Roto Tiller Trench Digger

Roto tiller trench digger MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Earth Movers 15-5-25 Several years ago a FARM SHOW reader in Oregon developed a trench digging chain to fit his chain saw (Vol. 10, No. 6). The idea generated so much interest a company was formed to market the chain but eventually the company went out of business. Now a Texas farmer-inventor has come up with what he says is an even better way to dig trenches to lay water lines, electric cable, etc. Duane Darling, who farms near Muleshoe, removed the tines from his garden roto-tiller and mounted a trench-digging steel disc off to one side. He fitted the disc with four 2-in. wide digging teeth. "There's nothing on the market like it. Most commercial ditch diggers use chains and are quite expensive," says Darling, who has used the ditcher to lay irrigation drip lines around his farmyard. The 3/8-in. steel digging disc is 20 in. in dia. Darling simply removed the tines from the tiller and drilled holes in the center of the disc to fit the roto-tiller hub. The disc digs down to a depth of about 8 in. The 2 by 4-in. rectangular teeth, made out of 3/8-in. thick steel cut out of old truck springs, fit into slots on the edge of the wheel, positioned at an angle. The disc turns for-ward so the teeth cut into the soil and pull it up out the backside. Darling operates the rig backwards by pulling back on the handlebars. "It's easy and fast to use. Takes only about 10 min. to cut a 30-ft. ditch. If you had a bigger tiller, you could install a bigger disc to dig deeper but it might be difficult to hold by hand," says Darling. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Duane Darling, Rt. 3, Box 442, Muleshoe, Tex. 79347.

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