bob prohaska wrote:
Last year I put Netafim Techline CV dripline on my front lawn,
just on the surface of the grass. It has worked reasonably well,
so it's time to think about making the setup permanent.
I'd like to bury the dripline with minimal disturbance to the
turf (and minimum labor!) to a depth of no more than a couple
of inches. First thought was to pry a slit in the soil with a
shovel and simply tuck the line in, then tamp the soil back down.
Much easier said than done. Even with considerable prying, the
slit is too narrow and closes up before the line is put in. Roots
make digging a narrow trench fairly destructive; the kerf is apt
to be about as wide as it is deep and hard work to boot.
Does anybody know of a tool for this purpose? I'm aware of
vibratory plows, but that seems like overkill if the goal is
just a 2" burial depth. Some kind of tool that I can either
stand on to press a slot in damp soil or a spreader-like tool
similer to an inside out post hole digger might work, but I've
never seen such a device and don't know what it would be called.
A shovel with a blade about 1/2" thick would be a start.
When it's damp the soil is fairly pliable and there are no
rocks, so some kind of soil pusher or piercer has a decent
chance of working. Digging in the usual sense promises to be
much harder work and there are close to 2000 feet of line to
bury. The OD of the dripline is only about 5/8", so the actual
volume of soil to be displaced is rather small compared to
what is typically moved by digging.
Thanks for reading, and any guidance!
2000' is a tremendous distance to cut a slit into turf with a hand
tool. Automatic sprinkler installers use a machine that cuts a slit
and buries the tubing at the same time, similar to how a mole tunnels.
It moves along fairly fast, about five feet per minute... a steel
point is attached to the leading end of the tube and the machine slits
and pulls the tubing through the slit... when done one has to look
hard to find the slit. You could probably rent the machine for a day
but since you've no experience I would strongly suggest hiring an
irrigation installation person. There are several different machines
but for 2000 feet I'd suggest one like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZSn9JKnzPk