The Gun Counter

I may be buying an old, built in 1941(? the data plate says 11-41 on it, I assume that's the date of manufacture) , Ditch Witch model V30 this week. I need to dig a few trenches at my house (power out to the shed and future deck & sprinklers) , and my brother in law will be building a house soon and could use it for that. The guy is asking $1500. It does not have a backhoe on it. I looked at it today and it runs, everything works: the blade goes up and down, it drives around, and the trencher works and pivots up and down. The brakes could use some work, and the guy didn't have any manuals for it.

So, anyone have an electronic copy of the manual, or know where to buy one online? I emailed Ditch Witch up in Oklahoma and they let me know they'd not made that model since 1981 and had no manuals or parts for it in stock, but local dealers might. The local Ditch Witch rep was not very helpful.

The tires were cracked, but are holding air and have a good amount of tread left. I was wondering if tires were still available for it if it needed them.

Anyone used a V30 before? Is it easy to figure out? Does it suck ass and have a tendency to buck and throw the operator into the trencher? If so, please let me know

edited to add a pic:

Cool. My dad had one similar to that (but I think newer) when I was growing up. He let my brother and I drive it around but I never got to run the trencher, only saw it used once. He gave it away when I was in high school. I'm still pissed at him for that; even if it needed some work AlaskaTRX and I could really use it out at our cabin now. It would also have been just the right size for plowing my driveway.

gandalf23 wrote:I may be buying an old, built in 1941(? the data plate says 11-41 on it, I assume that's the date of manufacture)

Doubtful - the first commercial Ditchwitch was produced until 1949.

Went ahead and bought it this morning. The guy I'm buying it from is fixing the brakes for the cost of the parts and will drop it off at my house.

My wife has already decreed that It.Must.Be.Used.Soon, so it looks like I'll be digging trenches this June

And a couple of co-workers have already asked to borrow it

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. I could have used that the past couple years. In fact, plan to rent a trencher this weekend. Not sure if I've got my helper available though.

I have about 500' for irrigation trenching to dig. Also, looking out at the morning rain, remembering I should be thinking about tiling/french draining the flat on our lower lot (80'x60' TBD playfield/archery/volleyball field).

Still have some drive/lot drains and gray water irrigation lines to bury beyond all that.

Little update:

Never did find the right manual for it.

Found out it was made in 1970.

Used the trencher to level the site for our above ground pool last summer, then didn't use it again till a couple of weeks ago. Expanded the area of level ground for a newer, larger above ground pool this year, and leveled some spots for some small sheds. Worked fine for everything I used it for, except that the dang battery kept dying between uses. Will use it to run power out to the new sheds and the current shed later this summer, probably.

Then a co-worker of my dad needed to borrow it to trench 600 feet. Luckily he and his dad run a small engine repair shop, because it needed a lot more work than I thought it did.

The oil in the pan wouldn't even come out the drain hole when he unscrewed it. He had to stick a screwdriver into the hole to poke a hole in the junk in the bottom of the oil pan. One of the hydraulic hoses broke. Oil bath air cleaner was really fully of junk. Carburetor (it appeared new) was full of junk. The control lever on the lower right bottom of the dash was stuck. I remember a control lever/knob that we couldn't move. He took it apart, cleaned it up, oiled it and guess what-it now works and controls the speed when trenching. They greased all the fittings. He said it used a LOT of gas, but not much oil. He didn't smell gas in the oil which is very good. He said it didn't look like the machine had a lot of hours of use on it. It should last a lifetime. The points looked new. He hasn't tried to find out why the battery goes down. He thinks it is the voltage regulator but didn't have time to check it out.

He said he trenched about 500 ft out of the 600 he needed to trench. It did great. He was digging about 30" deep in wet black clay. He has ordered a new oil filter and will install that and change the oil again this week. They drained most of the hydraulic fluid and replaced it-it was murky looking which means it had water in it. They also changed the hydraulic filter.

So I'm pretty happy to have lent it to him as now I'm getting back a trencher in tip top shape!

Wonder if he needs to borrow a 1976 Ford F-150?

Finally used it to dig trenches at my house. I've loaned it out to several friends and friends of friends, and my brother in law has had it for a few months (and he returned it not working! fuel pump)


Dug a nice trench out from the house to the current shed, then from the shed to the patio area, and from the shed to the new shed. Water and power are going to the shed and patio, and power to the new shed.



Did find the pipe that fed water to the sprinkler system in the back. Instead of where I though it was, it was piped from the far other side of the house, and wandered through the backyard. Makes no sense, but trenching across it saved me from having to dig around and find it

In addition to a cup holder, it really needs a seat belt, fell off once when driving it out of the ravine and over the already dug trench. It toppled and wobbled and out I went.

In addition to a cup holder, it really needs a seat belt, fell off once when driving it out of the ravine and over the already dug trench. It toppled and wobbled and out I went. 

Seat belt without ROPS could be a death sentence. Sometimes the best thing that can happen in a rollover is to be thrown clear.

That is a very good point! I had not thought of that, but yeah, if it had tipped over all the way then that would've been bad if I was stuck there.

Ever see one of these hit a 1200 pair phone line? Big, brightly colored "bird's nests" just come shooting up out of the ground. Between telcomm and oak tree roots, I've known a couple of guys who would have been far better off financially just setting the trencher on fire and walking away.