Pipe: 0, backhoe: 1...

Pipe: 0, backhoe: 1...  Yesterday while trenching near our barn, I managed to bust another section of 6" irrigation pipe.  I used the backhoe to get within about 3" of the pipe (I knew right where it was), then tried to use a shovel to locate the pipe.  The danged clay was so hard-packed, 2' down, that I couldn't make a dent in it.  So I thought I'd be real careful with backhoe and dig a little closer.  First try, and you see the results in the first photo.  Dang it!  So I ran back up to Valley implement and bought another “repair kit”.  Then this morning I dug out the pipe, completely exposing it, cleaned around it with a shovel (the only time I was warm today!), sawed out the broken bits (second photo), washed all the soil off the ends (third photo), and then slipped a piece of pipe and repair coupler on to fix it (last photo).

The whole process of repairing the pipe took about four hour, plus the two hours to get the parts...