Installing drip septic systems can be a tough job. For J. Browne Excavation — a multi-service contractor specializing in septic system design and installation — a 30-year-old cable plow proved to be just the right tool for a particularly challenging drip system installation.
Septic systems such as sand mounds, which use a sand-and-gravel mound as an elevated drainfield, are common in southern Maryland. But they’re not so popular with the owners of waterfront homes looking for unobstructed views.
Justin Browne, who co-owns the Leonardtown, Maryland, business with his wife Bonnie, says that alternative drip systems have been a game changer for these homeowners to meet regulatory requirements.
“We had submitted a bid on a drip system job, but unknown to us or the client, the previous homeowners had a tree company cut four or five trees down and grind the stumps just below ground level,” Browne says. “With driplines 2 feet apart, we knew we would be running into these stumps.”
A few years earlier the company had purchased several pieces of equipment from a utility contractor — including a 1990s-era Parsons DP100 cable plow used to install electric, telephone and cable TV wire at depths of as much as 3 feet.
“This unit was way bigger than the typical walk-behind trenchers you would normally use to install driplines,” Browne says. “But we thought it might work to our advantage on this job.”
Browne worked with the local Hoot dealer who supplied the advanced treatment unit and driplines to switch out the shanks and modify the tires and spacers to hit the target depth of 8 to 10 inches.
“When we got it right where we wanted, we started in and we were both impressed with the performance. The cable plow performed beautifully, tearing right through these stumps and separating their roots without missing a beat. With a track plow, we would definitely have had to get into hand shoveling and sawing those roots out of the way.”
Each drip tube featured both a supply and return that would be connected at one end of the drainfield. The contractor used the cable plow to quickly install the driplines.
“One shot and it was done,” Browne says. “On top of that, the grass laid back down for us as nice as you’d want to see.”
Read more about J. Browne Excavation in the July issue of Onsite Installer.
