Logging truck driving over water pipes? Should I worry?

[michaelthomas]

I have a 43' logging truck coming to deliver 10 cord of logs tomorrow. The ideal spot for them to drop it means they will have to drive near my well and over my water line to the house. The ground is obviously frozen but am wondering if I should be worried about cracking the water line with that much weight.

 

[moondoggy]

sorry man, i have no idea...but I keep reading that first sentence with greater envy each time.

 

[mikeathens]

If you're in the arctic and your waterline is in permafrost, I'd say don't worry. Otherwise, that's a crapload of weight. If you wouldn't want the truck driving over your leachfield, I'd think your waterline should be treated the same way (and for the record, I wouldn't want a truck that size driving over my leachfield).

 

[ctlovell]

I wouldn't do it. My wife, before we were married, had a regular bucket truck drive over her water line and wound up digging up the yard to fix the mess. Granted, the ground was thawed at that time but still, digging up a frozen yard to fix a water leak would SUCK!

 

[kjklosek]

I wouldn't worry.

How far do you have to go to get below the frost line? I imagine at least 4 feet.

At that depth the ground will have the load from the truck distributed quite well. Unless you just put in the line. Then I would find a new place.

I am in Virginia with a frost line of 18", so I would be hesitant to have so much weight over my line.

As others have stated, make sure he doesn't go over the leach field, if you have one. Different story.

J.P.

 

[barnartist]

My Dad had some logging done, they paid me a bit to use my lane. My Heat pipes were under there, as well as fresh water line to my garage. Its all good and its been a year later. Ground wasnt froze either. Although my heat lines are the kind pre made by "Logstor". If you made your own or are using that corregated stuff, no way man.

 

[Country Lady]

How deep is your water line buried? After Hurricane Katrina, we got some help from Fema to help clean up the horrible mess we had. They'd only clean up so many feet around our houses. Well, with their heavy equipment, they broke our water line several times in different places before they finished. I felt like telling them to just forget the help, we'd clean up ourselves.

 

[mikeathens]

This is hillarious! looks like about 50/50...which door will you choose...

Report back to let us know if your waterline got broken.

 

[kenora]

Well said by others....I wouldn't take the chance

 

[gpcollen1]

That is a whole lot of weight. If you are like us in the northeast where you are 4' below ground with that line, you may be ok. I would be hesitant, but would probably do it and risk it. Fixing it would probably only cost me the rental of a machine for the day and a day without water and a day off of work - so maybe I wouldn't.

 

[billb3]

I'm in S E Mass and my water pipe to the well 200 feet away (iron, many years old) are four feet down and have been driven over by the oil delivery truck, coal truck from 1930 to about 1965, manure and chicken feed (many many tons in 50/100 pound bags delivery trucks from 1920 to about 1965.

Tell ya the truth I'd be more worried about the truck getting stuck, unless you know for sure how solid the surface it will be driving on was made.

 

[argus66]

if i doubt dont do it, u can always move wood in a truck, wagon, wheelbarrow, hell even by hand. but fixing a water pipe in winter with bitter temps. no thanks.

 

[ansehnlich1]

hey michaelthomas did ya ask the truck driver what he thought?

I'd be looking for a way to avoid it myself.

 

[reaperman]

You need to supply us with more info. What state do you live in?? Does your house have a full basement? Up here in the northland, waterlines are minium 7 feet deep and go deeper to get under the footing of a full basement. Making some of them nearly 9 feet. My lines run under my driveway and get driven on constatly. Even with bigger trucks at times. They have never froze, but are a full 7 feet at the shallowest and 9 feet deep at the deepest. If you have a bi-level basement and live in a warmer climate, the lines may be somewhat shallower. Frost never traveles as deep in grassy areas due to cover. Remember, water going through your main water line to your house from the well, does supply heat and generally keeps frost from traveling as deep in that area.

 

[babalu87]

reaper man, his sig says Southern Maine.

If you know the EXACT location of the water line throw some sheets of plywood down and have him drive on those, that should distribute the weight fine IF THE GROUND IS FROZEN

 

[michaelthomas]

I think I am going to ERR on the side of caution here and have him dump the load in the side yard. I can always set-up my wood processing operation there. I already had about 2 cord of logs that were cut down from my yard out back so was thinking it would be convenient to have the wood dropped on the other 2 cord right by my splitter and my wood stacks. I think that fixing a water pipe in the winter up here would be a nightmare that I can do without. I have my tractor that I can pull trailer loads of wood back to the stacks.
I am going to go outside and snow blow a corner of my driveway to make room for the truck. I have never had a load like this delivered so I am not quite sure what to expect as far as:
where the truck will fit?
How far they can place the wood from the truck?
How much room the truck needs for overhead clearance with the boom?
I am very excited to see all of this wood! They are 24' tree length logs 4"-12" across, Red Oak, White Oak, and Sugar Maple! $750 a load the guy gaurentees 8 cord but loads up the truck full so it may be as much as 10. That would be a stack of wood 24'long 4' high and 12' wide I will take pictures Thank you for all the input.

 

[downeast]

Nice deal Mike......send him Downeast with that gold.
Heavy equipment guys with wheels such as skidders talk about "pushing the frost down" in woodlands. Tracked vehicles --whole tree harvesters--spread the weight so don't worry about the depth of the frost. That logging truck is going to put tons on a very small area in your yard. Don't take the chance of "pushing" the frost down to the water lines even down below 4 feet. Remember, you're in the Maine Banana Belt with all those thaws from Foxboro.

 

[billb3]

How many pipes do ya think he drives over on the way to your house ?
(yeah, I know, they're not YOUR pipes)

 

[velvetfoot]

One of the outriggers dug a hole in the edge of my gravel driveway last year. No big deal and nothing tipped over. He can place those logs pretty well, if he knows what he's doing.

 

[woodconvert]

If you are not comfortable don't do it...that said, how deep is your water line???. Mine is 4ft. If it's 4ft and the ground has a good frost in it then there is no problemo.

 

[pcampbell]

So how much for 10 cords? Oops nevermind... saw the previous post @ $750 for 8 minimum.

 

[backpack09]

... Your in maine, the ground is frozen, your water line is below frost line (say 4') the waterlines in the street are only buried 4' deep themselves where town water is available.... You shouldn't have a problem. But nothing bad usually comes from being cautious.

 

[Molson]

... Your in maine, the ground is frozen, your water line is below frost line (say 4') the waterlines in the street are only buried 4' deep themselves where town water is available.... You shouldn't have a problem. But nothing bad usually comes from being cautious.

Not always the case.. I work for the municipality, and our lines are anywhere from 4' - 8' depending on when/where they were put in, we have them break all the time from frost push, generally from large machinery ramming the frost down. I wouldn't risk having a truck going over them, especially in a place that is/was covered with snow. The frost layer won't be as deep, and you risk the truck pushing the frost even lower. All it takes is a small crack to ruin your day.

 

[wally]

10 cords would be quite a load for the standard new england area tri-axle. usually they run from 6.5 to 8.5 cords, although there are some extra long tri-axles out there that could carry it. whether the truck is overloaded or not is a different question.