Both of these machines are affordable, popular, highly productive, and they both have helped lay a lot of cable and pipe in the ground. While they both can do the work, there are differences as to how they perform when stacked up against each other in residential utility installations.

When trenchers were first introduced to the residential and commercial contractors, they rapidly became the backbone of the crew. The time and labor trenchers saved when they replaced the pick and shovel was simply incredible. The contractor was able to double the number of jobs his crew could complete in the same amount of time - or less.

Digging trenches is one of the oldest types of work with both construction and excavating. Prior to World War 2, trenches were dug by hand. As workers dug the trenches deeper, the sides needed to be shored or supported, to keep the walls of the trench from caving in.