In the Trenches

[@2aminitials]

Tracer wire on your new water line would've helped you locate it in the future in case you lose your pics of where it's at. When trying to find an existing line dig perpendicular to where you think it is. That way you can see a ditch line in the soil, and test dig with your spade before you use an excavator. Also you should install the PVC fitting onto the new section of pipe, then fasten it to the existing pipe. Otherwise your fitting might be pointing too far up or down. If you're going to use a Fernco coupling underground use a banded coupling. It is more stable if the soil settles. They also make PVC repair couplings that have no stop in the middle. They make a slow set glue so you can slide the fitting around.

[@jeffw8057]

All great suggestions.

[@timothyshepodd7826]

A $20 roll of “pipe below” tape on top of the stone dust when filling the trench would have gone a long way for the 11th&12 generation dairymen! Blessings.

[@waveoflight]

I was thinking the same thing. Too late now.

[@watermanone7567]

Some suggestions: Backfill with 6" of sand to stop rock pressure from making holes in the new pipe. Also caution tape for the water and electric lines above the lines for a further person digging up the ground. Also take off distances in feet and inches, or triangle distances measuring from a solid struture like the corner of barns, houses, etc.( pulling some offseets) and lay them out on a plan. Thanks for the video. Very nice new barn.

[@austinp8942]

I was about to say that. Especially if you have water lines that kick on and off they can jump a little which will work a hole into the line. We have had it happen with PVC even. We have a nursery and we have intermittent mist irrigation on cuttings and our water kicks on every five minutes. Needless to say I have a shovel in my hand all summer long.

[@watermanone7567]

@@austinp8942 I can't tell you how many times I have seen rock pressure put holes in wate lines. Flowable fill or sand should solve the problem. Great comment, thanks.

[@MW-rk7nl]

So in the future filling the hole a bit then putting caution tape on top will help when digging later on

[@jasonking2943]

Also add a strand of wire and you can pick it up with a metal detector

[@thomasperez4412]

Hello Eric, stopped to say that you and your dad make a great team. Figuring out all those water pipes and connections looked as you say "stressful". Teamwork 100%. You work hard most every day I see your videos. You must sleep like a rock. My hat is off to you and your dad. Happy subscriber and fan . Tom in Minneapolis

[@dougdiplacido2406]

I was gonna say that foam in the conduit was not a good idea. Glad you asked your electrician. (I am an electrical contractor). Always fun to find things in the ground while digging. Super video Eric. Thanks.

[@dalewhite5015]

i was born and raised on the farm and ranch, i know what kind of effort it takes daily. you are an amazing young farmer , you should be congratulated and your parents should be proud! i have been watching you for the past year and realized i'm not subscribed so i joined and i hope many more do too!

[@samspade4634]

That backhoe operation is a real gift. My cousin once picked up a golfball using the bucket of a backhoe. Man he was good! Thanks for sharing Eric.

[@DavidTannfors]

tip: Add a (blue for water) 4" wide plastic ribbon 10-20cm (4-8") below ground in the trench and you'll find the plastic band next time you dig long before you hit the pipe.

[@robynmorris7945]

What a pain in the backside job that was!!!!! Thank goodness you can move on to the next “headache”😉. So many “after” jobs to finish the barn project. Great work gentlemen.

[@scottlabant8406]

Great job and good getting new well on line. We service dairy farm with twelve wells running 24/7 to supply water. Milking a 1000 head and close to 1700 total. Understand your stuggle with water. Glad to see you have a high yeild well to supply farm. Fun days in the trenches!!!

[@Brendan_O]

You should get that metal line tape that you lay over pipes and wires so when it comes time to find old lines you can always bust out a cheap metal detector to find your old runs.

[@tjsmooth3427]

I love the 18 volt cordless dewalt hammer 🤣😅😆 On the end of the pipe to push in the plug

[@bobjarrard]

May I suggest copper locator wires on all future pipe buries. Saves the breaks, cost little. Bob

[@gaetanbolduc8417]

I took the habit to unroll a safety tape 12 inches on top of pipes and electrical wires...it takes a bit more time to back fill but helps when doing additional work!

[@pennyhaldeman5626]

Need "water" at the "dry" cow barn. I understood, but it still sounded funny when you said it.

[@ashtonwasmer8853]

was literally thinking “mm my favorite youtube ain’t posted in awhile” not even 10 seconds later *10th Generation Dairyman Posted a KZbin video*

[@Whocares.........]

I just sit in awe….Eric, you and your pops make quite a team! Many thanks! Rox from Cali

[@tungstenchicken2103]

Its cool to see the history of the old barn

[@shealy265]

You might want to draw up all the lines you found on plan view of your acreage. Noting spots you identified and your best guess of where they go in different color. You could pull it up each time to dig and add more detail. Could come in handy if you have a frozen or broken line that you need to repair.

[@garyhunter6030]

That was one heck of a job. I always hated trying to find old water lines to cap off.

[@ModelingSteelinHO]

Thank you American Dairy Farmers. Thank you American Farmers. God bless you wonderful people.

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

Man Eric you have a lot of pipe layers in the comments. Thought you and pops did a great job with what you had. True dairy farm engenuity.

[@centexan]

Wish I knew what the plumber thought when he first saw that maze of pipes in one spot. I was a non-plumber in construction and have never seen quite such a collection.

[@sdocagri6641]

Nice one Eric 👍,However I would suggest that anywhere you guys exposed buried lines to put grit around the pipe or line and also place warning tape directly above the location but just a few inches under the ground .Just what we do here in Ireland👍 No point finding tape after you caught a pipe(dont ask me why I know that😬😂).

[@Ever443]

Brings back memories for me. Tracing irrigation/Plumbing lines trying to think "why did they do it this way" or "how would they have done this" Some good days but not so fun.

[@michaelg.5862]

Construction … always excited for the project to start and very excited for it to be finished.

[@1stgenerationrabbitfarmer753]

Hey Eric I just wanna say your videos are amazing and truly inspiring you inspired me to make my own farming channel and pretty help me find my purpose so now I’m 14 and have 32 subscribers so thank you and keep up the good work

[@kevko1997]

Hey Eric, When contractors dig underneath sidewalks or roads here in the Netherlands they lay a sort of plastic sheet a few centimetres above the lines or pipes in the ground. When they hit this while excavating the next time, they know that they are almost at the lines. So they stop digging with an excavator or just go real slow with it. Maybe something to do in the future

[@WireWeHere]

Tracer tape above anything buried can offer the feeling of hope that you've prevented future digging complications. "Been sitting there long?" "What day is this?" A conversation with a backhoe operator who inadvertently welded his bucket to a buried below tracer tape 12.5KV single conductor cable. If he let the bucket touch the ground the hum, sparks, and eventually the smell affected his ability to move. Good thing he brought his lunch and plenty of water. If he didn't have a small leak in a boom valve that allowed the bucket to contact the ground who knows how long he would have stayed. The short to ground was left long enough, he's a sound sleeper, To pop the fuse. May 14, 1996 and I'm certain of that date because our phone rang while eating birthday cake. He started his dig on Saturday afternoon and slice into the medium voltage cable right after asking himself, hmmm, what's with all the plastic ribbon?

[@Irishguy075]

Great video, I know it’s so easy for everyone to say now you should of did this and that but now that you went through it all you’ll know in the future what you need to do. I love seeing the cows hopping around. 👍

[@RunicGamingYT]

Just a quick observation for next time. When you're back filling the holes around the water pipe try to use something a little softer than crushed rock such as sand. Also what we usually do is 6" below the surface we will take and put a utility tape and then bury it. Such as saying that there is a water line there, gas line, electrical et cetera. That way there in the future if somebody doesn't know what's there and they're digging it up again and they hit that tape first and will know what lies below and have a far less chance of tearing up your electrical or water pipes. Great vid though.

[@andrewjknott]

When backfilling put caution tape an few inches above the pipe. It helps the next guy (aka you) not accidentally break the line.

[@roberthakeman9822]

Eric when I was on the farm we always had a map and distance and depth but by every hog waterer we had 3-5 well curbing with lids and we ran 8 inch cement tile and if we had a water leak we could take the plastic pipe loose on both ends and pull a new piece of plastic pipe without having to break up the cement especially during the winter and we never had to break up any cement.

[@KG-xt4oq]

Love all the after-the-fact suggestions/advice...'do this', 'do that'...got a good chuckle out of 'em.

[@phyllishalley8972]

Just amazes me how much you guys know and how much you can do on your own great job! Your dad and you are amazing Duo!

[@robk8453]

We put 6-8 inches of beach sand on top of the lines so it’s easier to locate when digging them up. Operator can easily see when he’s close to the line.

[@DeepCover66]

Wow! Thats one heck of a day, Eric! Love the video, glad you folks found that pesky pipe!

[@chrishar110]

We usually put 3-4 inches of sand above any pipe or cable so you can easily understand you are close before you damage it when you dig.

[@jimbeck6093]

As usual I enjoy your videos coming from an ole NC city boy. You and your Dad are some of the hardest working, dedicated people I know….

[@2491kridge]

Pro tip, you can buy caution tape that says “water line” or “electric line”, what you do is lay your line, fill in a foot or so of dirt and then lay the tape on top the whole length of the line and then fill in the remaining dirt

[@jamescarmody1710]

Good vid, u should try wood chips for under the straw we started using it on my farm and we only used half the bales it soaks in all the water and keeps the straw dry

[@DoubleD.]

So glad you were able to sort out where everything was running. Fascinating.

[@MrKuerbiskopf96]

Straw chopper: As far I can tell all drums run in one direction, maybe it would be better to one half run clockwise and the other counterclockwise so the straw always gets pulled to the middle and doesn't roll around in the bucket

[@davidrigby1543]

You guys work so hard you deserve every penny you make - best of luck to you and hope your new set up is a total success for many years to come ( please leave floor plans for future generations 😀) and thanks for the vids I follow and enjoy everyone

[@jtschwinghammer]

This video is prime example of why you need to call and get utilities marked before digging projects! Whenever you know there's a water line or electrical line you should always shovel 1st to find the utility then use the excavator

[@jjarm]

Congrats on 350k subs!

[@JimWhitaker]

If a local college has a Surveying department, then you might be able to get a class project to prepare utility drawings for your farm.

[@FarmsfeedU]

Looks like fun we had the same sort of thing happen on our farm water starting coming out of the ground and had quite a mess til it was all figured out and fixed . Heifer barn looks nice too 👍

[@JayBobYT]

A day in the life of a dairyman: 1943 edition in the trenches

[@bobblossom2713]

Necessity is the mother of invention. Good job.

[@johnlodge4414]

Another great video Eric!! High quality content, I love it!

[@josephsprague484]

I'm doing communications and digging underground rn as a job, I would defiantly put some sort of caution tape or something on those lines like the water gas and electric

[@alanconnors8881]

HOLY COW! That was a pain in the bulls. Good job guys.

[@avalon449]

Divining rods would trace the path of the water supply. Really works! Used by my local public works water dept.

[@carolynrose753]

Lol I learnt real fast always put your pipes by a fence line or put your fence line by the pipe line then you can always find it. The only person who may???? remember where it is, is not around any longer. Any join or problem area I mark with a wheel rim so I can find it again and future people can. The mapping now is considerably better now than in the past, with gps and photo mapping available now

[@jpm1211]

Usually find it with the auger when you replace the fence posts! :)

[@carolynrose753]

@@jpm1211 not a problem so far I replace broken posts with y steel posts or push new post in with 20 ton digga just to the side of the broken one.🤗

[@JenkinsB]

You should sketch a map of the different utility lines running throughout the property while its fresh on your mind.

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

And what lesson have we learned? That keeping detail records and diagrams of where everything was put when it is put in will be tremendously appreciated by people in the future. Be thoughtful and kind to people you do not and will not know.

[@BWYinYang]

I created floor plan marked each outlet, switches, fixtures. Then I numbered it to match circuit breaker. Circuit breaker may be labeled but not always enough. Did same for yard/lawn for sprinkler system, marked number matched with station lines.

[@rugger3buffalo]

As builts have a tenuous relationship with reality at best

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

@@rugger3buffalo Like everything else, as builts are only as good as the people who built, and those people who built are only as good as the cost payer's involvement. Which means the person who is paying the bills will have to do their part to insure the as builder does complete and accurate as builts by telling them they will get paid, or not, according to their adherence to the payer's standards. When my parents had their house built in 1973, they controlled the money and personally paid the subcontractors only after they inspected the work and signed off on it. There were several who had to come back again and redo their work because they were not going to be paid if they did not.

[@annhope7760]

It is very interesting to see how one has to improvise when implementing a project. Not simple but doable.

[@lawrencewillard6370]

Have same problem with finding pipes. Made some 'dowsing rods', went looking and found them. Simple test was to dig down , and there they were. Saved time and money on jobs. True . Give it a try yourself.

[@Mr.Wednesday.]

5:40 dad ‘yep yep’ made me roar 🤣

[@GurbAgro]

🤣🤣🤣

[@harrietcarpenter2387]

Can't believe no one mapped this out when piping was done. Now u pay for that lack of forethought. Sure made things harder for u. Thanks for sharing...

[@jtschwinghammer]

Honestly back in the day they didn't think about it often, even dang rural water isn't accurate either

[@freedomfan4272]

A lot has been changed over the last 9 generations. Im sure alot has changed just since Eric was a baby and now he is part owner of the farm.

[@steveneal2706]

great job Eric and Dad.. lookin good their guys. Thank you for sharing. Steve from Gurley Alabama us

[@glennparkes5156]

Hello Eric my name is Glenn I have enjoyed watching every video to date, I look forward to the next one each time. If I had another life I would love to give farming a go, you make it it look fun and you obviously love your life. Keep up with the video making and looking forward to more.

[@ArizonaKid]

Lots of work and I’ve been there try n to remember where pipes are . Funny how no one makes a map . Don’t worry , we never do in Arizona either lol 😂

[@lonniejacobs551]

i find i have strong feelings about water and wells. water is such a valued thing here in montana. glad you can reuse water from cooling the milk tank.

[@steveadams99708]

I wish I lived closer Eric. I'd bring my brass L rods and locate each and every one of those lines for you.

[@lmfarmer05]

Great video Eric love seeing the improvements on the farm

[@doskraut]

One could lay a wire over the pipes before covering them, 10-20 years later just use a metal detector to find said pipes.

[@MOON_KID]

I hope you covered those pipe clamps with something in that patch or they'll rust away in a few years, and you'll get pressure issues. Enjoyed the video, thanks for your effort

[@s.pursell8901]

When you were pulling the water pipe in the trench. Did you hear those sounds? That was a pretty neat effect from dragging it.

[@DocktorHoop]

I know it was ALOT of extra work to try and film while doing all the work on this project. Your efforts are appreciated!!

[@lordofhowell7158]

You got that straw chopper sussed! Brilliant video 💪🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@michaelc.3812]

Great video Eric, really enjoyed watching this one.

[@Its_Me0000]

Suggestion - consider taking a large copy of the plat showing your buildings and mark the water, sewer and electric you know of or found. As you can imagine if you don't need to revisit any of this for 10-15 years, you and your dad's memory will have faded.

[@TheGilbert48197]

Boy that was a big job, hope it gos better for you y'all now. And thank you for showing us

[@webbimato]

I've said it before and going to say it again: In western countries we used to use hose clamps for garden hoses but they are getting replaced as well with proper connectors ;D

[@patzeuner8385]

Have your well person put in a locator line before burying the new water line. It's a wide yellow plastic tape with a wire embedded so if you need to find it in the future you can call local locators and have them locate and spray paint the location. Also put some on the older lines for future location. New construction uses it all the time.

[@joshzimmerman161]

If I would have tried to drive over a ditch like that I would have spent the next hour trying to lift my utv out of the ditch. Very nice. And btw every time you show your heifer barn I'm overcome with jealousy. You sure made it nice.

[@lastbreathe6401]

Ausgezeichnet

[@joshuaeifert2163]

It was more like Tenth Generation construction worker today. Thanks for the video.

[@railroadman57]

Eric nice video you do need one of those Excavators for your own use once you have one you will find all kinds of uses for it .

[@at1ric]

Dennis is really stepping up in your channel. Maybe he can start the 9th Gen Dairyman channel for us older people.

[@brucemanley7593]

Take full advantage of having those water lines uncovered. Take pictures! I'm glad I did when mine when new lines were installed. Best of luck !

[@BentTreeFarmPa]

An extra 25 gpm sure will make a difference! I'm weird, I kinda enjoy the archeology of figuring out the history of things like that.

[@garyclarke8862]

You won't believe that no matter where you go there are so many places/complexes where no one knows where electrical cables run and where water pipes run.

[@Navebackwards1]

Now imagine 50 years from now someone else is trying to figure out your thought process while building,

[@freedomfan4272]

That may likely be Eric's kids and possibly his grand kids

[@STONEDay]

Lay indicator tape when you bury the lines. When digging in the future you hit the tape as you get close and know to stop.

[@lidsman2221]

This video is a good example of why you call a utility locating service before you dig. Great video as always. Makes my day when I see you have posted. Thanks!

[@dougdiplacido2406]

They do not locate private utilities.

[@jimsteele7108]

Typical farming. You gotta be a jack of all trades.

[@lidsman2221]

I am aware of that. They can hire someone to locate.

[@jimsteele7108]

@@lidsman2221 , and where would they look to find such a person? You seem to be an expert in this area.

[@lidsman2221]

@@jimsteele7108 Thanks for the complment but I am not an expert. I just had to use one my self. The public dig site in my area list companies that do the same type of work on private property. I just called a couple to see who had the best prices. It was not that much money. Hope this helps.

[@marc-philippkost7823]

that's the funny thing to be a farmer: every day new challenges, new work to do...that´s why I like this profession...(in my case as a hobby...but for the same reasons)

[@kinslerable]

if you put sand and a yellow ribbon on top of ground pipes/wires its way easier to find them without damaging them, and the bucket you where using is not really optimal for this job.

[@carsonmeehan5638]

You have grown so much as a channel a year ago you were celebrating 200k subs now your creeping in on 400k subs

[@carsonmeehan5638]

Keep growing

[@1984shadow]

You may try ground X-ray to log all the piping etc.

[@eldonhoward7925]

Church is about to start. I'll have to watch this later.

[@daviddurley9011]

I like the longer videos...you should do more of these !!!!

[@paf950]

Seems like one thing is leading to another there on the farm...so confusing!

[@richardjellis9186]

Hi guys. If you'd have missed all those pipes, you wouldn't know where they were now. So really, it was a good job you did dig em up eh.! LOVE THE VIDS.🥰🥰... KEEP'EM COMING.🤞🥰... RICH(UK).🥰🥰🥰.!.!.!.

[@garykwiatkowski4903]

You definitely are into a major project. I don't mean to tell you what to do, but I would for sure install some kind of warning track tape and sand above the conduit and the plumbing piping. Paint a florescent color paint above the utilities slightly under the surface of the turf, (or ground itself) so you can locate these utilities if you have to dig again in the future. JUST AN IDEA TO ELIMINATE PROBLEMS. ( THIS WOULD BE CONSIDERED A WARNING TRACK) Thanks for listening.....

[@kingy9576]

love the vid! keep on going man!

[@SpatialDragon]

All you need is to shovel faster like you did a couple of times. That was pretty darn impressive. :)

[@vipergaming8255]

Love the video man keep it up. Also my family use to farm but we had to stop but I don't want to be a wine ass so yea let's just keep it at that. But I loved it and Im happy to see that there is still farmers out there. 👌👍