Has anyone ever self-trenched for installing Fiber?

**ShadowRise** · 08-09-20, 09:57 PM

I don't know if this is the right place to ask, but I've had trouble finding anyone who might know.

I've been looking into switching to Xfinity. My neighbors have it, so I figured that I should be able to get it too. Unfortunately, they're closer to the road than I am, and Xfinity requires a huge amount of money to install 726 feet of wire underground. (Their agreement with my county doesn't require them to hook me up because I live too far off the road).

Here's what they've said:
The address in question is going to require the extension of Comcast’s facilities to provide service to your residence. The costs associated with this line extension are significant enough to require a contribution from the homeowner in order for this job to proceed.

The price is quite high, but they also offered the option of self-trenching. But I don't know the first thing about trenching. I thought maybe I could rent a trencher (Either push-behind or a ride-on), but I'm not sure how difficult that is or how time consuming. I'd like to save some money if possible.

Has anyone here self-trenched to install fiber? Do you know about how long it'd take and how hard it is? Any information is greatly appreciated. Suffering from very slow internet and want to switch to modern internet.

**Philip** · 08-10-20, 09:56 AM

Self trenching shouldn't be too hard with the proper machine, if you are reasonably fit and have a handy friend you should be able to do it in a day or so. The trench doesn't have to be particularly deep or wide, installers in our area usually don't go deeper than 12" with cables in the yards. They used to do it manually with a splitting shovel for small jobs, now they use trencher machines. You only need a couple of inches wide and a foot deep trench usually.

The only issues are if you have many rocks or trees in the area, roots will present problems. You could rent a machine and try it.

**ShadowRise** · 08-10-20, 03:20 PM

Thank you very much for the information!

I might just have them do it, since there's other issues that could arise and I wouldn't want to be held liable. The price is a bit high still, but it might be worth it in the long run.