Tried to add photos to my post yesterday regarding the yard hydrant project but wouldn't let me add images. Despite the rocky soil, the BX23S really was fantastic. I think I paid for the backhoe doing this project myself. With the hydrants (decided to go with Merrill hydrants, made in the USA so they were almost three times as much as the cheap hydrants at Home Depot), PEX, fittings and crimp rings, PEX tool, PVC couplers and pipe, piece of sewer line, shielded couplers, wire (for tracer line) and gravel I was in at around $1,200. Can't imagine what it would cost to hire someone to come in and dig the trench and hire a plumber to install everything. Would have definitely been much faster, but I saved a lot of money doing myself and wasn't in a hurry and learned a lot. One hydrant is where I'm goring to put a greenhouse and garden beds, next one is where the burn pile is and third one is where the chicken coop will be. There's fourth one I installed a few moths ago but all I needed to do was replace a faucet coming out of the ground with a freeze-prooof hydrant since it was already about 32 inches deep, and then tapped into thatlinefor these three new hydrants. Used PEX since I already had it. Worked outsell and made the install go super fast, and was especially convenient when I has to re-routhe the tech around boulders in the ground.
Trench ended up being just over 200 ft long and three feet deep (frost line here is 2 feet). Dug down an extra foot under each hydrant to accommodate a bed of washed pea gravel for weep hole drainage. This was where I originally started, but ended up taking the starting point about 30 more feet back. Trench goes up this slope and wraps around to the right between the carport and house.
Weep hole taped during construction to prevent debris from getting into it. Used quarter-minus gravel to bury the line. The soil here is VERY rocky and wanted to enclose the line in the quarter-minus for protection.
It's hard to see in this photo, but couldn't get tractor access to the other side because of trees, so I just drove yup the berm when I was filling in the trench with the gravel.
Here's where I had two trenches meet and then continued where I tapped into an existing outside water line.
As previously mentioned, trench is three feet deep, except at each hydrant where it's 4 feet deep. Did this to accommodate a bed or washed pea gravel under each hydrant, then placed a 5 gallon bucket with the bottom cut out around each hydrant and also filled that whitewashed pea gravel. Used washed pea gravel to prevent any dust or dirt from clogging up the weep holes. Probably not necessary, but was easy to do. Using t-posts to mount the hydrants was also nice since it allowed me to use hose clamps to get the hydrants in place and set their height very easily. and get them standing perfectly perpendicular. Also provides a bit of stability once it's all filled in.
This is where I accidentally hit a sewer line that wasn't supposed to be there. Turned out to be an RV clean out that I had no idea was there. Repaired it and re-routed the existing outside PVC waterline and connected the PEX to it for the additional three new hydrants. Probably didn't need to use such heavy duty 4-band shielded couplers, but it's super sturdy now and isn't going anywhere. That RV clean out goes up to the car port. That's great because I hope to put a shop where the carport is some day, and the clean out means I can easily install a sink and toilet in the shop.
Trench ended up being just over 200 ft long and three feet deep (frost line here is 2 feet). Dug down an extra foot under each hydrant to accommodate a bed of washed pea gravel for weep hole drainage. This was where I originally started, but ended up taking the starting point about 30 more feet back. Trench goes up this slope and wraps around to the right between the carport and house.
Weep hole taped during construction to prevent debris from getting into it. Used quarter-minus gravel to bury the line. The soil here is VERY rocky and wanted to enclose the line in the quarter-minus for protection.
It's hard to see in this photo, but couldn't get tractor access to the other side because of trees, so I just drove yup the berm when I was filling in the trench with the gravel.
Here's where I had two trenches meet and then continued where I tapped into an existing outside water line.
As previously mentioned, trench is three feet deep, except at each hydrant where it's 4 feet deep. Did this to accommodate a bed or washed pea gravel under each hydrant, then placed a 5 gallon bucket with the bottom cut out around each hydrant and also filled that whitewashed pea gravel. Used washed pea gravel to prevent any dust or dirt from clogging up the weep holes. Probably not necessary, but was easy to do. Using t-posts to mount the hydrants was also nice since it allowed me to use hose clamps to get the hydrants in place and set their height very easily. and get them standing perfectly perpendicular. Also provides a bit of stability once it's all filled in.
This is where I accidentally hit a sewer line that wasn't supposed to be there. Turned out to be an RV clean out that I had no idea was there. Repaired it and re-routed the existing outside PVC waterline and connected the PEX to it for the additional three new hydrants. Probably didn't need to use such heavy duty 4-band shielded couplers, but it's super sturdy now and isn't going anywhere. That RV clean out goes up to the car port. That's great because I hope to put a shop where the carport is some day, and the clean out means I can easily install a sink and toilet in the shop.
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