Trenchers Can Dig the Job!

Powerful enough for the big jobs, but compact enough to work on small jobsites, trenchers were built with landscape contractors in mind. These machines can dig residential or commercial service lines. Find one powerful enough for you that can maneuver to your liking and plow down deep enough. Compare these trenchers with their options and features, choosing the trencher which best fits your needs.

Brown Manufacturing Corp.

Model No.: F-991H Bededger
Engine: Honda GX270
Horsepower: 9 HP
Weight: 165 lbs.
Special Features: Utilizes a variety of digging attachments. Capable of digging trenches 1/2?EUR??,,????'??,1?EUR??,,????'??,2?EUR??,,????'??,3?EUR??,,????'??,4 1/2?EUR??,,????'?? wide. Specialty rotors for digging special trenches for defining mulch beds, grinding stumps, digging footings for concrete curbs and digging in rocky conditions.
*Warranty:*1 year
Cost: $2,595

Turf Teq, LLC

Model Number: SideWinder
Horsepower: 13 HP
Engine: Honda??????oe Model GXV390
Weight: 400 lbs.
Height: 45 inches
Length: 60 inches
Width: 36 inches
Special Features: Landscape bed opening, bed grooming and trenching; can be converted to a rotary broom or power rake.
Warranty: 1 year on the complete machine and 2 years on the Honda engine.
Cost: $4,000 ?EUR??,,????'??? $4,900 depending on options.

E-Z Trench Mfg.

Model Number: 5G65 Woodchuck Stump Grinder
Engine: Honda GX200
Horsepower: 6.5 HP
Height: 19?EUR??,,????'??
Length: 35?EUR??,,????'??
Width: 24?EUR??,,????'??
Weight: 160 lbs.
Special Features: Wet Clutch Drive and no belts, folding handle, side cutting action for cutting brush.
Warranty: 1 year
Cost: $2,499

Barreto

Model Number: 912
Engine: Honda
Horsepower: 9 HP
Height: transport height is 43 inches
Length: boom end to handlebar 83.5 inches
Width: transport width 26.5 inches
Weight: 620 lbs.
Special Features: Self-propelled
Cost: starting at $6,650

Ramrod

Model Number: 231211
Engine: Hydraulic driven
Horsepower: 3000 psi @ 12 GPM
Height: 20 inches
Length: 64 inches
Width: 35 inches
Weight: 461 lbs.
Special Features: Digs 4 or 6-inch trenches down to 36-inches
Warranty: 6 months
Cost: $ 4,847

Ditch Witch

Model Number: RT40
Engine: Deutz F3M2011
Horsepower: 42.2 HP
Height: 86 inches
Length: 155 inches
Width: 64 inches
Weight: 4,200 lbs.
Special Features: They are operator friendly, versatile, fit on small jobsites, are compact and powerful. In addition, they have high street appeal.
Warranty: Warranty 2000
Cost: $35,000-$45,000

Venture Products Inc.

Model Number: KY 400
Height: 30 inches
Length: 67 inches
Width: 40 inches
Weight: 470 lbs.
Special Features: Capable of trenching up to 40?EUR??,,????'?? inches deep with a 5.5 inch-wide cut. Depth indicator allows operator to gauge depth of cut from the tractor?EUR??,,????'???s seat.
Warranty: 3 year residential or 2 year commercial warranty.
Cost: Around $4,000

The Toro Company

Model Number: Dingo 22465 TX 413
Engine: Honda GX390
Horsepower: 13 HP
Height: 42.5 inches
Length: 107 inches
Width: 35.6 inches
Weight: 1,740 lbs.
Special Features: Reverse the boom on the trencher to double the life! The boom is made of high abrasion resistant material to fight wear and last longer.
Warranty: 1 year
Cost: $15,886

Vermeer Manufacturing Company

Model Number: RTX350
Engine: Cummins A1700 1.7L diesel engine
Horsepower: 37 hp
Height: 85 inches
Length: 96 inches
Width: 56.5 inches
Weight: 2,990 lbs.
Special Features: The standard front attachment is a four-way backfill blade, and optional rear attachments include a high headshaft center-mounted trencher or hydraulic sliding offset trencher.
Warranty: 1 year or 1,000 hours
Cost: Incomplete information.

Compact Power, Inc.

Model No: ST5158-48
Dimensions: Height 18.5?EUR??,,????'?? length 81?EUR??,,????'?? width 32?EUR??,,????'??
Engine: Due to its size and power, this trencher is powered by a Boxer Compact Utility Loader.
Special Features: Side discharge Auger and Optional Crumber
Warranty: 1 Year
Cost: $4,604

Port Industries

Model No.: 1012d
Height, length, width: 98?EUR??,,????'?? high, 300?EUR??,,????'?? long, 106?EUR??,,????'?? wide with conveyor folded for transport.
Engine: Cummins B5.9E
Horsepower: 130 HP
Weight: 17,640 lbs.
Special Features: Laser capable, sports kit and discharge conveyor, can run on turf, 4.5?EUR??,,????'?? to 14.5?EUR??,,????'?? width, 10?EUR??,,????'?? ?EUR??,,????'??? 55?EUR??,,????'?? deep.
Warranty: 1 Year
Cost: $185,000

Tracking your trenchers

If you have uniquely identified every one of your items, and set up distinct storage locations for your items when they?EUR??,,????'???re not in use, then you have taken the first step toward organizing and tracking your trenchers, tractors, machinery and other items.

The next step is to build a mechanism to track your trenchers, bulldozers and excavators when they are in use. If you use your trenchers on specific jobs, or if you have other people take your items out to use, you need to come up with a sequence of numbers to uniquely identify the job and/or person to whom the item is assigned. Have a sign-out sheet so that you always record the item number, the job or person identifier, as well as the date time that the trenchers items were removed from storage and put into use. This will give you an ongoing history of what trenchers have been used where, and by whom. This is key for tracking the usage of your trenchers, as well as sorting out the location of each and every item.

Power Points

1892: Year the first successful wheel type ditcher was built. James B. Hill in Bowling Green, Ohio built the machine.

44: The number of trenchers in use in one Ohio County in 1952, showing the popularity of these machines. Source: The Ohio State University