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P L UMB I N G CO N N E C T I O N
S UMM E R 2 0 15
D
igging a trench for laying cable,
wires or piping can be a right
pain. Whether you’re doing it
with a shovel (and it takes forever) or
a machine (and you’ve had to lug in
the equipment), it takes longer than it
should and costs you precious time
and money. Now, however, there may
be an alternative.
The TerraTrencher is a portable
mini trencher designed to be easily
transported in the average tradie’s
vehicle and to create a trench in tight
spaces and even tighter timeframes. It
looks, to all intents and purposes, like
a chainsaw for the earth: a long bar
and chain has been mounted on a Stihl
engine and it is used in much the same
manner as a chainsaw.
The resulting trench is approximately
40mm wide and up to 750mm deep,
depending on the model used. For wider
channels, it’s recommended that the
user creates a double row of trenches
with the TerraTrencher and pops the
remaining earth out with a shovel. A
trolley is available for longer runs and
to assist those who may be of a slighter
frame. With little disturbance of turf or
earth, it’s easy to clean up afterwards,
further speeding up the task of laying
cables, wires or pipes.
Originally developed in New
Zealand over 14 years and under the
name ‘Terrasaw’, the trencher has
won multiple innovation awards at
Fieldays, the national agricultural and
trade show. It is selling well in the US
and is now available in Australia as
TerraTrencher, where sales manager
Phil Lee is a passionate promoter.
“The impressive digging speed and
sheer convenience of a totally portable
mini trencher you can carry with
one hand means huge time and cost
savings,” he says.
“The TerraTrencher features a
heavy duty trenching chain equipped
with toughened steel self-sharpening
teeth, providing high reliability and
exceptional performance.”
TerraTrecher is recommended for
use laying irrigation pipe, electrical
conduit, pest control barriers, NBN
cabling, hidden fences, low voltage
lighting, water reticulation systems and
water drainage relief – or pretty much
anything long and narrow that you
might want to put underground.
“It will dig through various soil types
up to and including hard clay, even with
some rocks. It has limitations like
most small power tools and will not
successfully dig in shaley rock or
rock conditions,” says Phil.
As with all such large
and potentially dangerous
equipment, great
emphasis has been
placed on
usability.
“The offset transfer case positions
the digging bar centrally, providing
excellent ergonomic weight balance and
manoeuvrability,” Phil explains.
The TerraTrencher team estimate
the trencher can dig a metre a minute,
which is a pretty big claim to make.
What can be known is that it will make
it faster to set up, dig, cover and pack
up – the only debate is how much faster.
TerraTrencher is available through
dealers around Australia.
TerraTrencher
www.terratrencher.com.auTHE ‘EARTH CHAINSAW’
The back-breaking work of
digging trenches could be a
thing of the past.
Kate Jordan
looks at the TerraTrencher.
Designed in NZ, the TerraTrencher claims to dig trenches at a metre a minute.
“It will dig through various soil types
up to and including hard clay, even
with some rocks.”
TOOLS