Never Shovel Again… Buy THIS Instead!

[@TheUserid82]

Remember to double up the pipes when you bury them if you can as you never want to dig that again. Then again with that air trencher it would be safe to dig next to pipes unlike all other types.

[@beastpatroller]

Or have a tree route grow right in to the pipe!

[@cyclone19692000]

running a second also gives you a way to get power up/down the hill if needed in the future if you dont use it for a backup waterline

[@tdgdbs1]

I've done similar job with conduit and pex inside the conduit. This is the kind of job you don't want to do twice.

[@lovejago]

just run a 4 inch sleve and you can run wire 2 or 3 water pipes or what ever

[@magnus49]

Not sure what regulations apply here, but running electricity and water lines in the same conduit sounds like it might be violating something...

[@cmsjr123]

I am honestly Glad you realized the importance of tree roots. SO MANY people, contractors included ignore the fact that roots can help stop deadly slides and trees falling

[@2ASTRO]

I worked for over 23 years on the Trans Alaska Pipeline. When excavation was being done where there was buried pipe or electrical lines, they would use an air-lance. it is safe and doesn't destroy things. Also if you are digging in schist or slate type material one would be amazed at how effective it is. The air gets in the cracks and fragments the rock.

[@thaboomer53]

2 cents of advice when using any air tools or air hoses. Make sure you put safety pins in the little holes on the connecting ends. If those connecting ends come loose during use, (been there--done that) they can literally beat you senseless before you can turn the air off. Another safety idea is to put a valve maybe half way up the hill so you don't have to run to the bottom if there is a problem.

[@audiotechlabs4650]

Never heard of this tool. Glad you showed what it is and how it works. I like your humor in the videos. You two are not alone in your homesteading adventure, but not everybody cares to make videos about it. You are brave to even homestead much less post it. Keep up the good work and Happy Holidays! Thankz

[@belombre47FR]

If that's your bag, we are just at the start of our adventure on the banks of the river Lot in France, filming all the way... 😀

[@kriskath7040]

Backfilling musta sucked cause you blew away all your substrate? What did you use to backfill... trucked in clean fill?

[@heckteck]

The air knife is so helpful

[@stevemiller6766]

As someone else commented double up on the pipe so you have a spare. Consider also if you still have the tench open run some electrical and communication wires so you can have maybe a light, power, etc and have a way to put a level indicator at the house to monitor the tank level. Cheers, and good luck with the homesteading!

[@tf1977sled]

I work for a natural gas utility, we call that tool an air knife. Sometimes you cant dig a big bell hole in a street. Removing dirt around pipes is faster safer and easier then hand shoveling in tight quarters. Also we have a vacuum excavater truck for noninvasive utility locating. It can use either high pressure water or an air knife to spot locate utility's. our truck air compresser can produce 225psi ,the air knife is amazing sometimes it lifts the area were you are standing. You can excavate a 1-2 ft hole 4--5 feet deep in seconds. Water is used for rocky,frozen or clay soil. Then soil is sucked into the truck or put back.

[@briangarrow448]

I worked in construction and public utilities and we used a similar method with high pressure water and a large vacuum truck. I have seen your tool used and it looks like you found the right tool for the job at hand. And smart choice with passing on the excavator. They are dangerous on steep slopes! Keep on posting,love your channel!

[@Ramdodge582]

they still do in some places in Alaska.

[@Ramdodge582]

Water ditching is replacing a lot of mini-excavator work for sure!

[@kills456]

Brian Garrow or directional boring lol would be a lot easier

[@Nighthawke70]

Joe Desrali Hose is fine for short runs, but they will creep downwards with a run longer than 5 feet. Use a length of 1/2 inch of PVC with NPT threads welded on both ends, one male, the other end female. Hook your nozzle and hose, then go to town once you find your grade.

[@stormytrails]

So the question about backfill is an excellent question LOL. Grins!! Anyhoo! If they are blowing out the soil how the hell would they be able to backfill? Any type of excavator/back hoe would be a no no on that slope and even using shovels and rakes they would undo all of the good happening with saving the roots in the original trench!! This question alone would negate any benefit from trenching via air!! You are saying you use a VACUUM to suck up the soil after air trenching. Where is this vacuum BAG and how did you use the excess soil on slopes? You'd have to have pumps? to blow it back up to the top? In Public construction you are working primarily on FLAT and accessible areas.

[@malsonrules]

this show is very well produced

[@aaron7t]

Cool tool. Another way that works well is using a pickaxe. That's what I've used the best when laying PVC for sprinklers, even in our granite-heavy soil. While not as good when trying to get under roots (we have 100+ foot pines, and this is all near our house), it does great on the open area, and helps around the roots too.

[@revtmyers1]

All those river rocks would make a beautiful fireplace.

[@patrickneedham7915]

The great voice inflection, enthusiasm, and information in this video really just made it a good piece of content coming from someone who doesn't normally look at this kind of stuff. Keep up the good work!

[@watermanone7567]

I worked for a water dept. for many yrs. You could cover the pipe with hard insulation and 2" thick wooden planks to help prevent freezing. Planks are good for about one foot of frost protection. Good video, keep up the great work.

[@fortbuilder100]

Partner, I've used similar systems for trenching and more for locating current utilities. The air works very well however, if you're dealing with the clay pressurized water works better. To even a greater extent use pressurized water with a vac system. And if you can recycle the water from your vac, even better.

[@galahad6001]

Mate i am a Aussie builder and have seen some pretty crazy stuff but i love this one... apart fromyou being a champion and your Gal ... that is a great idea ... i like the envioromental aspect as well on the roots.. Good work guys ...

[@smbmxdirt3427]

When I was direction drilling we had a hook up like that for our vac truck called an air lance and we had hoppers to store the dry material. Super nice to use and it makes me wonder why more people don't excavate like this. Cool video.

[@nlo114]

When you back-fill the trench, don't forget to put the soil/dirt/mud/earth/ etc back mixed in with the rocks. If you only chuck in the stones, you have an underground dry river-bed running down the hillside, that will become a wet river when the snow melts and the water finds it's lowest level.

[@beeveeh]

On weekends after a week of blowing tree roots bare of soil, I use this tool in Australia to blow empty shallow waterways and pick up the fish, it can scale the fish by changing the nozzle & it can (with practice on angle of blow) blow the top right off a cold beer at the end of the day. I love my Air-Spade

[@no_handle_required]

The best thing about this is that you didn't destroy the roots. Nice to see somebody building something without destroying everything around them.

[@johnm.evangelis693]

Good job you two, and awesome video...

[@MattOGormanSmith]

When I saw all the undamaged roots in another video, I assumed you'd dug it with an archaeologist's trowel and paintbrush. Nice job.

[@greathodgy22]

I used a pressure washer and 2" sewage pump to dig a trench for my generator gas pipe and wiring. It worked great.

[@BjornMoren]

Great thinking! I dug a trench not long ago, in similar soil. Hard work with crowbaring the rocks and loosen up the packed dirt. You guys were smarter.

[@purelivingforlife]

We can only imagine. It's likely this trench would have been physically impossible by hand. Time and energy would have run out before it was completed. Nice work on finishing yours!

[@lawnrebel]

I do understand the expense as I ask the following question but...... Why not just drill a well and have a permanent solution? Your system is cool and will work great for the short term but, is it really a viable long-term solution? Thoughts?

[@zombieSlayer-kn2rk]

That was awesome. I have not ever heard of that tool, but I am glad that you had heard about it. It looks like it was perfect for the job. I tell my wife all the time, they make a tool for ever job.

[@purelivingforlife]

There really is. Well... most jobs. We failed to find eye protection that was up to the task though... it kept getting fogged and scratched within seconds. Some things people just haven't figured out yet, lol

[@Geoff_G]

Great use of proper tools. I had never heard of it but it looks like it was perfect for your particular application.

[@artconnolly9519]

only thing I noticed was what material was left to back fill the pipe ? you can't bury it under large rocks. what did you do

[@joeburnsandclassiccars]

Just wanted to say, great job. I look forward to watching you both. We purchased over a hundred acres in SC this fall and are currently working on our 3000 foot driveway and electricity. I love this stuff and I can see yall do too.

[@briansmobile1]

Thanks for introducing me to this method. That was spot on for that job!

[@shanejamesmccann5858]

good working guys good video as well

[@CalvinHodgson]

I don't know when I'll ever need to dig a trench on a steep incline, but hey, I learned something new!

[@woodsyfeller5995]

I would recommend running your pipe through larger conduit, especially if you are going to use poly pipe. That way when it eventually gets a hole in it you can always just attach new pipe to old and pull it through.

[@supermetaltastic]

Thank you for sharing. However, could I recommend an area of your video needing improvement? It would have been helpful to see the air attachment actually operate for more than 3-12 seconds at a time. It was hard to get a sense of it's effectiveness. Less talk --> More of the tool in action

[@Shilo-fc3xm]

I work as crew on outback Australian freight rail. I'm not in the navy crews (line maintenance) but they have been using this to remove the blue metal (stones, in case our terminology differs) from between the sleepers during maintenance and repairs for 30 years.

[@bonham1981]

You went full Joel Salatin when you did your pretend phone call to the amazing air blowing arborist guy. Love your videos!

[@kyd1972]

I'm generally pretty critical of most how-to, home-made, etc., videos. I'm pleased to say that your videos are well-done and informative. (And funny! ...in a way that manages not to be corny or condescending.) Keep doing what you're doing.

[@tylerclemens6095]

I didn't know a tool from the Hoover Dam project was considered new. they used it for underground utility crossings so they didn't cut other lines while installing new.

[@chadmjohn]

Great video and explanation. We have used similar technology, but instead of air, we used a pressure washer. It is VERY messy / muddy but works very, very quickly. We dug a 300 foot trench, 18" deep (we are in the south) in just a single day. We have very similar terrain (Georgia mountains, VERY ROCKY soil). Two small drawbacks to the pressure washer is you need a water supply (we used portable water transport containers) and you lose all your fill since it washes away. However we found that we could easily create a trench just wide enough for the pipe. Once the pipe was laid down we used rocks from the trench to hold it in place and let nature do the rest. A few good rains and the trench filled itself in. We now have a below grade 'trail' following the pipe. I had originally planned on bringing in fill to level it but found that i like the trail, I know exactly where the line is buried ;) We were lucky enough to have clear land to traverse with the trench, so no major tree roots to contend with. However, if you use a pressure washer, be careful as you burrow, you could easily cut or permanently damage tree roots. Also, ALWAYS call the utility companies to have lines marked. I definitely would not want to hit an electrical line with a pressure washer! OUCH! Anyhow, just thought I'd share how we did it.

[@jimmorgan48]

You should have staggered your retaining wall block for added strength.

[@randyrobitaille7649]

I work in the underground mining industry, here in Canada, that tool is called a Blowpipe. Used one every day for a few hours a day for years. You can certainly move a lot of dirt with one. We would use the one inch, manually, and a two inch attached to a hydraulic boom of one of our drills for the really big jobs.

[@bmxr765]

And whats the frost depth there? Im in southern Vt and it 52 inches.... so you need to have that trench taller than Allysa

[@TylerWrath0420]

Chris Rugar videos of John 317 minister

[@rodbuilder3657]

I give - what's a tall trench? I thought they were UNDER ground - not above it.

[@el1061]

!!!! GREAT FN TOOL !!!! THANX

[@EVAUnit4A]

*A-* How did this get recommended to me, when I don't watch landscaping or construction videos? *B-* Why did I click on it, when I have no interest in this? *C-* Why did I watch this in its entirety? *D-* Why did I enjoy this video _and_ give it a thumbs-up? *E-* Why did I bother leaving a comment?

[@whiteknightcat]

Because there's a super-cute girl in the video who knows how to run tools and equipment.

[@arul20]

This is the video you don't want to watch, but you need. The AI knows this.

[@JesseSilver81]

This video is kinda like a train wreck.

[@denniswhite166]

We used a straight 1" pipe with a shut off at the handle. We made it ourselves. It worked great in an urban environment where underground utilities like electrical and cable tv lines were in our dig area. We often used this in conjunction with vacuum truck when we could get our hands on one.

[@asgfasgssga]

"Down here where the slope is a little less severe, and there's no tree roots to interfere" I thought he was about to start busting out a freestyle at 6:04

[@TheMajHavoc]

outstanding idea !

[@tinysmisadventures3051]

when I was a road and street sign installer in Las Vegas,we had a tool similar that we made for blowing dirt and rocks out of unistrut anchors.

[@rmbarrios]

Love your channel. You guys have fun doing this.

[@diversifiedacreshomestead102]

Now what are you going to back fill with? You have no dirt just rocks left.

[@TheComputec]

The dirt isn't magically removed... just re-located in the vacinity... Thats why we have rakes.

[@diversifiedacreshomestead102]

1. you dont back fill with rock on a water line, 2. the dirt has magically disappeared to the bottom of the hill or it will have by spring. 3. as much rock that was removed from the soil holding the soil in to place and was 70 % of the mass in the soil. after run off you will be lucky to have enough dirt to cover the pipe itself. Then future issues of a ditch washing the remainder of your soil away, Better come up with a very good erosion plan Just my thoughts tangled with a lot of experience.

[@MrBubbahunt9]

and spot on thoughts as well.....

[@freetipuk]

No idea how I got here.... but... great vid.

[@orreng]

Pretty awesome for a last ditch effort! 👏👏👏

[@POLOLOUS3]

On a smaller.scale I have used compress air to run utilities under driveway or walkway without tearing them up

[@thecursed01]

+ for being aware those trees are very useful there and keeping the roots intact

[@eddiebres3029]

185 cfm! That's some heave air. I used to work at a tree company. We called it an air spade gun. All the same except your nozzle seems to be at a sharpe angel. I've dug ditches with it and really loved it. Thanks for sharing!

[@canesrock82]

I think the thing you two bring to every project is planning and common sense. Love the approach. What is the name of the app you used for the slope of the land?

[@fyanezc]

canesrock82 iPhone native compass/clinometer App.

[@purelivingforlife]

Yes, it's a native app on the iPhone. I didn't even know I had it until Jesse pointed it out.

[@mrfredmoore]

I have used that tool before. Also treat for tunneling under sidewalks. We just use a pipe with a valve connected to 185 cfm compressor.

[@mrfredmoore]

We call it an air lance.

[@RJ67.]

1:11 It is decisions like this that separate you from the inept who end up in hospitals attempting such endeavors. You're a wise man, an old soul within you I detect, I've drilled & installed water wells, pump systems, water filtrations systems for 25+ years of my life. It is my deduction that the wisdom you possess is not prevalent amongst the masses who would attempt & most likely fail at the aforementioned task. I wish I got here sooner to perhaps suggest you run a conduit for wire if need be as well perhaps an extra water line for future use. Here in Massachusetts, we use 160 PSI 1" coil for well water lines & I always suggest to the home owner to place in the trench next to the 1" coil. some extra pipe going to the house of 1-¼" 100 P.S.I. pipe just in case they ever need to snake a wife in the future. for electricity into a shed or whatever

[@marcocruz6859]

That is an awesome tool! I do see the need for are really good quality ear and eye protection..." I have tinnitus.. and my ears will be buzzing fir the next 100 years after that job" Never the less where one can have that tool & what is the name of it??

[@stormytrails]

This is major river bed, the rocks!! Keep an eye out for gold. Gee a river that the 49ers didn't get to!! Grins, I am quite the gold or rock nut. I like this because you are able to keep the roots intact, some of them so that those trees aren't compromised and come falling down someday. I think you said 3 feet deep, did you? You WANT 3 feet deep to ensure your water pipes do not freeze. The rest of your soil, the topsoil will be full of organic matter. The bulk of your soil almost looks like caliche clay. Ugh. But organic matter will be all you need to improve your soil. Find a source of decomposed organic matter, go check your town's sewer system to see if they produce that mulch with human poo and sawdust. It is THE BEST decomposed organic matter in the world for soil. Except for vegey gardens. Have a soil test done now and one each year. Never work clay with a rototiller (think concrete, rotating drum, water, sand, gravel, lime, gypsum = concrete). Double dig once at the beginning and never again...I'll fill you in later as you get closer to growing your own food. BTW do not name any animal you plan on eating. Otherwise it would be far easier to become a vegan!!! Grins!!

[@jollyroger7624]

It's the mountain of river alluvium that interested me too!

[@rodbuilder3657]

What the fuck is alluvium??? Is that 'dumbass' for aluminum?

[@MrDoucheChill]

@rod builder - lmgtfy.com/?q=alluvium

[@RedfishInc]

rod builder here's you sign...

[@Kylef7735]

Someones an ignorant lazy dumbass who didn't want to google a word.

[@rustyduktape]

We use "blow pipes" quite a lot as laborers in the utility industry. For example, in live electrical substations, where there could literally be anything below your feet anywhere from 3" deep down to 30' using excavators and other heavy equipment is sometimes prohibited. As they mentioned in the video, digging through that hard packed bony gravel is super tough, and is very time consuming. What we use is pretty basic, just a 4-5' long pipe about an inch, inch and a half in diameter, with a ball valve and an air tool fitting. That coupled with a "vac truck" is pretty effective when excavating in those hazardous areas.

[@robertfeliciano5723]

I love your wacky expressions and exclamations, it's like the two of you went to the same acting coach.

[@jamesr.williams2657]

Well done. Working in harmony with nature goes a long way towards preventing future problems. Keep up the good and thoughtful solutions.

[@bwillan]

The name of said massive air compressor blowing tool was left out of the video.

[@BulletproofPastor]

It's a regular compressor used for jack hammers. You can rent them at most any industrial rental business.

[@andreweasty]

its just a trailer mounted compressor

[@hellsbells3084]

its called air knife. common when verifying actual depth of underground utilities.

[@brassmanone]

Down here in Texas we call it an air spade and is mainly used to expose buried root flairs.

[@bashisobsolete.pythonismyn6321]

i remember the patented supersonic version (yes, a supersonic blast of air). it was demo'd on TV back in the 80s. visor and ear protection essential!

[@maehay4065]

Give thanks to your friend who had that nice big machine. Thanks for sharing

[@Smittyschannel]

That trench doesn't look deep enough to be below the frost line

[@thorr18BEM]

paul rogers , the frost line is only 1 inch deep in some places.

[@cheeman770]

Hatchets are good for trenching on rocky terrain, light chops around the rocks loosen them up very fast. After you've loosened the rocks shoveling them away is super easy.

[@HoneyRowland]

"I'm not that guy, I don't have his number and we don't have time for a talent search." SOOO glad I had just swallowed my tea cause I still choked on the bit in my throat. THAT was the funniest thing I'd heard in a while! ~Honey

[@fredpasta1]

wow... brings back some memories. years ago i worked with a group of people in estes park olanting aspen trees on a property, we had an excavator, however, there wasn't any map to where a sprinkler pipeline was, so the first tree, we learned pretty fast that it wasn't a good idea to use the excavator as we broke through the sprinkler pipeline hand had to fix that real fast. after that it was all by hand, shovels, 20 lbs rock bars, and sledgehammers. fun times

[@ronh582]

Dude couldn't you just talk about the air-tool, took forever to get to the point!

[@marhue7026]

you make one hell of a salesman being all honest and stuff. great idea.

[@Basicstoliving]

Here is a website to look up that tool. www.airspade.com/products

[@davidjackson552]

Added benefit, I presume is that it would be pretty gentle on any existing lines (pipes, cables, etc) that you might worry about disrupting or cutting. Correct?

[@FloppyHatPhotos]

Where is the fill dirt coming from? Patrick

[@bigassdude7856]

FloppyHatPhotos its not dirt its soil. lol

[@Saucy_Beans]

lol, says the person typing "u" & "ur".

[@mattm6430]

if u think grammar and spelling make u someone a dick, then use "it's" not its. i call ppl a dick for laughing at someone for using the word dirt instead of soil.

[@bigassdude7856]

Matt M thanks matt. beans got small beans. soil was meant as a funny. ... soil.

[@bigassdude7856]

FloppyHatPhotos comes from around the hole generally. u put the dirt or aka soil back in the hole then the rocks go on top in a nice pretty pattern.

[@msquitad746]

With all those rocks you could do an awesome natural pool.

[@cros99]

A closer look at the "Tool" would have been helpful. Good video tho.

[@bedlam2088]

Quite interesting.I`ll have to keep this in mind should the need arise for a trench.Glad to see you respect the trees.

[@robeylemere]

Keep up the great work, hope you two get everything done before it get's too cold!

[@Paradigm2012Shift]

You have a lot of rocks that you can use in the construction (i.e. foundation, chimney, etc.) for your new home. It looks like you have so many rocks on that property that maybe you could sell them to a local company. Also, some people sell trees on their property for extra cash. That is a very unique tool. Thanks for sharing.

[@torreyance2468]

a chick that knows how to use an excavator. shes a keeper *.* plus your right didnt know about that tool. cool :) nice video informative.

[@petergambier]

I just stumbled across your clip by chance (as you do) and felt compelled to comment and put finger to keyboard. My better half and me also moved to the countryside to start our family and I'm so glad that we did when we were young enough (mid 30's, in 1995), because it's nice to move around, shout, sing and swing the cat whilst listening to loud music and not disturbing the neighbours. What a great idea and well done for all that effort. I guess by now you have built your house and got a small football team of kids so you won't need to know about lime plastering onto strawbales or anything like that as that is what i would have suggested next. Anyway, your film was nicely explained in a humorous way and I admire the way that you did not kill all the trees on the hillside by chopping through all the root systems and such and I want to wish you guys all the best from the UK.

[@BulletproofPastor]

Great "out of the box" solution to something others would only throw money at.

[@kgc3739]

I work down in a backcountry wilderness camp and we're planning on retrenching our water system on all our hill sides. definitely going to check this system out further! thanks for the tip!

[@cerial0411]

Seems like you could build this "special tool" with a 2" Ball valve, pipe, nozzle, and hose coupler for under $100 . Air is nice. My question is why did you just not use a pressure washer? It would have made short work of the muddy areas and cleaned your rocks. If you dug a 1' at a time the water rushing down the hill would have helped on the 2nd and 3rd pass. You have these huge containers that could be filled with water and a water source near by for a low pressure pump to fill them. I am guessing your expense would have been around $300 with a pressure washer and you would own the pressure washer afterward.

[@williama6710]

i agree, like you say, why didn't they use water to make the trench ?? maybe there's a bit of 'product placement' in this video

[@thorr18BEM]

cerial0411 , water hits harder. It damages the roots. Arborists use air spade.

[@DavidLuce]

Worst job of product placement I've ever seen! He didn't name the tool, a manufacturer or retailer. Must be working on decommission. :o)

[@chinookvalley]

Dang! 6 months ago, we tore up my yard, killed several trees, and broke windows, add in $700 excavator rental and $1,000 labor. I will keep this tool on my list. We live in the Rocky Mts and this is the way to go!! Thanx for the good news.

[@GoodDayFarm]

Interesting tool, I've never seen anything like that, cool! Love your videos, keep them coming! Take care!

[@richardgieser6122]

I've used water jet (city water pressure) in very hard soil but air would certainly eliminate or reduce the mess of mud.

[@aarondcmedia9585]

zomg you two are so cute. The content + info is fantastic, thank you for taking the time and effort to put it together.

[@krazytrane5805]

You dug the trench to bury a water line to prevent freezing. But you blew all the topsoil into oblivion... what did you cover the line with after putting it in this neat trench?

[@howardwhite9773]

That looks entirely too much like really hard work...

[@ericmattinen4728]

This is called an air spade or air knife. There is also a cool system called hydrovac that uses a vacuum truck with pressure washer. You loosen the dirt with the pressure washer and suck it up with the vac. Contractors use it for excavating near utilities. Badger Daylighting is the company I know of around the oil patch in ND, but I'm sure there are others.

[@Deepcreekacres]

I could use one of those the next time someone is taking their sweet time crossing the road walking in to Walmart.

[@Chief5868]

Saw this tool used on This Old House. Very handy. Also, it prevents the soil compaction (bad) caused by other power methods.

[@WILSON.1]

That's amazing, however, lifting out all of those smooth rocks sounds miserable!

[@jasonbell5152]

How do you backfill the trench after blowing the dirt to Montana? This tool appears to create a secondary problem: no ready dirt pile on the side for easy backfill, only alluvial rocks. A Kubota or Bobcat would be way faster with less headache.

[@InqWiper]

"They've survived several 100-year wind storms". You got some seriously long lasting storms over there.

[@davidthegood]

Great solution!

[@QuaabQueb]

100 year wind storms...wow must get pray crazy

[@artgoat]

Very cool tool for rocky country. We're on heavy clay, here. I have a feeling this wouldn't work at all. When it's wet, it's like Elmer's glue. When it's dry, it's concrete. Most of the area around here is the same, which is probably why I've never seen one of these.