Go to the nearest company that sells "Ditch-Witch" products and
ask to see brochures about them. Very simple devices. A narrow tooth
that protrudes into the ground at the depth you wish, with the wire
fed down a channel at the rear. The tooth opens the earth, allowing
the wire to follow, then the earth closes back over the wire as the
tooth moves on. However, you have to have a tractor or equivelent to
mount the plow on and pull thru the ground. I don't think a riding garden
tractor would have the power.
Also - your local telephone or cable tv utility may be able to rent you
a Ditch-Witch by the hour!
de KL7HF
Richard Karlquist wrote:
>
> I am interested in building a wire plow to put in radials. I read
> the section in Low Band DX'ing about them and also one of the two
> Ham Radio references ON4UN gives (I'm missing the other issue). In
> the Ham Radio reference, the author says there are commercial ones
> used for AM broadcast stations. Does anyone have any pointers to those?
> Has anyone built a wire plow? I'd like to hear about your experiences
> with it. In particular: would it make sense to attach one to a garden
> tractor, or is the "armstrong" type easy enough to use. I would rather
> spend more money and do less work, rather than do a budget version.
> The ground I will be working on is not super flat (+/- 6 inches or so)
> and I don't want to mow it and grade it before installation. How deep
> should the wires be buried to assure they don't reappear on the surface?
> I am more interested in structural integrity, rather than the imponderable
> question of whether it's more optimum electrically to have them on the
> surface than buried 6 inches or whatever. Thanks in advance.
>
> Rick Karlquist N6RK
> rkarlqu@scd.hp.com
>
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