Before we begin, we’ll go into what a trencher actually is. Much as the name implies, a trencher digs trenches. Okay, so maybe you’ll need a little more information on that. The common kind of trencher you find looks a bit like a chainsaw. It has a frame, which some can be stood on, others you walk alongside. The chain has teeth on it and digs into the dirt quickly making a trench.
So, you might ask, what is the benefit of a trencher over an excavator? They can dig trenches, pretty fast, and larger too. There are a few benefits of a trencher, as it gives a clean cut making it easy to install utilities, and does it fast, to save time on the labour of digging a trench by hand. Which we’ll explore in a moment. Trenchers are also smaller than excavators, meaning they’re more manoeuvrable, and generally just faster to set up and use.
Some common kinds of trenchers include the chain trencher, which we just spoke about, the wheel trencher, which is designed for hard surfaces, and smaller edging trenchers for cutting a clean line along the edge of the garden bed. Whilst these aren’t all of them, they’re the most common ones you can find. Read through with us from great uses for a trencher, then you can consider going to your local construction equipment supplier and hiring or buying one for yourself.
- Irrigation
Many garden spaces or agricultural areas will need a kind of irrigation system in place. There are a number of different kinds of irrigation trenches, some have hoseing installed in them with a watering system. Drier climates use trenches to retain and hold water, so it won’t evaporate as fast and be more useful to whatever plans or crops may be growing. Whilst there are a number of different kinds of irrigation systems out there, they all have one thing in common, and that’s a trench. Trenchers are perfect for this, as the name implies they’re rather good at creating a trench for whatever irrigation system.
- Installing pipes and services
Many services such as internet lines, electricity cables, and water/sewage pipes are underground. This is for aesthetic, practical and safety reasons. Underground services allow for more surface area to be usable to homeowners, as they won’t need to worry about overhanging lines if they have a tall vehicle.
Trenchers are an efficient and easy way to install underground utilities and services. The neatness of the trench means there won’t be much time spent trying to cut into the ground to get that perfect line to ensure everything fits in properly.
- Cutting through hard surfaces
Hard surfaces, such as pavement, asphalt, and concrete are extremely difficult to work on if any underground utilities need to be installed. There are a number of different methods to get this done, and one of the best, if not the best way is with a wheel trencher. Rather than having a chain, it has circular saw blades that are designed to cut through almost any hard surface. It takes longer, but is able to get through most hard construction material, a typical trencher couldn’t. With that in mind, they aren’t as efficient as a chain trencher on softer materials such as dirt and soil.
- Accurately cut tree roots
Sometimes if a building or house extension is being installed, or maybe even a garden bed, tree roots can get in the way. This doesn’t mean the tree has to be entirely removed but instead trimmed from underground. You can get away with using a shovel and an axe to get the job done, but it takes a long time. It’s a back-breaking effort that may not even yield the results you want. There always seems to be another root, you have to hack and cut away at. This can be easily alleviated with a trencher, of course. The accuracy of a trencher means you’ll be able to outline the perimeter you need for the new instalment and cut away any roots. Then it’s just a matter of pulling them out if need be.
