# Stump Grinding & Cable Lines



## tommyo (May 17, 2006)

I hit a cable line today while grinding out a stump. Only bearied an inch or two below grade level.It was not marked by Miss Utility.So what do you'll do???? (a.) Splice cable line back together?(b.)Call cable company? (c.)Kick chips over cut cable and off to next stump?:hmm3grin2orange:What other fun stuff have you hit? Thanx for your input.


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## Dadatwins (May 17, 2006)

I am guessing you called miss utility and had the area marked. Marks are not always accurate and not uncommon for cable and telephone lines to be a few inches below the ground. I keep extra cable connectors and some cable wire on my truck. First thing to check is to see if the line was live, there are plenty of old lines buried and the new line may be located somewhere else on the property. If you know you are going to cut one due to location of roots or whatever, the homeowner can request a new line be placed above ground until the work is complete, (usually at no charge from utility,) 
As for what I have hit, a grinder will eat about 50' of soaker hose in 2.3 seconds, takes about 1.8 seconds to wind up 20' of cable line, 1.2 seconds to wind up 100' of electric dog fence. Watched a guy wind up 10' of chain link fence in 2.6 seconds and mechanics spent 3 days with a hack saw and cutting pliers to get it out.


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## Mike Barcaskey (May 17, 2006)

cut a cable line about a month ago. didn't know I hit it. went back to the job the next day and a cable truck pulls up about 10am. guy gets out and starts with the metal detector. He told me the homeowner had called about the cable being out.
sure enough I had hit it, about 3 inches below the surface. They fixed it and left, never heard anything about it.
I wouldn't have paid for it anyway. all utilities like that must be 18 inches minimum below the surface.


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## okietreedude1 (May 17, 2006)

Mike Barcaskey said:


> . all utilities like that must be 18 inches minimum below the surface.




Yea right..........whatever.

Ive hit cable tv before too. We just call the cable co and they come fix it. Last year, we cut a cable line while planting a tree, in fact cut out a section, called it in and it got fixed. Couple weeks later were planting another tree in the same back yard.....tried to eyeball where the first line was in order to avoid it.....WRONG! We hit the :censored: AGAIN!:jawdrop: Called that one in too. Finished planting the tree and ran. 

An old friend of mine used to work for a locator service and he said it was extremely common to hit the cable and phone lines as they dont have any requirements for depth.


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## Mike Barcaskey (May 18, 2006)

maybe not in okie, but that's what it is in pa.


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## Mike Barcaskey (May 18, 2006)

okietreedude1 said:


> Yea right..........whatever.



BTW consider this the cyber-finger flying right back at you ..|..


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## Steve-Maine (May 18, 2006)

In Maine we have DIG SAFE who marks all utility cables.Actually it is the law here. The problem is Time Warner usually don't mark them. So when we hit them they have to fix at their expense. I won't grind stumps without calling DIG SAFE. Some guys going door to door get a job and do it willout calling. Some Day they will find out when hitting a power line. I have complained to DIG SAFE but doesn't do any good.


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## Mike Barcaskey (May 18, 2006)

we have One-Call here in PA. as a contractor, you have to join for them to come out and mark the lines. I believe it is over $200 per year to join.


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## okietreedude1 (May 18, 2006)

We too have a one call system that anyone can call to have utilities marked.

I dont bother for stumps unless its in an area that appears to have something. Most trees (especially old ones) dont have the utilities under them. At least in Ok.


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## treesurgeon (May 18, 2006)

if i hit a phone or cable i just fix it. only a few minutes and im off. no need to have the homeowner with no phone or cable for the day. i call dig safely ny only when there is a concern with hitting something.


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## BRAAAP (May 18, 2006)

I was working on a job last week and hit a MAIN cable line with the box blade on the tractor. It was only 2in down:censored:. Took out 2 streets of cable at 7:30 at night durning a big hockey game. lol. Got a guy out there that night at 9:00. As soon as he looked at it he said what the :censored:. He was real cool about it and and didn't charge me


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## Totally Stumped (May 22, 2006)

My three step process keeps me out of trouble _most_ of the time: ask customer about buried lines, carefully dig around the stump and have marking service spray orange paint all over the yard. In Texas, we have a free one-call marking service but that doesn't always help. I have a laminated card with all the utility, phone and cable service numbers taped to the visor of my truck for immediate notification. I also carry fittings, glue and pipes to repair drain lines and irrigation lines. I've never been charged by the cable companies-seems like they know they screwed up when they buried it 1" deep. Now the gas company...that's a different story. You have to pay for the repair and the estimated amount of lost gas.
Hey Dadatwins, great times! Really helps those bearings!


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## BigUglySquirrel (May 22, 2006)

Found an old tire rim grown into a tree trunk that was uprooted in Florida a few years back. That was kinda hard on the old grinder teeth. Round here we've run into concrete that idiots filled cavities with way back in the day. All kindsa cool stuffs. 

Anyone but me ever rolled a Rayco Super Jr.? 
It's a long story that involves unloading the thing on a hill and not having the dually wheels on.....but if it ever happens to you take the spark plugs out and crank it round a few times before trying to fire it up. Ours got compression locked from WAY to much fuel getting into the combustion chambers before we could get it righted. heheh Good times.


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## clearance (May 22, 2006)

*Warning tape*

I worked for an excavating outfit, when we installed underground electric, telephone and cable pipes to a new house we threw a foot or so of dirt on top of the pipes then some yellow tape then a few inches of dirt to grade. The yellow tape is about 3" wide, bright yellow with black writing that says "buried cable". I believe it is the law to do this here, cable is no big deal but power and gas could put you on the 6 o'clock news, gas especially.


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## Log hog (May 22, 2006)

Hey Ugly Squirel,
I rolled a Super JR. once, went around a guy on the highway to pass him and he turned right into me, no signal light or nothing he was going fairly slow and was towing a feed wagon and even if he would of used his signal light you could'nt see the truck around the trailer any way, I had to drive right off the road into a 3 foot ditch as so not to T-bone the guy, dukes of hazard style, snapped the tung right off my aluminum trailer and sent my grinder rolling. I was a little steamed to say the least. Called the cops and they gave him a ticket and my insurance company went after them. As far as concrete I've seen it up here in WI few times, you will find some brainy smurfs out there, real fun. The cable thing, one time I hit some cable, those lazy pricks only bury that stuff about 3-4 inches below the grass, they don't use a trencher they use a shovel.


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## BigUglySquirrel (May 23, 2006)

LogHog-

Scary stuff dude!! Yeah, the cable guys around here use a flat blade more less and just sink in about 4" lay the cable in and stomp it down. Only regulations I know of around here are that the water lines have to be buried below the frost line so as not to burst.


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## toscottm (Sep 26, 2006)

*Underground Utilities - Risk Management*

In the communication age, utilities are becoming more and more depended upon and accidentally knocking these out of service can be very costly. While the physical repair may be expensive itself, the financial losses may be astronomical. The 

A former landscape client of mine (I'm an insurance broker) obtained a locate prior to excavation using a Ditch Witch. While performing the work, a bundle of 2400 pair of fibre optics was cut. This happened about 30 miles east of Toronto and the bundle was most of Bell Canada's trunk for eastern Canada! The president of Bell Canada was flown by helicopter to the site within an hour and demanded to see the locate. The client, was smart enough to take it to his lawyer first for a 'certified' copy. When handing it over to Bell Canada, he was advised that if it had been his mistake he would have been smart to get his family, leave the country and never come back. The cost to Bell Canada was more than $100,000 per minute ($6 Million per hour) due to the interruption (the line was for dedicated and guaranteed services such as bank alarms, etc.). Of course, in liability cases there is always the aspect of 'foreseeability' reviewed in both cause as well as harm. Undoubtedly my client could not have foreseen the possibility of causing tens of millions in loss (it took two days to repair).

First and foremost with any situation, reporting an incident immediately is always wise. While you may not be at fault for causing the damage, failure ot provide the notification necessary to ensure prompt repair may have you responsible for resulting losses. Inaction could have significant consequences!


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## fastbub (Sep 28, 2006)

BigUglySquirrel said:


> Anyone but me ever rolled a Rayco Super Jr.?



I rolled one in the snow in the woods on a steep slope in somebody's backyard and I was by myself! Luckily they were doing construction at the house and the contractor came out and helped me upright it. A little smoke when she started but all was good. I felt pretty dumb but I guess it happens to others.


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