Trenching production

[watglen]

Hi guys,

I need to educate/motivate my excavator operator. He is really green. I'm not that much better.

We are trenching in large drain pipe. Trench is 48" deep, being really fussy on grade and trench cleanout. I have a stick man with him, and using a laser. Machine is a volvo 240b 30" smoothedge, virgin clay soil.

Without starting a war, how many feet of trench should I be trying to achieve per hour? I need a benchmark to give my operator a goal.


Thanks

Ken

 

[maddog]

I think it would depend on the type of soil/spoils being dug? example; sand verses rock.

 

[Multiracer]

We are trenching in large drain pipe. Trench is 48" deep, being really fussy on grade and trench cleanout. I have a stick man with him, and using a laser. Machine is a volvo 240b 30" smoothedge, virgin clay soil.

 

[Construct'O]

Bigger isn't always better when it comes to finish work.Wild guess 200" per hour.Three dips gets your cut out of the way,but since your man needs experience it's the grading that will eat up the time.If he was good the last dip would be the grade cut.

Actually the smooth bucket makes it somtime hard to tell grade more then a teeth bucket for me.

Using 200 ' per hour gets you at 1600 to 2000 ft a day 8 to 10 hour day.

Grading is what kills you,espeically if your having to use flat grade.More grade makes for faster time.
Thats where trenchers kill a ezcavator laying pipe! If the trencher can cut deep and wide enough trench.Good luck on your project.

 

[old-iron-habit]

On my jobs I have not seen 200' an hour in years. Are you far away and clear from any buried utilities? Is it flat and remaining at only 4 ft. depth? Deeper than 5 ft you are going to have to slope at 2 to 1 unless your soil is signed off on by a licensed engineer. I don't think there is much place left to dig and install utilities that have 200 ft of unobstructed digging. All factors to consider and figure in.

 

[JBGASH]

My guess would be 40 to 80' feet per hour in a perfect world with the pipe installed. Really depends on what obstacles you have to dig over. If you were just digging in the wide open and not messing with anything else maybe 100-200' if easy digging soil.

 

[RBMcCloskey]

This may give you a feel for production, it is a Caterpillar 325 digging pipe trench. The operator in the video is very good, very good comes with practice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We6xXNtkoz4
Post the link to your browser

 

[watglen]

50' is about what he is doing. However, the clay is hanging in the bucket a little bit, so there is an extra bang during dumping. I think less smoke and cell breaks helps too.

My foreman has taken to driving him hard to keep the machine working, which is what you have to do for some people i guess.

I think it goes a little faster when I'm around because I maintain his focus on keeping moving.

 

[maddog]

sorry Watglen, I missed the "clay soil" quote, sucks getting older . Personally I'd rather have a guy that took a bit longer and knew what he was doing and cared for the machine/job, then a "bull in a china closet" guy that makes high production but cost major $$$$$ in repairs/mistakes. I see from the other posts your getting many good answers but they're also giving different rates. If the guy is doing a good job and seems to be catching on that would seem fair. If he's screwing up and not learning then chances are he's probably not that great an operator.

However, the clay is hanging in the bucket a little bit

this can cause a lot of wasted time, there are many different tricks and opinions on how to make the clay fall out of the bucket but in the end IMO it's still a headache.

 

[CM1995]

I might have missed it but what kind of pipe are you laying? That will also have an impact on production. I can lay ADS about 3 times faster than RCP.

 

[watglen]

ADS? RCP? We are laying 15" dual wall smooth bore drainage pipe. PVC I think. Placing it by hand.

I hopped in the ex yesterday (operator had a 'gig') managed 125'/hr. Once i got in the trench to install the pipe I could see my grading wasn't great. Wish I could do better. In by defence I haven't run the machine in about a year so I could be a little rusty. From the cab it looks way better.

 

[CM1995]

ADS? RCP? We are laying 15" dual wall smooth bore drainage pipe. PVC I think. Placing it by hand

ADS is a corrugated plastic drain, bell and spigot. - http://www.ads-pipe.com/en/product.asp?page=N-12_ST_IB_(soiltight)_Pipe

RCP, reinforced concrete pipe. 8' joints, comes in different classes depending on loading and project specs. http://www.hansonpipeandprecast.com/english/products/circular_reinforced_concrete_pipe_us.htm

Yesterday we laid 72' or 9 joints of 18" RCP and set a headwall in 3 hours. I figured you were laying some other kind of pipe to get those production numbers.

 

[j.r.]

try getting a spot on grade and put the bucket flat on the bottom of the ditch and mark the bucket for grade. a reference point can help to visualize where you need to be .