Table of Contents
How to bury an underground cable
We have four options for underground wiring, have a look at them to know what you need.
Tools you will need
- Spade
- Corded drill
- Adjustable wrench
- 4-in-1 screwdriver
Materials you need
- Metal or plastic conduit and fittings
- Electric wire with W (waterproof) design
- Service entrance ell
Installation of power line in the underground
If you are looking for running an underground power line through your yard, you’ll have four options. It will depend on you that how much power do you want?
Also, it depends on the soil of your yard. If it is sandy, don’t waste money behind hiring heavy machineries. If it is Rocky or clayey, then you can think about hiring a small machine or a wire burying tool.
Whatever model you are selecting, be sure it is coming with service entrance ell, and a removable cover. You will be accessible to the inside wire placed above the ground. Also, get a legal permit, talk to your local counselor, and know about local codes before you start digging.
5 steps to bury cables
1) Wire Depth Options
Consider a depth you want to dig for your wire using a wire burying tool, and it also depends on the type of fence you are using. Installing an underground electric power line through remote controls need different depths.
- For 6 inches, you should use “galvanized rigid metal electrical conduit” with individual conductors inside.
- For 12 inches, you can go for “GFCI-protected underground feeder cable,” which should have a short length of PVC conduit.
- For the 18 inch, use “THWN-2 conductors,” which should have a continuous length of PVC conduit. It will protect the wire from the trench of the house.
- And for the 24 inches, you can use underground feeder cable, using PVC conduit only. Below than 18 inches hole where the wire comes up.
2) Burying in the yard
Digging up to 6 inches–
For a 6-inch-deep, you can use galvanized metal rigid electrical conduit. One to two inches is deep enough for the water feature. And also, you can run individual conductors inside.
Pro tip:- The wire conductor should be waterproof, so better, you should look for the “W” mark on the label, as in THWN-2.
THIS KIND OF MODEL WILL LET YOU RUN ANY SIZE OF CIRCUIT.
The relief you get is the cost- For 1 to 2-inch metal conduit, it will charge you $1 per foot.
Pro tip:– The wire conductors should be waterproof; before you buy any, don’t forget to look for the “W” symbol on the label, as in THWN-2.
By this method, you can run any size of the circuit using a wire burying tool.
The downside is the cost — 1/2-in. A metal conduit is more than a dollar for afoot. You can use this path to minimize the digging.
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3) Burying in yard
Digging up to 12 inches–
For a 12 inch deep, you can use direct-bury UF-B “underground feeder cable,” it comes with three criteria.
a) It comes with GFCI protection, before you enter it in the ground.
b) Its limit is up to to 120 volts, which is enough for your foundation.
c) It has been protected by 20-amps fuse.
Pro tip:- As per your situation, we recommend you put it only up to 1 foot deeper. And also you don’t have to put the cable inside the expensive conduit.
We guess this is the best choice for you if you only need it to provide power to your water feature.
4) Burying in yard
Digging up to 18 inches–
For an 18 inches deep, you can run “THWN-2”, which has PVC conductors inside it.
Pro tip:- This method will let you run any size of the circuit, so it would be great to run electricity on other items based on your water feature.
5) Burying in yard
Digging up to 24 inches–
For 24 inches deep, you can run “direct-bury UF-B wire cable.”
Although you have to follow one thing:- It would need a conduit where the cable wires can expose outside of the house.
Putting cables up to 24 inches in the ground need more digging. So this method will make sense if you have the machinery to dig the soil easily.
Trenching and digging guidance
The most accessible digging guide is included with:
1) Shovels, tips, and hand trenching tools.
2) Walk-behind trencher machine.
3) Riding on trencher and trench the digger supplier.
4) Electric wire trencher used for dog fence applications.
Here are some equipment we have chosen for hand trenching:
Drainage Spade
Drainage Spade, people also call it as tile spade; it is a digging spade, a handheld wire burying tool. This tool is specially made for digging shallow routes. You can trench for up to 12 inches deep and 5 inches wide.
For a penetrating wire burying tool, it would be grade if it has a narrow and round point.
The more length of the blade, the easier it would be for you to dig shallow trenches.
The long handle version is more prevalent in construction (when used as a wire burying tool) and landscaping crews, same as the short handle version is popular in homeowners and plumbers.
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Sharpshooter shovels-
Drainage Spade
Please note it, that it creates a rounded Bottom route trench. This is fine for link flexible utility lines such as sprinkler tubing and low voltage wiring. It is also fine for shallow drainage piles, which is used to move downspout water away from your premises.
But if you are thinking about a deeper trencher that can be made into a smooth flat bottom. For that, you can use a trench shovel or a trenching hoe.
Trenching Hoe
People also popularly know this it as Grub hoe. The trenching scraper is specially made for digging it can also be used as a wire burying tool or a flat bottom trencher, which could be 24 inches deeper and 5 inches wider.
Trenching Shovels
Trench digging shovels and cleaned out shovels are the two significant kinds of wire burying tool. They can be made productive for different projects.
Trench digging shovels are best for digging 18 inches deep, 4 inches wide, narrow trenches that are flat bottom.
The other popular name for this is step trench shovel, as you can push down by the inclined back surface. It would be best if you stepped on the shovel when it is in the trench.
Handles come with high lift angles, which is very convenient when you want to put soil out of the trench. If you need to purchase wooden tools, go to woodcraft to learn more.
Head digging or trench digging shovel
Head digging shovel is also called as cleanout shovels, which is used to remove the loose soil. The soil is left on the bottom of the power trencher after digging the soil by power trencher. By using this shovel, you can level up the solid surface of drainage or water pipes.
People say that a great wire burying tool i.e; a shovel comes with a long handle so that the user should not put effort in bending down to reach the bottom of the trench. Also, a good shovel should have sidewalls on the trench to lift the right amount of soil.
Patented bottom Digger, also known as trench digging shovel, also removes the loose soil left after using the machine trenching at the bottom of it. The thing is different because it uses pull and lift action to collect the loose soil from the trench’s bottom. These advantages make it more faster, ergonomic, and don’t hurt your back.
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how deep do you bury underground dog fence?
Many of the hardware stores and local tool shops will provide you a rental wire trencher or a wire burying tool, which you can dig and install at the same time in your yard.
In a simple language, it buries the underground wire for you. Suppose you are all set with the tools, so you should be capable of laying cables on a large enough yard. For example, 1000 square feet of wire should be arranged within half a day. An estimated calculation should take around $40, including all the gasses and rental trenchers.
You will see there are large models of trencher and wire burying tool in your nearest hardware store. Don’t think about hiring them because those large models would not fit your car; also, they are expensive.
The small wire burying tool is good enough, but if you dig in an area greater than 2 acres, then a small trencher is not the right choice.
Depth of the wire to be dug
Different types of trenches and wire burying tool works differently, so don’t hesitate to ask the help from the shop regarding the trencher work and its operation.
Be sure you are wearing all of the safety equipment, including safety glasses.
Dragging a trencher is not so easy to do. And for your mental peace trenching is much easier than hiding the boundary wires by hands.
Commonly asked questions
How to trench with a grub hoe?
Using a trenching hoe as a wire burying tool is as simple as running a power trencher; it is just a little slower. It is only one beat at a time. A power chain trencher cuts an angle on the ramp in the soil.
Then it continually starts to abrade it and pull up the loose dirt. Grub hoe; this wire burying tool does the same thing, dame action, but instead of abrades it does chops.
How deep should you dig a trench?
You might need a trenching machine or a wire burying tool if you want to run longer cables. You can always go to local shops and see what they have to work this out.
Whereas for shorter runs, you can do it by hand. Digging in a regular lawn involves cutting out parallel lines using the sharp spade. You can then pull out the sections of turf to replace later.
It’s not compulsory to have wider trenches, although it should be wide enough to put your tools.
Any easy wire burying tool that you can use for making out a narrow trench is a grubbing hoe. You can effectively use it for hard ground, while you cannot work using a spade. You can also get the soil from the trench quickly.
Is it possible to burry wire without conduit?
A conduit is nothing but a hollow tube through which you can run numerous wires. It’s common for people to use conduit for burying the wire. But in a case where you need a power supply, you can go for direct burial cable put in soil without any conduit.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you can make a better decision on how to use a wire burying tool. Let us know if you have any more questions about digging a trench for burying the wire.
If you would like to read another content on getting a trencher, read- Hand Held Trencher For Rent – Everything You Need To Know.
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