Never Shovel Again… Buy THIS Instead! 

Remember to double up the pipes when you bury them if you can as you never want to dig that again. Then again with that air trencher it would be safe to dig next to pipes unlike all other types.

I am honestly Glad you realized the importance of tree roots. SO MANY people, contractors included ignore the fact that roots can help stop deadly slides and trees falling

I worked for over 23 years on the Trans Alaska Pipeline. When excavation was being done where there was buried pipe or electrical lines, they would use an air-lance. it is safe and doesn't destroy things. Also if you are digging in schist or slate type material one would be amazed at how effective it is. The air gets in the cracks and fragments the rock.

2 cents of advice when using any air tools or air hoses. Make sure you put safety pins in the little holes on the connecting ends. If those connecting ends come loose during use, (been there--done that) they can literally beat you senseless before you can turn the air off. Another safety idea is to put a valve maybe half way up the hill so you don't have to run to the bottom if there is a problem.

Never heard of this tool. Glad you showed what it is and how it works. I like your humor in the videos. You two are not alone in your homesteading adventure, but not everybody cares to make videos about it. You are brave to even homestead much less post it. Keep up the good work and Happy Holidays! Thankz

I work for a natural gas utility, we call that tool an air knife. Sometimes you cant dig a big bell hole in a street. Removing dirt around pipes is faster safer and easier then hand shoveling in tight quarters. Also we have a vacuum excavater truck for noninvasive utility locating. It can use either high pressure water or an air knife to spot locate utility's. our truck air compresser can produce 225psi ,the air knife is amazing sometimes it lifts the area were you are standing. You can excavate a 1-2 ft hole 4--5 feet deep in seconds. Water is used for rocky,frozen or clay soil. Then soil is sucked into the truck or put back.

As someone else commented double up on the pipe so you have a spare. Consider also if you still have the tench open run some electrical and communication wires so you can have maybe a light, power, etc and have a way to put a level indicator at the house to monitor the tank level. Cheers, and good luck with the homesteading!

Backfilling musta sucked cause you blew away all your substrate? What did you use to backfill... trucked in clean fill?

I worked in construction and public utilities and we used a similar method with high pressure water and a large vacuum truck. I have seen your tool used and it looks like you found the right tool for the job at hand. And smart choice with passing on the excavator. They are dangerous on steep slopes! Keep on posting,love your channel!

On weekends after a week of blowing tree roots bare of soil, I use this tool in Australia to blow empty shallow waterways and pick up the fish, it can scale the fish by changing the nozzle & it can (with practice on angle of blow) blow the top right off a cold beer at the end of the day. I love my Air-Spade

When you back-fill the trench, don't forget to put the soil/dirt/mud/earth/ etc back mixed in with the rocks. If you only chuck in the stones, you have an underground dry river-bed running down the hillside, that will become a wet river when the snow melts and the water finds it's lowest level.

The great voice inflection, enthusiasm, and information in this video really just made it a good piece of content coming from someone who doesn't normally look at this kind of stuff. Keep up the good work!

Mate i am a Aussie builder and have seen some pretty crazy stuff but i love this one... apart fromyou being a champion and your Gal ... that is a great idea ... i like the envioromental aspect as well on the roots.. Good work guys ...

When I was direction drilling we had a hook up like that for our vac truck called an air lance and we had hoppers to store the dry material. Super nice to use and it makes me wonder why more people don't excavate like this. Cool video.

All those river rocks would make a beautiful fireplace.

When I saw all the undamaged roots in another video, I assumed you'd dug it with an archaeologist's trowel and paintbrush. Nice job.

I worked for a water dept. for many yrs. You could cover the pipe with hard insulation and 2" thick wooden planks to help prevent freezing. Planks are good for about one foot of frost protection. Good video, keep up the great work.

Great thinking! I dug a trench not long ago, in similar soil. Hard work with crowbaring the rocks and loosen up the packed dirt. You guys were smarter.

The best thing about this is that you didn't destroy the roots. Nice to see somebody building something without destroying everything around them.

Partner, I've used similar systems for trenching and more for locating current utilities. The air works very well however, if you're dealing with the clay pressurized water works better. To even a greater extent use pressurized water with a vac system. And if you can recycle the water from your vac, even better.

I would recommend running your pipe through larger conduit, especially if you are going to use poly pipe. That way when it eventually gets a hole in it you can always just attach new pipe to old and pull it through.

I don't know when I'll ever need to dig a trench on a steep incline, but hey, I learned something new!

this show is very well produced

That was awesome. I have not ever heard of that tool, but I am glad that you had heard about it. It looks like it was perfect for the job. I tell my wife all the time, they make a tool for ever job.

The air knife is so helpful

I used a pressure washer and 2" sewage pump to dig a trench for my generator gas pipe and wiring. It worked great.

I didn't know a tool from the Hoover Dam project was considered new. they used it for underground utility crossings so they didn't cut other lines while installing new.

With all those rocks you could do an awesome natural pool.

Pretty awesome for a last ditch effort! 👏👏👏

Hatchets are good for trenching on rocky terrain, light chops around the rocks loosen them up very fast. After you've loosened the rocks shoveling them away is super easy.

Thanks for introducing me to this method. That was spot on for that job!

Just wanted to say, great job. I look forward to watching you both. We purchased over a hundred acres in SC this fall and are currently working on our 3000 foot driveway and electricity. I love this stuff and I can see yall do too.

+ for being aware those trees are very useful there and keeping the roots intact

I work in the underground mining industry, here in Canada, that tool is called a Blowpipe. Used one every day for a few hours a day for years. You can certainly move a lot of dirt with one. We would use the one inch, manually, and a two inch attached to a hydraulic boom of one of our drills for the really big jobs.

You should have staggered your retaining wall block for added strength.

I'm generally pretty critical of most how-to, home-made, etc., videos. I'm pleased to say that your videos are well-done and informative. (And funny! ...in a way that manages not to be corny or condescending.) Keep doing what you're doing.

when I was a road and street sign installer in Las Vegas,we had a tool similar that we made for blowing dirt and rocks out of unistrut anchors.

How easy it is to lay a steel pipe on the ground Like grandpa used to do. After 80 plus years its still flowing not one leak. Did you know tree roots bust pipes under ground? I like your show. Keep up the hard work ;)

only thing I noticed was what material was left to back fill the pipe ? you can't bury it under large rocks. what did you do

That tool is the perfect example of " you can work hard or you can work smart".

You went full Joel Salatin when you did your pretend phone call to the amazing air blowing arborist guy. Love your videos!

Great use of proper tools. I had never heard of it but it looks like it was perfect for your particular application.

Thank you for sharing. However, could I recommend an area of your video needing improvement? It would have been helpful to see the air attachment actually operate for more than 3-12 seconds at a time. It was hard to get a sense of it's effectiveness. Less talk --> More of the tool in action

That is an awesome tool! I do see the need for are really good quality ear and eye protection..." I have tinnitus.. and my ears will be buzzing fir the next 100 years after that job" Never the less where one can have that tool & what is the name of it??

*A-* How did this get recommended to me, when I don't watch landscaping or construction videos? *B-* Why did I click on it, when I have no interest in this? *C-* Why did I watch this in its entirety? *D-* Why did I enjoy this video _and_ give it a thumbs-up? *E-* Why did I bother leaving a comment?

Love your channel. You guys have fun doing this.

Now what are you going to back fill with? You have no dirt just rocks left.

Thank God we dont have digging conditions like that here. We just have a few rocks and a few tree roots. Only thing we have to go at least 8 feet deep.

Keep up the great work, hope you two get everything done before it get's too cold!

its called an air spade. originally developed for mines. its used in the tree industry for root invigoration

Great "out of the box" solution to something others would only throw money at.

Great video and explanation. We have used similar technology, but instead of air, we used a pressure washer. It is VERY messy / muddy but works very, very quickly. We dug a 300 foot trench, 18" deep (we are in the south) in just a single day. We have very similar terrain (Georgia mountains, VERY ROCKY soil). Two small drawbacks to the pressure washer is you need a water supply (we used portable water transport containers) and you lose all your fill since it washes away. However we found that we could easily create a trench just wide enough for the pipe. Once the pipe was laid down we used rocks from the trench to hold it in place and let nature do the rest. A few good rains and the trench filled itself in. We now have a below grade 'trail' following the pipe. I had originally planned on bringing in fill to level it but found that i like the trail, I know exactly where the line is buried ;) We were lucky enough to have clear land to traverse with the trench, so no major tree roots to contend with. However, if you use a pressure washer, be careful as you burrow, you could easily cut or permanently damage tree roots. Also, ALWAYS call the utility companies to have lines marked. I definitely would not want to hit an electrical line with a pressure washer! OUCH! Anyhow, just thought I'd share how we did it.

I love your wacky expressions and exclamations, it's like the two of you went to the same acting coach.

Interesting solution for a complex problem.

a chick that knows how to use an excavator. shes a keeper *.* plus your right didnt know about that tool. cool :) nice video informative.

Very cool tool for rocky country. We're on heavy clay, here. I have a feeling this wouldn't work at all. When it's wet, it's like Elmer's glue. When it's dry, it's concrete. Most of the area around here is the same, which is probably why I've never seen one of these.

This is major river bed, the rocks!! Keep an eye out for gold. Gee a river that the 49ers didn't get to!! Grins, I am quite the gold or rock nut. I like this because you are able to keep the roots intact, some of them so that those trees aren't compromised and come falling down someday. I think you said 3 feet deep, did you? You WANT 3 feet deep to ensure your water pipes do not freeze. The rest of your soil, the topsoil will be full of organic matter. The bulk of your soil almost looks like caliche clay. Ugh. But organic matter will be all you need to improve your soil. Find a source of decomposed organic matter, go check your town's sewer system to see if they produce that mulch with human poo and sawdust. It is THE BEST decomposed organic matter in the world for soil. Except for vegey gardens. Have a soil test done now and one each year. Never work clay with a rototiller (think concrete, rotating drum, water, sand, gravel, lime, gypsum = concrete). Double dig once at the beginning and never again...I'll fill you in later as you get closer to growing your own food. BTW do not name any animal you plan on eating. Otherwise it would be far easier to become a vegan!!! Grins!!

wow... brings back some memories. years ago i worked with a group of people in estes park olanting aspen trees on a property, we had an excavator, however, there wasn't any map to where a sprinkler pipeline was, so the first tree, we learned pretty fast that it wasn't a good idea to use the excavator as we broke through the sprinkler pipeline hand had to fix that real fast. after that it was all by hand, shovels, 20 lbs rock bars, and sledgehammers. fun times

"I'm not that guy, I don't have his number and we don't have time for a talent search." SOOO glad I had just swallowed my tea cause I still choked on the bit in my throat. THAT was the funniest thing I'd heard in a while! ~Honey

On a smaller.scale I have used compress air to run utilities under driveway or walkway without tearing them up

And whats the frost depth there? Im in southern Vt and it 52 inches.... so you need to have that trench taller than Allysa

Advice wrapping those pipes with wire and bury them. In the future u can use mtl detector to locate if needed

The name of said massive air compressor blowing tool was left out of the video.

We used a straight 1" pipe with a shut off at the handle. We made it ourselves. It worked great in an urban environment where underground utilities like electrical and cable tv lines were in our dig area. We often used this in conjunction with vacuum truck when we could get our hands on one.

A closer look at the "Tool" would have been helpful. Good video tho.

Well done. Working in harmony with nature goes a long way towards preventing future problems. Keep up the good and thoughtful solutions.

That trench doesn't look deep enough to be below the frost line

Give thanks to your friend who had that nice big machine. Thanks for sharing

I could use one of those the next time someone is taking their sweet time crossing the road walking in to Walmart.

185 cfm! That's some heave air. I used to work at a tree company. We called it an air spade gun. All the same except your nozzle seems to be at a sharpe angel. I've dug ditches with it and really loved it. Thanks for sharing!

zomg you two are so cute. The content + info is fantastic, thank you for taking the time and effort to put it together.

I have heard of it strangely enough and was considering getting one or making one if it was not available. Thanks for doing the videos I feel my wife and I are kindred spirits with you guys. You approach this stuff the same as we do.

Interesting tool, I've never seen anything like that, cool! Love your videos, keep them coming! Take care!

I work as crew on outback Australian freight rail. I'm not in the navy crews (line maintenance) but they have been using this to remove the blue metal (stones, in case our terminology differs) from between the sleepers during maintenance and repairs for 30 years.

Dude couldn't you just talk about the air-tool, took forever to get to the point!

This is called an air spade or air knife. There is also a cool system called hydrovac that uses a vacuum truck with pressure washer. You loosen the dirt with the pressure washer and suck it up with the vac. Contractors use it for excavating near utilities. Badger Daylighting is the company I know of around the oil patch in ND, but I'm sure there are others.

That looks entirely too much like really hard work...

Quite interesting.I`ll have to keep this in mind should the need arise for a trench.Glad to see you respect the trees.

"Down here where the slope is a little less severe, and there's no tree roots to interfere" I thought he was about to start busting out a freestyle at 6:04

We call it an air knife but the big negative is it blows your backfill materal all over , makes digging easier but creates more work to backfill trench!

I love how you kept that video interesting the whole way through... good job :D really neat tool too :o

Wow, the quotes on the installation were very reasonable. I received a quote of $10.5k to install 200 ft of water line to a house.

Here is a website to look up that tool. www.airspade.com/products

This is a little off topic but from a geological point of view the abundance of river rocks is interesting. BTW, I have them on the front wall of my house and they look awesome.

Seems like you could build this "special tool" with a 2" Ball valve, pipe, nozzle, and hose coupler for under $100 . Air is nice. My question is why did you just not use a pressure washer? It would have made short work of the muddy areas and cleaned your rocks. If you dug a 1' at a time the water rushing down the hill would have helped on the 2nd and 3rd pass. You have these huge containers that could be filled with water and a water source near by for a low pressure pump to fill them. I am guessing your expense would have been around $300 with a pressure washer and you would own the pressure washer afterward.

Any use of compressed air is fun!

Where is the fill dirt coming from? Patrick

proper tool for the job? maybe, maybe not; but it definately worked and saved your tree stand. So all in all a definite success. Great intro to a little known tool.

2:09 There's a new tool out. It's called... a _pick_ .

I have used that tool before. Also treat for tunneling under sidewalks. We just use a pipe with a valve connected to 185 cfm compressor.

That is one damn responsible way to dig a trench, hats off to you for taking care of the roots and trees !!

outstanding idea !

You should use dynamite.

I live in Arizona, hard rocky ground, they actually call it Caliche. I use a high pressure washer with the narrowest tip, and it just cuts right thru it, since there also sand in it, it drains rather quickly. It does make one hell of a mess though.

Why would someone dislike this video? Six people with clumsy fat thumbs I guess.. Your friend with the dirt blowing up air thingy told me about this channel ;-) he's loaned me stuff before too...

First time I saw one of these was during monitoring well installation. It's called an air knife. They're great! The best part about it is that it doesn't cut through utilities so we use it to make sure where the drill is going won't destroy anything.

This tool should be sold in the Texas Hill Country. Lots of rocks.

Like it when the young lady said, "don't look at me, I don't know", that's strange, because I thought women knew everything ? ps' enjoyed, very interesting....

Very cool solution to a difficult situation, props to you both!

After burying your PVC, the root system will eventually invade your pipe !