Boring under sidewalks

[wojo23323]

I am finally getting around to installing my own system. I had 8 bores under the sidewals around my house. I used my pressure washer with the 0 degree spray nozzle and blew the dirt out. It took me 15 minutes for all of them but it was very messy. What other methods are used to go under sidewalks?

[MWM]

Not the most efficient I'm sure but we have dug holes on each side and under as far as we could and then pounded a pipe through.
On another job we subbed boring under a double drive to a company that specializes in boring. It was our first time using them so I was on site the whole time. More curious than anything. Made me very nervous as it was a new drive. Anyway half way under it hit a very solid area and he had to really work his machine to cut through it. I could just see it popping up through the new drive even though he had another guy with a hand held monitor guiding him and telling him how far beneath the surface he was. They ended up doing a fine job. They joked that if I wanted to watch next time I may feel better if I made a stop at the drive prior.
By the way this guy charged me a total of like $200 to go under the drive and under two sidewalks. I thought it was pretty reasonable.

[JeffY]

Our ditch witch pipe puller has a bore shaft on the front of it. We just attach the length of shaft needed and put on the necessary drill attachment and bore away. Quick and easy as long as there is a trench so the bore is going horizontal and not at a downward angle.

[MWM]

Not the most efficient I'm sure but we have dug holes on each side and under as far as we could and then pounded a pipe through.
On another job we subbed boring under a double drive to a company that specializes in boring. It was our first time using them so I was on site the whole time. More curious than anything. Made me very nervous as it was a new drive. Anyway half way under it hit a very solid area and he had to really work his machine to cut through it. I could just see it popping up through the new drive even though he had another guy with a hand held monitor guiding him and telling him how far beneath the surface he was. They ended up doing a fine job. They joked that if I wanted to watch next time I may feel better if I made a stop at the drive prior.
By the way this guy charged me a total of like $200 to go under the drive and under two sidewalks. I thought it was pretty reasonable.

[dougaustreim]

We use the boring attachment for our Ditch Witch pipe plow. Works fine, but there are two critical points to the operation of the device.
#1. You must keep the shaft level going into the bore.

#2. Run the machine at idle speed. The faster the bit turns, the greater the tendency to dive. Slow is the fastest in this case.

Have also use all of the other methods as well. Most applications using water are pretty messy.

Doug
Austreim Landscaping

[JimLewis]

How cool! I was just about to post a thread about this very topic! I am looking for a better way to bore under sidewalks too.

We normally do the digging and pipe pounding thing like MWM described. But that's getting old and is pretty labor intensive. I'd love to find a better way.

One irrigation contractor I know has this little drill / water combo that he built that is slick as hell. But I can't figure out how he built it all. It drills with a huge drill bit tip on the end and you can manually turn water on and off as you drill. Hard to describe but it's fast and slicker than snot.

Are there any other methods out there that haven't been posted yet???

[rvsuper]

For my bores, I have a 6 ft. piece of galvanized pipe with a female hose thread on one end, and I found this tapered cone that threads on to the other end. Turn the water on, the water blasts out the other end, and I can have a 4 ft. bore done in 5 minutes.

[JimLewis]

Alex, can you take a picture for me? (us). That sounds pretty cool!

[rvsuper]

Jim,
I will try to get a picture in this week.....I've been busy at the course getting ready for open-up next week.

[dougaustreim]

They actually make a drill attachement that works pretty well. There was a thread on this not too long ago. Before we got our ditwictch attachment, we used it. It uses ordinary 3/4" pipe with a bit that screws on one end and an adaptor for the drill and the water hose on the other end.

The problem with this is that most people run too much water and have trouble keeping the drill dry. People are used to the old water hose and pipe trick, where the water actually washed away the dirt and did the actual boring. With the drill attachment, the bit does the boring, the water is just to soften the dirt a little, so water needs to run very slowly. Only good for sidewalks, as you cannot handle a very long lenght on the drill.

With our ditchwithl, we add 10' rods one at a time and can go a great distance. We have bored city streets before.

Doug
Austreim Landscaping

PS I can get the name of the company that makes the drill attachment if anyone is interesed. Would be in the file out in the shop.

[Planter]

You are looking for a "Hydro Drill". Ewing has them for $108.00.

[JimLewis]

http://www.littlebeaver.com/hd.htm

They seem to have some cool stuff! I like the stand-up one in the top right corner!