keeps your precious cables from getting covered in mud and stuff ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepytom Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 get the forklift / telihandler driver to plough you a trench with one of his forks. remember to put a rope in on top of the last cable to make it easy to pull the earth up and get the cables, don't pull on one of your cables to do this as you'll damage it. (Just using the video cables as the rope is surprisingly popular with everyone except the vidiots - Please don't do this! Triax is a good deal more expensive than most cables and you'd be well pissed off if someone treated your gear like this) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 get the forklift / telihandler driver to plough you a trench with one of his forks.Is that legal? :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Jelfs Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 One festival I work at uses the farmer that owns the site with a single bladed plough on the back of his tractor, nice and easy, job done in seconds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theatrcymraeglampy Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Stand by for a post by the BS 7909:2008 police to start telling you how deep they must be, and a regulation number........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Stand by for a post by the BS 7909:2008 police to start telling you how deep they must be, and a regulation number...........That's the sort of ill-informed and fatuous comment which illustrates why we have the H&S regime that we do. Have you actually read 7909? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 "BS7909:2008? All nations attending the conference are only alloted one parking space?" Is that entirely relevant sir? We are talking about trench diging, and you are worried about the Chinese delegates bringing 2 cars? Sorry, I'll get my coat. Long live the dwarf. On a more serious note - one more vote for the ditch witch - they are not that expensive to hire - half a days hire for the average gig set me back AU$40 for a smallish one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seano Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 get the forklift / telihandler driver to plough you a trench with one of his forks.Is that legal? <_<I can't think why it wouldn't be, but its a pretty bad idea nonetheless. For my taste it'd be much too easy to bend one of the tynes that way, after which using the forklift for anything else arguably is illegal (under PUWER, HSAW, blah blah) not to mention awkward, dangerous and basically just all-round bad karma. (It can also turn out to be expensive when the time comes to return hired plant.) If you really wanted to improvise a telehandler powered plough, you could prolly come up with something out of the average festival boneyard that'd be a bit better than just jabbing one tyne in the ground. I don't suppose it'd be pretty or do a very neat job, but at least the threat of a bent putlock or a mildly mangled stillage would carry less bad karma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Back in my apprenticeship days, a century or so ago, I learned to use a Mole Plough - attached to the winch on the back of our wagons. The cable was attached to the plough, and it buried itself as it cut through the earth, and a rear blade made sure it covered itself afterwards.Natty little beasties! Google cable mole plough and you'll get loads of massive mechanised versions, but the Wiki picture is a good example of the basic type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepytom Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I can't think why it wouldn't be, but its a pretty bad idea nonetheless. For my taste it'd be much too easy to bend one of the tynes that way, after which using the forklift for anything else arguably is illegal (under PUWER, HSAW, blah blah) not to mention awkward, dangerous and basically just all-round bad karma. (It can also turn out to be expensive when the time comes to return hired plant.)Yeah on consideration using the tynes is a bad idea - I've seen it done on more than one occasion though! (mind you a lot of stuff which is fairly common practice on festival sites falls into the category of bad ideas / dubious legality) No doubt there is a range of specialist kit which could be rented for this job, but the adverage festival promoter is not known for spending money when there is a saving to be had from a bodged solution! Really the festival site crew should be aware of the need for trenches and have the correct equipment for digging them, the sound and light crews should just say where the trench goes and the drop the cables into it after the site crew has dug it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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