Level trenches

[dlsmith]

In three words, practice, practice, practice.

I have run backhoes and excavators many years ago, and only after a couple hundred hours was I able to get a consistent depth and/or gradient in a trench.

But like other posters said, a transit or rotary laser and story pole is a must.

 

[groomerbuck]

I simply asked you to explain.



One person stated over dig and backfill as necessary. You stated, "That is NOT what you want to get in a habit of. Any “trench” floor should remain virgin material. You never want any trench floor to settle."



You also said, "Also keeping your bucket flat is probably the worst thing to do when digging out a trench. Its a horrible habit to get into for several reasons."

There is a time and place for over digging but sub grade is not one of them. Your sub grade(base) should not be fill material unless tamped probably. Your base should be as solid as possible wether your talking a trench floor or foundation digs. (Im talking sub grade excavation). Some pipe jobs call for a bedding of stone /backfill.
As far as my reasoning for the flat bucket comment goes, buckets have teeth for a reason. They are supposed to be the wear/replaceable item, not the heal of the bucket. Plus you want the teeth to do most of the work not the heel of the bucket. Flat bucket passes are only done for clean up floor passes. Another huge reason is for digging around utilities. I know most on this site will never dig around utilities, but take it from someone that digs around utilities on a daily bases, a “flat bucket” will destroy whatever is in the way.